Is Mod a dying thing?

I know a lot of mods. I've been to a lot of mod events over the years... and one thing has struck me - there ain't as many kids as there used to be. A lot of mod events (not all I'll add, before a buncher angry Modernists come charging after me) are populated, in the main, by older men and women. Failing that, you've got the overweight Mickey Mouse mods you see only at Jam tribute gigs. Either way, there ain't a lot of kids milling around.

Of course, that's not to say that there's no young mods at all. However, a visit earlier in the year to a mod event saw the percentage of whipper-snappers outweighed by the older crowd...

...so will mod survive?

Mod as a scene, a way of life, whatever, has always had a resurgence. The original mods didn't saw it coming back in the '80s (helped overground by Quadrophenia) and in the mid-90s, 'mod' became more fashionable thanks to Britpop's infatuation with target symbols and Vespas. Naturally, most people from Britpop were just playing at it, but some will have left their indie records behind to dive headlong into the world of R&B, Northern Soul and '60s guitar groups.

Of course, the music is the most important thing in the world of mod. Some may argue that it's the walk, the dress, the appreciation of all things 'Modern' (of course, 'Modern' in this case means '60s design classics etc)... but the thing that draws you in the most is the great music which will never die. For me, the biggest contribution that mod has given the world is it's soundtrack. It's hard to think of a scene that's so widely loved... even by blokes who hate the clothes, the scooters and everything that comes with the package.

However, one of the problems faced by the mod lifestyle is the rampant and innate snobbishness that goes with many events. Again, not all - I've been to some great, welcoming and all-inclusive nights. That said, everyone with an interest in mod knows damn well that mod can be cliquey and sneery and not a very nice place for a newcomer to visit. Bad news travels faster than the good.

So with The Great British Attitude of 'Well, that woman in the shop was pretty rude to me, so I ain't ever shopping there again', can we assume that people might treat Modworld with the same distain? Thankfully for mod, the soundtrack is supreior to the average shop. It's a valid point though. If a lot of mod nights and events are not inclusive, then people will invariably go elsewhere for their kicks. You don't want some jumped-up little git looking you up-and-down weighing up your clothes. It alienates.

Where mod managed to bring together the working-classes with the snoots of Savile Row, black people, white people, everyone... now mod is faced with a conservatism which may switch people off. With all that in mind, it seems like mod will never die because, in essence, it's just too cool. Great records and great clothes... on those things alone... will always see mod as a superior prospect than some average nightspot playing The Ting Tings or DJ Otzi.

However, as a whole, mods need to realise that, if the snootiness continues, all you'll end up with is clubs with the same faces in. Every scene needs new blood... and it feels like mod is due a shot in the arm.

[Roman Clef]

Comments

[Simon Franklin]

An interesting view-point - i don't think mod existed from about 1963, which is the date that it become known to popular culture. I think after this exposure it became something completely different, just as we have seen with other (youth) movements such as punk, skin-heads etc. I don't think anybody can call themselves mods today, because mod was an evolving culture. How can this be evolving today when all the points are taken from something historical, already tried - the music, the clothes and the transport. By it's very nature mods were up-to-the minute, wearing the newest styles in clothes, listening to the latest sounds. How can a mod of today truly believe this is so when they dress and look like something out of the pages of 'Rave'. I strongly believe that Weller had a point when he said that the 'modern day' mod was those buying house music and buying the latest design of kickers during the lates 80's and early 90's. I think the casual movement was more akin to the original mods, it was evolving with different groups and areas of the country wearing different clothes, listening to different music etc BUT looking the same or similar.
Mod is dead, long live mod!

[David Walker]

There's a hell of a lot of mod nights springing up run by people under 25 - but as they're often local nights on a budget, they get a lot less press than the 'events'. In fact, I think the mod scene is far younger today than it's been for the last 15 years, with an endless stream of 16 - 18 year olds popping up on Modculture, starting up Facebook/Bebo groups etc.

On another point, mod nights are less 'elitist' than others if you actually look closely. There's no age limit (unlike many clubs) and most nights are incredibly friendly - just as long as people don't come along and take the piss. If you make an effort, others will too.

