Terry Rawlings argued that mods are difficult to define because the subculture started out as a "mysterious semi-secret world", which the Who's manager Peter Meaden summarised as "clean living under difficult circumstances." History 1958–1969 Paul Jobling and David Crowley argued that the definition of mod can be difficult to pin down, because throughout the subculture's original era, it was "prone to continuous reinvention." They claimed that since the mod scene was so pluralist, the word mod was an umbrella term that covered several distinct sub-scenes. From the mid-to-late 1960s onwards, the mass media often used the term mod in a wider sense to describe anything that was believed to be popular, fashionable or modern. This usage of the word modernist should not be confused with modernism in the context of literature, art, design and architecture. The novel may be one of the earliest examples of the term being written to describe young British style-conscious modern jazz fans. ![]() The 1959 novel Absolute Beginners describes modernists as young modern jazz fans who dress in sharp modern Italian clothes. This usage contrasted with the term trad, which described traditional jazz players and fans. The term mod derives from modernist, a term used in the 1950s to describe modern jazz musicians and fans. It was followed by a similar mod revival in North America in the early 1980s, particularly in southern California. There was a mod revival in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, which attempted to replicate the "scooter" period look and styles of the early to mid-1960s. During this time, mod fashions spread to other countries and became popular in the United States and elsewhere-with mod now viewed less as an isolated subculture, but emblematic of the larger youth culture of the era.Īs mod became more cosmopolitan during the "Swinging London" period, some working class "street mods" splintered off, forming other groups such as what eventually became known as skinheads. London became synonymous with fashion, music, and pop culture in these years, a period often referred to as " Swinging London". īy 1965, conflicts between mods and rockers began to subside and mods increasingly gravitated towards pop art and psychedelia. ![]() The mods and rockers conflict led sociologist Stanley Cohen to use the term " moral panic" in his study about the two youth subcultures, which examined media coverage of the mod and rocker riots in the 1960s. ĭuring the early to mid-1960s, as mod grew and spread throughout the UK, certain elements of the mod scene became engaged in well-publicised clashes with members of a rival subculture: rockers. One notably instrumental figure in the movement's origins was British fashion designer Mary Quant. The original mod scene was associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night jazz dancing at clubs. ![]() In the mid-1960s, the subculture listened to rock groups with mod following, such as the Who and Small Faces, after the peak Mod era. Įlements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits) music (including soul, rhythm and blues, ska and mainly jazz) and motor scooters (usually Lambretta or Vespa). Focused on music and fashion, the subculture has its roots in a small group of stylish London-based young men in the late 1950s who were termed modernists because they listened to modern jazz. Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in London and spread throughout Great Britain and elsewhere, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries, and continues today on a smaller scale. Two mid-1960s mods on a customised Lambretta scooter
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