>Can I ask you a question before I answer? Did the original Mods plan
>it all from the beginning? I don't think so.. Mod evolved just like
>any other social movement.
Indeed, and it didn't have the name Mod until that was the tag that stuck
later. But I guess the problem is that the 'modern' mod is in the minority -
caught between those interested in recreating the past, and those so purely
contemporary or future looking in their outlook, they have no interest in
connecting themselves to something born nearly 40 years ago. Justin
Robertson of Lion Rock may consider himself to be a mod, and that his music
is modern day mod music, but the majority of his fans consider themselves
ravers (or whatever the current term is). There's a small minority of mods
that might listen to him, but you're talking minorities within minorities
here.
Equally, consider the way the 60s scene split into so many factions, and
multiply that by 30 years - we have club dance music fans, hip-hop fans,
techno fans, house fans, acid jazz fans, indie rock fans, garage fans,
experimental rock fans, all claiming to be the contemporary expression of
'mod' - and that's just considering the music angle let alone the thrift
store shoppers vs New Saville Row vs 'Casual' style debates. Take the name
away and I can find you more than a few people with similar broad tastes in
music and clothes, but hardly enough to call a movement. I can count the
number of people on here I share a taste in contemporary music with on one
hand (this week it's been a trawl through Josef K, The Pop Group, Terry
Reid, a bunch of jazz and soul 45s, the Giles Peterson show on Radio 1, a
60s/70s soul and funk club night, plus Capitol K, and the new Primal Scream
LP) - but much of that is personal taste, and I'm not sure I'd dance at any
club that played it.
Also re. your comments about stuck records and evolution - it's a mistake to
believe that even if mod clubs are playing 100% 60s records they're not
evolving. As said below, a lot of the 60s collectors / DJs are a lot more
hardcore when it comes to finding 'new' sounds than many contemporary DJs
I've known.
> Why must people pigeon hole such a
>positive movement. Just let it be what it wants to be.
I guess the irony is that it IS being what it wants to be. It's you who is
on a mission to change that.
> Why do so many people on this list consider
>Mod only by clothes, music, and scooters.
It's more that there's only so many times you can debate this issue (and
believe me, we have). Everyone agrees to disagree, and we go back to talking
about what we have in common (while we might talk about other things in
other places). And what we have in common is clothes, music, scooters, 60s
cars, films. I find it hard to imagine anyone calling themselves a mod who
didn't like some of these things.
And without pointing fingers at the population of this list, because it's
changed considerably from the height of Britpop, there are equally too many
'contemporary' people who see 'mod today' as just the commercialised version
of it, little more than entertainment and fashion - and all too often so do
the bands. By comparsion the 60s soul purist, digging in the crates, has a
passion and belief in their music that comes, as you put it, from the heart
and the brain. I know which one I admire more.
> When people finally
>realize that all the other materialistic shit was just ways of
>showing this state of mind.
Onto the deep stuff now. Agreed that it's just the expression of something,
but part and parcel of it is that it is expressed. Not that I'm an expert on
Oscar Wilde but wasn't this part of his philosophy of aesthetics? Going
beyond that whole intellectual thing of dismissing the surface as shallow,
but turning it on it's head and suggesting that you should express your
intelligence through your appearance, and appreciation of appearance, rather
than your ability to 'see through it'.
In fact one of the attractions of mod to me, is that it doesn't have the
hypocritical anti-materialism of so many other 'movements' that always leads
to those 'how do you make a living and not sell out' dilemas. It accepts the
world as is and is about how you express yourself in it, not about trying to
change it. It's also the only scene I can think of where having a job isn't
looked down on.
> If you put two people in
>parkas, on scooters, in a suit, and listening to R&B music.. how do
>you separate the two from the Real mod and the fake mod by looks
>alone?
No, and I don't think anyone would disagree. Equally it's impossible to tell
if the girl in cool exclusive slim-line trainers, well-cut minimalist
clothes, sharp hair and the hippest white label dance-music on her Minipod
speakers is a neo-mod, or an air-headed fashion victim.
However, the lank pony-tailed haired guy in the plaid oversize shirt
listening to Slipknot could never be called a mod, so it can't JUST be in
the mind - right?
>. I feel very sorry
>for those of you that completely live your lives judging people on
>such a superficial level.
If I said I was a graphic designer (which is your job, right?) wouldn't you
judge my work by your standards? If I said I was a metalhead who only
listened to soul and jazz and liked to wear suits would you think I was
being facetious?
>Why did you come across as if I was shunning your records and your
>lifestyle. If that was my intention I would have tried a little
>harder
I think it was the comments about having little interest in the past, and
the implication you made that we're all stuck in it.
>No one ever
>likes to talk about the future of one of the strongest, most
>interesting social movements ever in society..
Maybe it's just because we think it's probably going to be like it is. Some
people will continue to be inspired by mod to do things that will be called
different names by other people, and attract different fans. Eventually
something totally new and great might eventually arise that embraces the
same ideas and spirit and aesthetics from scratch - but that will probably
have a different name too. If it calls itself mod (like with the Britpop
thing, there will be a tendency amongst some people to create something more
true to the past, purer). In the meantime we'll keep grooving to Chico
Hamilton and Googie Rene in the smug knowledge that it beats listening to a
photocopy of a photocopy. And some of us will listen to modern music, but
it's really the interest in the past why I use the word 'mod'.
PS - check out www.tangents.co.uk - Kevin Pearce, who wrote the manifesto
for what you're speaking of (and has been arguing the case since the mid-80s
without ever creating a 'scene') is a regular contributor. Graphic design,
art, obscure music, and none of the pretension of The Boiler.
_____________________________________________________________
Who will win the Oscars? Spout off on our Entertainment list!
http://www.topica.com/lists/showbiztalk
