Everything about Mod Lifestyle totally explained
The
mod (originally
modernist, and sometimes capitalised as
Mod)
subculture originated in
London in the late 1950s and peaked in the early to mid 1960s. The mod lifestyle is sometimes referred to as
modism, a term which may have been coined by
Pete Meaden when he was famously quoted as saying "Modism, mod living, is an aphorism for clean living under difficult circumstances". Elements of the mod
lifestyle include
music,
clothes (often
tailor-made),
dancing and
motorscooters. From the mid to late 1960s onwards, the
mainstream media often used the term
mod in a wider sense to describe anything that was (or was believed to be) popular,
fashionable or
modern.
Origins
The term
mod derives from
modernist, which was a term used in the 1950s to describe modern
jazz fans as well as the musicians themselves. This usage contrasted with the term
trad, which described traditional jazz and its players and fans. The 1959 novel
Absolute Beginners by
Colin MacInnes describes as a modernist a young modern jazz fan who dresses in sharp modern Italian clothes.
Absolute Beginners may be one of the earliest written examples of the term modernist being used to describe young British style-conscious modern jazz fans. The word
modernist in this sense is believed to refer specifically to modern jazz and shouldn't be confused with the wider use of the term
modernism in the context of
literature,
art,
design and
architecture.
There are contradicting stories about the origins of the first mods, but one popular belief is that the movement began with a few disparate
cliques of
middle class teenage boys with family connections to the garment trade in
London in 1958. These early mods were obsessed with new
fashions such as slim-cut Italian suits, and music styles such as modern
jazz and
rhythm and blues. It has been suggested that both modernists and their contemporaries, the
rockers, evolved from the
Teddy Boy subculture. Teddy Boys were influenced by American
rock n' roll, wore
Edwardian-style clothing, and had
pompadour or
quiff hairstyles. Other sources suggest a link between the modernist and
beatnik subcultures, both of which had a penchant for modern jazz.
Between 1945 and 1960, teenagers' wages had grown at a rate double that of their parents' wages. Many young people had relatively large amounts of disposable income, which along with the increased availability of
HP and cheaper
credit meant that teenagers could spend more money on tailored clothing and scooters, and could spend more free time in nightclubs and coffee bars.
By the early 1960s,
mod had developed to include contemporary fashion and lifestyle elements, such as
continental European clothes,
Italian motorscooters and - to a lesser degree - a taste for
French New Wave films and
existentialist philosophy (popular also with beatniks).
The original mods gathered at all-night clubs such as The Scene, The Flamingo and The Marquee in London to hear the latest records and to show off their clothes and dance moves. As mod spread across the UK, other clubs became popular such as
Twisted Wheel Club in
Manchester. Although reports as to the importance of drugs amongst the original mods vary, for some mods, their all-night urban social life was fueled in part by
amphetamines like
Dexedrine, (sometimes known as
blues or
purple hearts). The drugs were sometimes purchased from
African American GIs stationed in the UK, who were given drugs as part of their ration kit. Some of the drugs were also available over the counter in pharmacies. Black American soldiers also brought over
rhythm and blues records that were unavailable in Britain, and often sold these to young people in London. Many mods used motorscooters for transportation, usually either
Vespa or
Lambretta. At the time,
public transport stopped relatively early, and scooters were cheaper than cars and were also available via a
Hire purchase scheme. After a law was passed requiring at least one mirror be attached to every motorcycle, mods were known to add four, 10, or as many as 30 mirrors to their scooters. This may have been to mock the new law.
The Who's album
Quadrophenia, which includes themes related to mods and
rockers, features cover art depicting a young man on a scooter with four mirrors attached.
As the lifestyle developed and was adopted by British teenagers of all economic strata, mods expanded their musical tastes beyond American jazz and R&B to embrace
soul (particularly records released on the
Atlantic,
Stax,
Tamla Motown and
Sue labels), Jamaican
ska, and British
beat music and R&B; by artists such as
Georgie Fame,
The Animals,
Small Faces,
The Who,
The Yardbirds,
The Kinks, and
The Spencer Davis Group. Lesser-known British artists associated with the 1960s mod scene include
The Action,
Zoot Money and
The Creation. However, many mods rejected British beat groups such as
The Beatles (despite their significant contribution to the awareness of mod clothing fashion under
Brian Epstein's image makeover in the spring and summer of 1962) and
The Rolling Stones because they didn't consider those bands' R&B-influenced music to be authentic enough. The television programme
Ready Steady Go! was an example of mod-inspired programming.
Mods sometimes clashed with
rockers, although fights between rival mod gangs were probably more common. In 1964, there were several well-publicised battles at seaside resorts such as
Brighton,
Margate, and
Hastings. The
mods and rockers conflict led to a
moral panic about young people in the
United Kingdom. There is disagreement about how much of the reports of violence were true, and how much was a media or police invention. Some credible sources suggest that the battles were staged for photographers. The media coverage has permanently linked the mod and rocker subcultures in the popular consciousness.
Decline and new beginnings
Mods were the products of a culture of constant change, and by the time
Bobby Moore held the
World Cup aloft in the summer of 1966, the mod scene was in sharp decline. As
psychedelic rock music and the
hippie culture rose, many people drifted away from the mod lifestyle. Bands such as
The Who and
Small Faces had changed their musical styles and no longer considered themselves mods. The "peacock" or "fashion" wing of mod culture evolved into the
Bohemian style of London hippie culture, featuring a marked interest in previously esoteric ideas and aesthetics, and an arguably more gentle and contemplative outlook on life that certainly differed from the frenetic energy of the mod ethos.
At the other end of the youth culture spectrum, both in philosophy and appearance, were the
hard mods. The hard mods were rougher, had less emphasis on cutting-edge fashion
trends, and got their hair cropped short. The hard mods soon transformed into the first
skinheads.
They retained basic elements of mod fashion — three-button suits,
Fred Perry and
Ben Sherman shirts,
Sta-Prest trousers and
Levi's jeans — but mixed them with working class-oriented accessories such as
braces and
Dr. Martens boots. Their style borrowed heavily from the
Jamaican
rude boy look, which included cropped hair, short-hemmed trousers and very narrow brimmed
Trilby hats (commonly referred to in the UK as
pork pie hats). Their shorter hair may have also come about for practical reasons; long hair can be a liability in industrial jobs and in streetfights. The 1960s skinheads kept some of the original mod music styles alive; specifically
ska,
soul,
rocksteady and early
reggae. These first skinheads had no association with any political movements, and mostly represented working-class pride.
Mods also made up a notable proportion of the
northern soul scene, a subculture based on obscure 1960s and 1970s American soul records.
Revival and later influence
The 1979 film
Quadrophenia, based on the 1973
album of the same name by
The Who, celebrated the mod movement and partly inspired a
mod revival in the UK in the late 1970s. Many of the mod revival bands were influenced by the energy of British
punk rock and
New Wave music. The revival was led by
The Jam, and included bands such as
Secret Affair,
Purple Hearts and
The Chords. This was followed by a mod revival in
North America in the early 1980s, particularly in
Southern California, led by bands such as
The Untouchables. The mod scene in
Los Angeles and
Orange County was partly influenced by the
2 Tone ska revival in
England, and was unique in its racial diversity.
The 1990s
Britpop genre displayed mod influences on bands such as
Oasis,
Blur,
Ocean Colour Scene.
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mod Lifestyle'.
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