1979: The MOD REVIVAL | Nationwide | Retro Fashion | BBC Archive
James Hogg reports on the mod revival currently taking place in London. He interviews Ian Page - the vocalist with the new mod group Secret Affair - and John Entwistle of mod's elder statesmen The Who. Is the mod rebirth just a flash-in-the-pan, motivated by money, or is there more to it than that?
The whole affair is regarded with some amusement in Yorkshire, where the mod scene never really went away, and where there are still several thriving scooter clubs. What do these veteran mods make of what is happening down in London?
Originally broadcast 13 September, 1979.
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"Semi-mythical item (purely as very few people seem to have seen it, and has never to my knowledge ever been re-used in any archive programmes). Captures the late 1970s Mod revival at a pivotal point, and looks at the scene in northern England as well as London." - Andy
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I was at secondary school frm 79-84 all my friends were Mods .. I still am !
🍩
@@hankybostik7634 are you a millenial
Same years as me , but it was more New Romantics and skinhead and a few goths .
78-83 lol 😂 😂 still love wearing me suits lol 😂 😂
"flash in the pan"? My goodness, todays fashions still hark back to the mods
For some of us, it never went away. We were into northern soul and scooters and so were called mods. We went along with the mod revival, 40 plus years on, im still into northern soul and scooter's and so are many of my friends from the late seventies and early 80's. The scene is still thriving. Who would have thought that when this BBC documentary was made. Some gave it 3 months some a year.... not us lads from Yorkshire, we gave it a lifetime
Having lived through the 80s revival & still being a Mod to this day 2022, I can safely say it was the best time of my life
Yes it was fantastic ,,,
You see kids today, wearing tracksuits. Mods had a great style, little pieces of detail that set you apart. Proper love of clothes & Music. We are the Mods❤️
I became so obsessed by it all. I had understanding older parents who'd already been through the youth thing with my brothers years before. They even bought me the Richard Barnes - Mods! book in 1980, bless 'em!
@@OldMod67 Hi bud I was the same , but to be true now I wish I never got involved in it all I have 2 vespa s and a lambretta ,, I never use them ,, just not in to it at all ,,,
I'm 53 and still living the lifestyle.
My dad started the parka brand called parka London ,, I remember him being contacted by the film makers of Quadrophonia to supply all the parkas for the extras ,, I was a kid
Lol, *LIES!* But good one! 👍🏻😂🤣💀
We wore Italian army fishtail parkas or German nato boxtail parkas army surplus lol Mr parka brand should zip fully up his snorkel parka and wander across traffic with his pinnocinose 6 feet Infront lol seen some whoppers then another walks right into it my dad invented and made spirit level bubbles also tartan paint but nowadays shoots wild haggis in Highlands of Scotland lmfaooo @@4th_Lensman_of_the_apocalypse
It never left loads of hardcore mods out there ✊🏻
@@ciao214Z I am fortunate enough to have been involved in the London scene since the time of this feature. IMHO, the first flush of revival mod in the South came with The Jam, 2-Tone and Quadrophenia. My personal route in was through a love of 2-Tone and Quadrophenia and I have no problem with admitting this. We only became aware of the established Northern scene later. However, this Southern scene had begun to peter out after Paul Weller broke up The Jam and many turned to other related subcultures like Northern Soul, psychedelia, scooterist and casual. The scene was rescued by individuals who did a little more research:, started their own clubs; introduced more Rhythm & Blues, Jazz and Ska sounds from the 50s and 60s; raised enough cash to start getting their outfits properly tailored as well as more individual touches. We stopped imitating groups like The Jam and made our own scene which became (and remains) for many, a way of life. You may be short-sighted enough to consider individuals who like to listen to certain types of music and wear smart clothes imitators, however, you are ignoring what is an enduring subculture with dedicated adherents all over the world. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a section of people who, after jumping ship in the 80s and 90s, seem to have rediscovered the 'scene and used their disposable income to become something of a parody of the '79 period and built up a distortion of the original mod ethic we choose to follow, as stated by Pete Meaden of "clean living under difficult circumstances".
Holy crap, the Nationwide feature from the archive. The earliest surviving film of Squire? Amazing, love it!
I saw Squire at the moddy kid saturday lunchtime club called La beate route in Greek st in 1981.Same jackets.
I reckon that was an exciting time to be young. Music, freedom and youth.
It was but we all wished we'd been around in the 60s.