[Murray]

I think that mod did exist prior to 1963. It can be seen in the book Absolute Beginners. It was young guys rejecting the rocker/ted style and going for smart Italian tailoring, listening to cool jazz rather than rock'n'roll. It evolved along the way, of course. A lot of mods eventually becoming either skinheads or hippies, depending maybe on their choice of artificial stimulant. (Whether people on the "rave" scene could be considered "mods" of their time, however, is another argument and one I'm not sure about.) Anyway, I think the main reason for the lack of young mods (and the lack of young rockabillies, and various other types, for that matter) is that tribalism is seen as a thing of the past by young people. We enjoy different types of music at the same time and don't want to pigeon-hole ourselves. I like 50s rock'n'roll. I like sixties and beat and garage band sounds. I like old blues and soul. I like punk rock and new wave. I like a lot of current indie rock bands. I like dressing one way today and a different way tomorrow, depending on how I feel and where I'm going. No way am I going to paint myself into a corner and declare myself to be a mod, or a rocker, or a mocker, or a punk, or an indie-kid or anything else. I'm me. End of story.

[David Walker]

Mod evolved from the late 50s - I've got newspaper cuttings referring to it dating back to 1958...although the substance of it was very different to 5 years later.

[JulesLt]

I don't know that it's a problem with the attitude of the older people on the scene - I've known plenty of people who have been friendly and enthusiastic, I've known younger people who have been the opposite.

It's not just a mod thing, as anyone who shopped in Eastern Bloc in the early 90s can tell you. It exists in dance music. It exists on the indie scene (well, at least the proper indie scene, which has always looked down on mainstream 'indie' bands). Having read 'Hell Bent for Leather' it even applies to hair metal fans.

All that said - I think you've touched on something about do's at the moment - it is mostly old faces. I don't think it's that old people aren't welcoming, but that walking into a room where 70% of the crowd are well into their 30s - at least - is off-putting. The cliqueiness may not even be intentional, just an accident of the fact that people have known each other for a decade, like any local pub.

Regardless - that's not where I spent my teenage years - I fully remember how I regarded the ageing punks and goths in our town (clue : I didn't think 'I wish I was that cool when I'm 30').

When me and my friends started getting into 'mod' stuff (soul, Hammond jazz, 60s beat, etc) we ran our own night - mixing that with the newer stuff we liked.
Blow-Up at The Laurel Tree was similar - when it started it was a place people on the 60s side of the indie scene went, with little connection to the mod scene.

What I'd say is that nights like that were the spawning ground of any new generation (they influenced the musicians who became popular enough to spawn a wider revival).

The nights David touches on are similar - they're being run by young people, not by old people trying to recruit young people to an old scene.

Of course there's no law that this cycle has to run and run - it is 45 years on now, and there is something perverse about the idea that pop culture and fashion have reached some final repeat loop which will last forever.

[JulesLt]

I think Simon's point was that 'Mod died in 1963'.

Rather than being a scene or movement of people, something you basically had to be part of, it became a style.

That's something that has happened to many scenes since.

[Harry The Hipster]

If the picture at the top of this article is anything to go by - its long dead...thankfully the picture is not anything to go by!

H the H

[David Walker]

The problem with the mod scene (and just about every other 'scene' to be honest) is that we're in an era where people didn't grow up. Not that many years ago, you were married with kids and well out of clubs by the time you were 25.

That's not the case anymore - clubs are a profitable business, so people keeping doing them. Manchester (for example) is full of ageing dance moguls, hanging onto their youth and their pay cheques. And just as the promoters are older, so are many of their regular punters, less inclined to give it up for a pint in the local, more than happy to keep going as the ever-ageing teen.

And who can blame them - all the old indie acts seem happy enough pretending they're 21 - Ian Brown, Richard Ashcroft, Noel Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn, Tim Burgess...the list is endless.

My point? It ain't just a mod thing, it's a general thing. The world has changed. The big downside is that it's hard to make your mark when the old guard are blocking your way. Which is what's affecting mod and much more besides.