Many of you will know Mr Small Faces John Hellier, who recently sent us this transcription of a recent radio interview he did. Wise words JH.. I was interviewed recently by BBC Radio on the subject of the 50th anniversary of Mod. I pointed out to them that they were five years too late! They didnt want to hear that, their starting point was Bank Holiday 1964 and the infamous fighting on the beaches stories. Well anybody well versed on the subject knows that to be a load of bollocks! That really wasnt what Mod was all about. Modernists were in the capital as early as 1959 and theres a well known photograph floating around the internet with dozens of scooters parked up outside the 2 Is coffee bar in Old Compton Street to prove the point. My own birthing into what was a youth culture took place during my last year in school in 1964. Back then nobody ever consciously thought Im going to be a Mod, it was just the fashion of the day and for many it was just a passing fad, not for me. If somebody told me back then Id be writing about it in a half a centurys time Id have laughed my bonce off! We never looked any further than the next weekend. The old adage Mod is for life, not just for Christmas was surely penned with me in mind. It turned out to be a way of life. Strange really as we were only kids having fun, we werent out to change the world but it did change our world. It has shaped my existence to a certain degree ever since. Although its never really gone away completely there were times that it went underground. After the first wave of Modernism came Psychedelic Mod. This was around 1967 and both attire and music changed. Contrary to the belief that original Mods turned Skinhead we were now growing our hair and listening to the sounds of San Francisco instead of Memphis. The clothing became very flamboyant almost to the point of Dandyism with velvet loon pants, silk neck scarves and satin shirts the order of the day. The days of Tonik mohair and Fred Perry type shirts had gone...well for the time being anyway. Facial hair along the lines of Jason King was also very much part of the look but despite what many say we still thought of it as Mod. Even the Glam Rock look of the 70s stemmed from 60s Mod. Everything just got more and more outrageous until a film called Quadrophenia arrived. That spawned a 60s Mod Revival and kids on the street were once again donning sta prest trousers and button down shirts. During the 1990s another boom came along with the advent of Brit Pop and Acid Jazz, since then its been uphill all the way largely due to social networking and the like. Technology has made it possible for like minded souls the world over to connect and influence one another. The Mod movement which had previously been thought of as a British phenomenon had now spread to such far flung places as Japan, Australia, China, Russia and pretty much the whole of Latin America. The world in 2014 is generally a scruffy place but seeing young Modernists barely out of school wearing classic Mod attire is a breath of fresh air and certainly gives me a buzz and new hope that generations to come will keep this unique movement very much alive and thriving. Mind you, its much easier for the new breed as theyve got six decades of style to draw from. Original Mods didnt have that and were always seeking out the next big thing. What was in one week could most certainly be out the next. Thats probably the only thing where we differ but that doesnt matter, each generation of Mod bring new things to the table which keep it contemporary to a point. The same can be said of some of the new bands on the circuit, great bands such as Stone Foundation, The 45s, Spitfires and Strypes. Theres no doubting where their influences lie but each of them still successfully manage to put their own stamp on things. Mod was once a Youth Movement....its now grown up and referred to as simply a Movement. Heres to next 50 (or should that be 55) years!! JOHN HELLIER (August 2014)
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 09:27:21 +0000
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