#THE WHO MODS MOVIE#
#THE WHO MODS MODS#

Mods and Rockers as Working class youth subculture It is interesting to note that the nascent Mods and Rockers of the film seem not to be in conflict with each other, or at least not nearly as much as the “Teds” (as Faith’s character, Dave, calls them) are in conflict with these newer groups. Near the end of the film, a group of Teddy Boys destroy Faith’s sports car.

#THE WHO MODS MOVIE#

In this 1960 movie - which starred Christopher Lee, Oliver Reed, Gillian Hills, Adam Faith, and Noëlle Adam - one can see elements of the developing Mod culture (the jazz-loving, coffee-bar teen group represented by Faith’s, Hills’s, and Reed’s characters) and a touch of the developing Rocker culture (in the form of a large, American-style car that is used in one sequence from the film, and hair styles worn by some of the minor young male characters). The curious and somewhat confusing mix of various gang-like youth subcultures in the late 1950s in Britain plays a role in the youth-exploitation film Beat Girl. Curiously, the Teddy Boys (and Girls) are seen as the spiritual ancestors of both Mods and Rockers. This segment of the British youth subculture developed after World War II - it predates the Mods and Rockers. The Rockers, however, viewed the Mods as effeminate snobs.Īny discussion of Mods and Rockers must also include discussion of the Teddy Boys and Teddy Girls. In the early 1960s, the lines between Mods and Rockers were clearly drawn: the Mods thought of themselves as more sophisticated, more stylish, and more in touch with the times than the Rockers were. Musically, Mods favored modern jazz, Jamaican music, and African American R&B.

By contrast, the Mods made a conscious attempt to appear new (hence, “Mod,” or modern) by favoring Italian motor scooters and wearing suits. Their musical tastes ran to white American rock and rollers such as Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, and Eddie Cochran. They favored black leather, much like American motorcycle gang members of the era. The Rockers were associated with motorcycles, and in particular with the larger, heavy and powerful Triumph motorcycles of the late 1950s. However, the Mods and the Rockers represented two very different approaches taken by disenfranchised British youth. There seems to be little evidence that there was widespread documented physical animosity between the two groups before the riots that erupted in 1964. The riots on Brighton beach and elsewhere attracted the attention of the press in the United Kingdom and abroad. Mods and Rockers, two rival British youth gangs, on Easter weekend 1964, a long Bank Holiday, met up in various resort locations in England, and violence broke out.

The who mods