As far as the British Public were concerned there was no such
thing as "mod" until the Easter of 1964. A major riot in the
south coast resort town of Clacton announced the arrival of a new
cult.
Nobody can pinpoint the arrival of the first mods since, for the
most part they were invisible other than to themselves
however the first so called "modernists" had appeared by 1962.
The abolishment of National Service (conscription) and a low
school leaving age contributed to the rapid growth of the youth
market in post war England. This new youth society produced
young wage earners who were able for the first time to get rid
of their parent's influence and create a whole new scene for
themselves.
Mod has always been considered more of a lifestyle than a
clothes fashion but the wardrobe was essential. The early
mods sought out and wore the sort of clean looking
fashions that were more popular in Europe. We are talking
"mens wear" here since "mod" was primarily a male cult. Suits
made from mohair and Italian knotted silk ties were items
"de rigeur" and the clothing was often so finely tailored that
outsiders were unable to recognise the subtleness. This in itself
was a subversity and allowed mods to flourish in the mainstream
and work normal office jobs unlike the punks and new romantics
of recent years.
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Max the Mod in 1965
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All cults have leaders and followers and mod was no exception,
there were Faces and Tickets. The Faces were the originators of
the fashion styles and the Tickets were followers who ended up
wearing the accepted uniform of mod, i.e. Parka coats, mod hats,
Fred Perry shirts etc.
Unlike their teenage counterparts, mods were not interested in the
new "Merseybeat" music from Liverpool. Mods were interested in
contemporary dance music from the U.S.A. such as soul and
Motown with a touch of blue beat or ska. There were specialist
shops and stalls in the street markets that catered to this new
music market.
An automobile was out of reach for most British teenagers in the
early 1960's.The generally accepted method of transportation
was the motor scooter as it was (and still is) practical and
affordable to get around London, which was the Mod mecca. In the
early 1960's the pubs would close at 11pm, public transportation
shut down and there was not much to do. There were however, a few
mod hangouts and "all-nighter" clubs. Scooter transportation helped
the mods get around with "speed" being provided chemically by
"Purple Hearts"and "French Blues".
These were the mods that invaded Clacton in 1964. These were the
Vespa driving, pill popping horders that became to be recognised as
"the mods" when in fact they were no more than soldiers in uniform
rather than the "faces" who had set the styles. In the Who's
Quadraphonia, Jimmy is a journeyman mod. In another era he could have just
as easily been a high street Punk or a New Romantic.
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