Your Mod World!!

[John Paterson]

What does mod mean to you and what have you done recently? It may be something small in the grand scheme but could mean a lot to some one else! Share your thoughts and your most recent endeavour into the world of Mod!

[John Paterson]

Come on guys its easy if u try!!

[James Thomas]

Hi John, I like this idea very much. One of the aspects that fascinates me most about Mod(ernist) culture is the paradox between individuality and being part of a group. I think everyone involved in this world probably has something they're interested in which on the surface doesn't appear to be related to Mod, but on deeper inspection has relevance. It could be interesting to find out more.

[Rob Bailey]

Hi John, My latest endeavour is to complete the marathon that will Le Beat Bespoke 9. Our team will be posting up photos and videos throughout the event so check back on the LBB forum thread. Lot's of other interesting stuff coming up that I will keep you posted on here. Cheers rob

[John Paterson]

In all the years i've been involved in the scene since the Mod revival (early 80's), there is definately a new accent in the mod world. Its actually probably been that way for the last 4 or 5 years,maybe longer! In the Eighties revival we as mods were more generic than we might like to admit, although to us we were individual!!In the here and now our music tastes are far more varying than they ever were and our style of clothes has opened right up as well. For instance some of the italian suits on offer today which BTW are very smart,there is no way you could have worn such garments. If you didnt get laughed it you would have been slapped and disowned, again the introduction to a wider audience of 'Freakbeat and garage etc' in the scene has had a massive fashion implication! People say the mod scene is stuck in its way? I dont agree with that and no doubt the younger generation wil take elements of here and now and carry into the Future. JUST LIKE WE DID........:-) And Rob keep doing it mate,its well appreciated!! 

[GS simon]

yeh love the mod scene its a way of my life!,..always felt that way! ...i think there is more scope these days in the scene, more dimensions ,more ways of dressing, love the freak beat scene ect,very laid back ,as far as the generic ways i feel that has long gone in the hard core scene,,,,,,,leave that to the scooter boys,lol I feel there is more of a pulse in todays scene, exciting,and more closed shop, for instance ,,the old way,of walking down the street, you see a geezer ,(mod) out the corner of your eye,you check him out ,to see what and how they are wearing,and you know he ,s  doing the same to you.( am not talking gay here), i feel those days are back! still looking for that constant perfect individual inspiration, but deep down you respect the guy , and give a slight nod of respect and move on,,,,,hiding the fact that they are wearing and using a look you thought was your idea! GREAT! ITS ABOUT BEING AN INDIVIDUAL,as james has pointed out,,,,,,looking different 

[James Winstanley]

Its refreshing to be part of something different, and to be associated with people who carry the same interests, involving, fashion, music, events etc. A big part of the Mod culture for me (despite age) is the music, its a slight cliche to say i was born in the wrong era, but i believe i seriously was!! Im just hoping more people of my age can keep this culture/lifestlye going, mods will never die out!

[John Paterson]

Well said james,thats exactly what its all about!!!

[TheRetroman68]

I personally don't have a mod world, I did have but during the early nineties drifted into other things musically and dress wise. There is a small amount of mod in me which sometimes comes to the surface and reconnects me with the mods, but this is short lived as individuality takes over and I tend to drift away. Mod is in the character it is not a style of music , a fashion, it's a type of person.  At the moment I attend nights put on by a Rockabilly crowd as they play a lot of garage Punk, Instro rock like Link Wray and some surf, this is the music I love. Also I attend a Psychedelic night in Derby which is rather good but yet again I don't like to belong to any so called group of cult or fashion. :) there ya go JP is that ok for a starter haha ? To be honest mod was simply a name given to modern youth as opposed to old hat in the form of rockers. To call it modernism or label it modernist is somewhat arrogant and misleading.

[James Thomas]

Hello there, you make some valid points and I think it is refreshing when 'Mod', whatever ultimately that might be, reinvents itself or develops or takes stock of its history. What I think is emerging is that, with so much information now available, we are learning that the classic period (1958-1965) was pretty complicated and that the individuals involved had their own stories to tell. I like folk music, which might not be on some Mods' agenda, but history tells us that the guys who were in The Action basically became  (around the Mighty Baby period) a session band for folk singers, such as Shelagh Mcdonald. I'm intrigued by your views on the 'label' of 'modernism'. Is your opinion related to the use of 'modernism' as a wider term in culture for the earlier period of art and literature around 1890-1930? (Joyce, T S Eliot, Picasso etc)

[TheRetroman68]

Hi James, I just think the mod living on the council estates of lets say Manchester would have had little interest in modern art and minimalistic architecture . Nor do I believe they had interest in Jazz music. I think that mod would have been working class and involved young lads having fun with like minded mates with their own money which they worked to earn. A modern youth which appeared due to the circumstances arising from the sixties. For me as a mod in the 80's I had far more interest in The Kinks than any form of Jazz. Of course as we get older our tastes widen and with everything and this may be folk music, Psychedelia , Jazz , Classical . I think it's very different at 16/ 17. For me I was only 11 in 79 and jazz was considered an old mans style in my opinion, I was more interested in Dr Feelgood, The Jam , The Who and The Specials. These bands were my step into a mod world.... or maybe I should say reproduced mod world. :)

[James Thomas]

Hi there, I think your point about the difference between being 16 or 17 and how life changes is important. Very few people do the same things throughout life they did at 17, and quite understandably so. I tend to agree that Jazz is something that seems to either have been at the very origins of the mod movement or something that has come back in at points when certain individuals, be it Paul Weller, be it whoever, have wanted to stand apart from the crowd (Style Council in 1983/4, Acid Jazz a few years later). That said, working class mods have often wanted to stand apart from other people in their peer group and so perhaps a mod on a Manchester council estate would have been interested in, if not minimalistic architecture, something 'alien' to his or her daily life. One of the biggest myths of British music journalism, for example, is that progressive rock was simply a public school(for non-UK readers, that is wealthy private school) phenomenon. Actually, although many of the musicians had classical training, they had been to state schools and came out of the mod/r'n'b scene of the mid-sixties. Punk was, by contrast, initially quite a middle class phenomenon (at least, not everyone involved had the background of John Lydon). But some journalists have rewritten musical history to suit their agenda of always being at the forefront of street culture. Folk music is a very working class cultural form (despite recent appropriations by some bands) and I was struck by seeing a documentary of Bob Dylan's 1966 UK tour and how the working class Bob Dylan fans in Manchester were amongst the most vocal in complaining of his conversion to electric music. In Bristol, where I'm from originally, the Twotone scene was massive: this not only led to a strong scooterist scene, but also paved the way for the musical hybrids that came about in the 90s. Council estate kids got into graffiti art, hip hop and even jazz dancing, which might have tapped into some kind of 'mod' energy. I think Mod is a popular culture that steps regularly along the boundaries of what we think of as 'working class' and 'lower middle class' cultures. But I do take your point that, of all the musical forms associated with mod, Jazz is still the one that often surprises people, especially outside the 'scene' (I remember going  a long time ago to a modern jazz concert dressed in smart 60s attire and being asked by the organisers if I knew that it was a jazz night.)

[John Paterson]

I agree that more is made of mod nowadays than its function of the original sixties movement. That said its all different things to each individual and maybe you are more mod than u give yourself credit for; you didnt get bogged down and looked for new styles of music/clothes etc. Always taking a piece of what was learned before.Where i am a 60's traditionalist,happy to be caught up in that era. It needs different slants/angles to stop it from stagnating. With no one being right or wrong! Just doin it coz we want to!