.. and no social media
@@paulhanson5164 Nah never did and still don't
Shitey music
It's always an exciting time to be young. You just don't realize it at that time.
“Great dirties I tell thee” Fantastic. God bless the Yorkshire men!!!! What a brilliant slice of history of popular culture this is and a great forecast this Secret Affair fella makes.
I'm just an American Anglophile enamored with accents, but good God, there's English, there's British English, and then there's Yorkshire English! Phrasebook anyone, please? :-)
The Mod scene was huge in the ‘80’s in my hometown of Belfast. I wasn’t a Mod myself but I have friends from that time who were, and they are still friends. Mods have had a huge influence and their traces can still be felt.
Barnsleys finest. They're all still at it now. Loved that quadrophenia vespa when I was a 10 year old in 79.
The bridgehouse was a great place for live bands,the business and 4 skins played there back in the day,this is brilliant,thank you.
I was a mod in '79 (age 15). My first ever record was Poison Ivy by The Lambrettas. I still have it.
And then 2 tone was the massive thing of late 1979 .brilliant times
Secret Affair were brilliant and had their all too brief moment. Ian Page was located by the NME a year later working in a food packing plant.
Worked in the same office as him...felt like Jimmy coming across Sting as a bell boy in Quadrophenia!
@@mikelewis1436 You are joking, they were big in 79/80.
@@VincentRE79 yes, massive...
@@mikelewis1436 From TOTP to an office job in 18 months quite an achievement.
@@VincentRE79 no, I worked with Ian in the mid-90s when he'd been out of music for many years - badgered him to come back and like to think I sparked his long-awaited return in '99!
I remember this first time around. Northern clubs never gave up on the scooter scene.
Damn, that young Ian Page sounds level headed as hell.
York lads and Barnsley Vikings,,top lads,,,,proper scooterboys.
Refreshing candour from Entwistle there.
Movie "Quadrophenia" in 1978 was a big revival influencer, I remember kids in the suburbs of Preston circa 1982-1986 with scooters and those green 'fish tail' long coats with the mod / circular R.A.F. like stitch badge on the back !
They are still here in Preston now. A girl I know loves it and has a fishtail.
Quadrophenia was released at the end of 1979. Fantastic film, but l could never get the album.
I saw the film and had the album. Groups of revivalist Mods suddenly sprang up at my school in the autumn of 1979. There were already a few diehard Rockers. 2 Tone was getting big at that time,as well.
October ‘79
@@shack7631 Still have the original double album (pre the film).
I'd never heard of Ian Page (Paige?) before. Damn sensible and eloquent young guy. Not a mention of The Jam struck me as funny.
Secret affair lasted until the early 80's then Ian page left the music industry until returning in '99 with his own group and then reforming secret affair later on in the 2000's touring mostly and producing a new album in 2012 and touring mainly since then before the pandemic
Listen to Time for Action a classic mod anthem by them
The date of this piece was 13th September 1979. At that time Secret Affair's debut hit Time For Action was just climbing up the charts. They had a second Top 20 hit the following spring,called My World which is well worth a listen too.
The jam was the biggest band in England ,, secret Affair was a good band , but not in the same class as the jam best wishes from Durham England
Weller was cynical about the Mod revival and slagged off Secret Affair and Quadprophenia. If he was asked to take part in this, I'm guessing he refused.
Got my first Lambretta in 1982, by the mid 80s over 20,000 of us used to go to the Isle Of Wight for the August bank holiday rally and some are still doing it...I'm not suggesting that my getting a scooter was responsible for the rise in scootering's popularity. That first scooter cost me £200, if only I knew then what I know now, have you seen how much a 1960s Lambretta is worth today ?
The Small Faces are the true Mod Fathers
Add the Action too.
I thought The Who were.I `m no mod,never was,hate all that smart clothes thing and green jackets but some of the music was quite good including the Who
@@brianmorecombe2726 Daltrey was the only one of The Who even remotely into Mod.
@@brianmorecombe2726 Kinks.
@@Katy_Jones Someones understood that comment but i haven`t.Is it me that needs to go back to english classes?
Secret Affair were a great band regardless of the mod revival and should have been massive...
Punk, Mod, New Wave, 2-Tone and Teddy Boys. The late 70's were a great time for the 3 minute heroes. Or 1 hit wonders.
