Customer Reviews

Mod: A Very British Phenomenon

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Mod: A Very British Phenomenon is a comprehensive and authentic source on the mod subculture. Until I recently decided to purchase a book on the topic, I had no idea how hard it was to find quality sources on mod culture. As someone interested in the style and cultural details, I was looking for a book with exhaustive descriptions and photographs. Resources on mod largely seem either low-budget, vague anectdotes or cheesy, sterotypical fluff on the 60s. After checking out the reviews and description of this book, I was excited to finally find what seemed to be the ideal coverage of mod.

When I received the book in the mail and cracked it open, I was instantly a bit disappointed. Its very worthwhile on one hand because its full of old newspaper clippings, quotes from interviews with original mod pioneers, historical events, clothing and style descriptions, hairstyle descriptions, and other cultural detail it gives readers-- no matter how well-versed in mod-- an informative and entertaining read. It is indeed a great source relative to the shabby body of work that exists on mod. Unfortunetly, there is an obvious drawback. I hoped the book would be in glossy coffetable format, filled with crisp images but the book instead has rather poor printing quality, distorted photographs and is lacking in format. The resolution is poor and the style choices of both the text and photos in the format are cheap and sometimes cheesy, pseudo-mod. So, I was a bit disappointed-- While great for information, the book is not one that I enjoy picking up and getting lost in the visuals--- instead, its more of an informative read for me.

Yes, I admit it....I'm a pop culture junkie!! I love to have books on different scenes I've been interested in. This is a great book on Mod culture. Lots of great picures of sixties mods!! A great guide for the style and music they listened to!!

This book is tops for the photos alone. There's a lot of great stuff in here, some of it you'll also find in Paolo Hewitt's book, such as the Marc Bolan interview in "Town" magazine. However, the interview is in its entirerty in Rawling's book.

This book is a 4.5 at the very least. Definatley worth the $20-or-so for the photos alone.

Until reading Terry Rawlings MOD: A VERY BRITISH PHENOMENON I had no idea that mod was such a big youth movement. I just knew about the style from the 80s and the cool 60s look that some kids had in school.

Anyway, this book explains pretty much in detail how the Mod movement got started and all that was necessary to be a mod. Mod is short for "modernist" by the way. And even though the teenagers in Britain appropriated much of the fashion and music from America, they really turned it into a culture that was contained over there.

The book is filled with photos of Mod guys and Mod bands and there's even ads for nightclubs, clothes, and of course the scooters. I found it interesting to read although some chapters seem to abruptly end, which can confuse the reader. But it's great if you want to learn more about Mods and are nostalgic for the 60s.

One of the greatest causes of inter-generational conflict is fashion; it's closely followed by poltics, but that's not what we're here for, is it?

And fashion is what Mod was all about. It was a uniquely British affair at the time, a teen movement that claimed to be a break with the staid past, but was almost fascistic in its relentless doctrine of 'dress this way or risk being ostracized'.

It didn't really hit in the US. Here, our teen culture was way too ethnocentric in the early sixties to adopt anything from overseas. Look, how even The Beatles' early singles died. In fact, it wasn't until the 1980's - in a post-modern, post-punk world - that new wavers on both sides of the pond embraced many of the basic dress tenets of the 1960 Mod culture.

So, what do we have here in Mr Rawlings book? It's a chronicle of what that time was about. Told in a broad sweeping narrative that is supported by a spectacular series of photos and first-person stories, the book confirms the title...Mod was a very Britsh Phenomena.

But, oh what a great time it was for music. And, that's real story in Rawlings' history. Sure, the Mods were self-absorbed fashion plates. But, while dressing for their own success, they also forged an amazing amalgamation of US R&B music with British skiffle and music hall beats. It was this synthesis of sound and culture that formed the foundation for most of The British Invasion. Listen to any of the early LP's by The Who; The Kinks; The Animals; or any the scores of one and no hit wonders. How many6 of them were covering Motown hits? How many of them took that beat and revved it up?

That's why so much of the book is a history of the rise and fall of groups. And, a comparatively unknown history it is. Just like current Brit charts are far more secular than in the US - where it is more the trend to 'Jim Crow' hits into a veritable plethora style-specific music - most of the groups chronicled are all but unknown here.

If you're into music - with a bias toward the 1960's - or if you just miss the good days, Mod - A Very British Phenomena is a worthwhile additiona to your library.

Hmmmm... I dig this book (a lot), but let's see: American R & B, American Army-issue fish-tail Parkas, Italian scooters, French films and fashion inspired by African-American musicians and Italian hipsters. A very "British" phenomenon ?

The stuffy, pent up, post-war mood and attitudes of British society definitely caused the first teenage "youth cults" to emerge...definitely contributed to the appearance of the "teenager" as an entity and a consumer group...but the British Mods obviously didn't look to England for their inspiration. Their clothes (as well as the cut and tailoring of said clothes), preferred mode of transportation, music and even styles of dancing were taken from almost everywhere BUT Great Britain.

Now, the legendary groups that formed in the Mod era were predominantly British...but, in interviews, The Who, the Small Faces, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds and the Creation were NEVER shy about the fact that they were not playing "British" music...but were attempting to mimic American blues and late-fifties/early sixties r & b of the Tamla, Stax and Motown variety.

Why read The Story of Mod? What possible relevance and interest does Rawling's and Reed's well written and fascinating history of a scene begun in London in the early 1960's hold for today? Nice of you to ask! For an answer we should return to the Summer of 1979; out of the nihilism of post-punk England there arose a revival of a 1960's Youth Culture phenomenon called "Mod" . Bands such as the Jam ( whose gifted frontman Paul Weller later went on to U.S mainstream success with The Style Council) typified this rebirth with a heavy emphasis on their musical antecedants the Who, The Small Faces and The Kinks. Alongside this revival was a renewed interest in Motor Scooters and ska music. A variety of tangentially related fashions coalesced in the US and made Mod the Thinking Man's Answer to the increasing uniformity of Punk Rock and Rockabilly. Flash forward 20 years and we have the corporate pre-fab "rebellion" of Blink 182, Greenday and sundry other well scrubbed ( but tatooed) "punkers", Brian Setzer and the "Swingers" film bands/scene closely approximating a defanged,tame revival of the early '80's Rockabilly and punk scenes respectively. What of Mod? Well, the Parkas may be missing but the echoes are CLEAR in the music and style of such genuinely diverse pop music giants Oasis, No Doubt, Pulp, Blur, The Verve , and The Shazam ( from, of all places Tennesee). MOD is the ONLY authentic, non "corporate", GRASS roots YOUTH culture dynamic going today. The book chronicles the uniquely British birth and transmogrification of the fashion from its birth in post war England to the potent and creative force that it is today. Any student of youth culture and British pop music will find the book invaluable.