I say the moment Punk hit in 1976 but the charts didn't get good until 1977 right up till the end of 1982 with The Jam's last year but even after that loads of good youth scenes underground like the Scooter Boys, Reggae, Jazz and Psychobilly etc before the Acid House thing.
@@chrisr5499 I was describing the youth on the streets Saturday afternoon in the town centre in the City I dwell. I would have added football fans but they were driven by the team not music. I should also have mentioned rockers, there were a lot of them.
No Skins.
@@CARLIN4737 I always thought Skins were political. Not music driven. Old school Suede heads and Skinheads were music driven. Times were changing fast in the 1970's in to the 1980's.
Plenty of scooterists around in the early and mid-1970s. They were under the media radar, so clearly didn't exist.
Peter Hook from Joy Division and New Order was one.
The film Quadrophenia played a massive part in the Mod era. It's such an iconic & classic film one of the very best ever. Certainly one of my favourites
Mod was over ten years before Quadrophenia was made
@@Barefoot_Joe Yes I know that but the impact that film made is undeniable
It’s strange that quadrophenia made a mid revival as it’s a film about how stupid and superficial youth culture and mod culture is
@@Barefoot_Joe true, pal, but the film had a lot to do with kickstarting the mass revival.
@@Barefoot_Joe my parent's mates were the shepherd's bush mods and some closely tied to people who worked on Quadrophenia
It's the first time I've seen this since it was broadcast. I'd just started secondary school. Great time capsule.
I remember my U.S parka from yeomans army store back in 85, cost 30 quid and my jam shoes were nicked off the rail out side the shop when they used to put em out in pairs. Lol. Good old days, still at school and bit later on got into the Manchester scene.
Remember watching this first time round good to see again 😎👍
It seems to me that the London mods were fashionistas and music fans some of whom had a scooter. The northern Scooter boys loved and cherished their Lamrettas and some of whom liked mod music. Also as you could see many Scooter boys were highly talented customisers and very often bikers just bought from a dealer.
Yes Scooter Boys, not Mod, which was all about sophisticated high fashion & began in London. The Northern scooter boys were not true Mods. Not the originals at all. Scruffy oiks who had no idea how to dress. Scooters were for cruising around Soho looking cool, not crossing the f'ing Pennines.
Nothing ever started before London Mods who had all the italian labels well before anyone else infact every label Ben Sherman etc. To suggest anything else from up north is frankly ridiculous. Ben Sherman by the way was founded in Brighton.
Was up at the Casino one niter in 79. There were a load of guys, parkared, etc, in. After, walking out into daylight greeted by seemed to be 100's (?) of scooters kicking up and departing. Hadn't seen em on the way in. All off up to Morecambe niter/weekender. Impressive sight ! 😉
from an era when 2 stroke smokey engines ruled the streets! waaaang waaaang ting ting ting
Brilliant. Love any doc on the MODS 👍🎸🎤🇬🇧
No Weller or Jam? That year they had a massive hit with Eton Rifles, and four months after this went out Going Underground went straight in at number one.
Squire, Purple Hearts, Secret Affair, The Lambretta's etc..were all good revival bands not just the jam.
Jam were New Wave. They looked like Mods But The music was more punk. Real Mods listened to black American soul music.
@@original.dwornboy Well the original mods listened to rhythm and blues, the mod revival scene actually came from punk as you can hear in the revival tunes. Respect 🙌✌️
There was another group around at the time called The Merton Parkas. Paul Weller later broke up The Jam, to form The Style Council with one of the Merton Parkas, Called Mick Talbot.
@@DasTubemeister I'm going to find my old cassette's out and have a mod day 🤣😂.... Zoot Suit white jacket with side vents 5 inches long..... 🙌✌️
I was a MoD Revivalist, from East Anglia here in The UK, back in 1979 aged 17. Happy Days! xxxxx ♥🧿♦
Great footage of Ian Paige, he was a total face
Wow!!! fantastic!!!! what a gem of a glimpse into Mod, stuff the teeth grinding Mod Revival , Retro Fashion tags, Mod has never gone away, we are the Mods!!!
Pete townshend said a couple of years ago the who wasn't mod they were adopted by the mods
And then portrayed as Mods for publicity.
No, they adopted the Mod style, but by that time it was all over. Mods listened to modern jazz & soul, not the Who, & certainly not the sodding Jam.
Great video, never seen this ❤
I recall Paul Weller once saying, Ian Page was a one time failed Punk, now trying his hand at mod.😂
Looks like Ian succeeded at that. Secret Affair are up there with the best of the 1979 revivalists.
Time has proven Weller was a fake "substitute" sums him up by the who
All my friends were mods, with various scooters running on L plates, you could ride up to 250cc, but not carry a passenger unless they had s full car driving license. I had passed my test and rode around with them on the back. When it was pissing down, they all got in my van.
I'm from York. When we were kids, we used to go to the rallies, collecting patches...i've got a US army parka, wish i still had those patches, from the early 80's...i never bothered getting a scooter. Mountain bikes and skateboards came along, for me!
First their was punk 👍🧟, new wave , new romantics and the mod revival fantastic times great music
Walking Down The Kings Road. Mod's Mayday '79. The LP bought at the time and still played today.
No mention of The Merton Parkas. Paul Weller was so impressed, he split up The Jam to form The Style Council with one of them, Mick Talbot.
I'm from merton and never heard of them. But then again I was never a mod
Love the Tash on them
Clean living under difficult circumstances. Up the mods 😎
Yeah, I wanted to be a mod in my late teens. I dressed sharp.. I combed my hair. My mum was horrified. My siblings were into heavy metal and motorcycles at the time. I guess I was the white sheep of the family.
😂
I was a punk .. but for me, it was about style... and music... but loved Mod music and style...
Back in the day I didn't really rate the new bands, they were sort of Punk music in suits. I only realised how good the Jam were later in life, it was all about emulating the 60's look and collecting as many classic records as possible and finding the fashions in old Oxfam shops to recycle to look authentic. You could pick up a Scooter fairly cheap then and getting an SX200 was really easy cos there was always an old boy down the road who had one in a shed. Happy days.
You just about summed it all up for me.
I love watching this, inspired me... class -
My 21yr old daughter & her boyfriend are both mods. I think it’s great when young people embrace a scene from the past because they keep it alive & It’s a huge compliment to those who did it first.
lol i grew up around the original mods this era seems like hordes of people are imitating everything how we grew up from all eras i don't see it as a compliment
I was a mod in the early 80’s. The best days. I still have a Lambretta today.
Good for you my friend for sure l still play my dar's old records, I love the Merton parkas and the small hours, as my dar says best days of his life. COUNTY TIPPERARY IRELAND 🇮🇪 ☘
@@aklouslibby563 Scooby doo
@@fishermansid8861 😂
cute dog
@@kyfaydfsoab 😂
Seen video and recognised the white Vespa with car upside down, checked my photos of Southend 1979 and have 2 pictures.
The murals on that scooter are from the Quadrophenia album by The Who, not from Southend.
@@TheCardiganR very sorry but I was there and took the photo, the scooter was at Southend in 1979 not interested in where the murals are from, nice picture though.
@@markfrancis9119 sorry, I thought you meant you had photos of an upside down car in Southend...
No problem all clear now, thanks
Motown, Ska and Reggae were the Mods favourite music.
Northern Soul too
Rhythm & Blues
man, i´m getting flashbacks to the beloved mods i grew up around
Anyone out there who attended la beat route in greek st London in the early 80s.I saw Squire , RSG and 007 there plus loads more .I never realised then that I would be in a 60s band years later as a bass player myself on a ricky 4001. Also saw Small world at the 3 rabbits in forest gate , steve marriots local.
Monday night in Canning Town was buzzing! Young people only go out on appointments now. One big "blowout" a month I hear
Fantastic
What a wonderfully cynical presentation. There was a Mod gang in my little Northern town, mid eighties. They were the coolest cats. I remember 2-Tone being more about the music. Black and white folks getting together and making a new style of music. A different attitude to our parents’ old fashioned views which is what made it so cool 👍🏼
The narrator was a condescending old guard critic of (I imagine) anything that's passed him by.
Yeah Mod scene was strong in the mid 80s.
So there they are in thier Yorkshire Sunday best looking absolutely immaculate not a hair out of place ….then comes your big moment with the national news reporter who doesn’t understand you as you sound like an extra for all creatures great and small !!! 😂😂😂😂classic!!!
Shame on Yorkshire lads for speaking with Yorkshire accents. I was expecting a nice home counties vernacular or maybe even a thick Jamaican parlance.
Cool Documentary. Long live Rock.
I remember this being transmitted first time I've seen it in 43 years . Get the mod episode of Friday night Saturday morning up next please BBC . Oh and while you're at it the mod bits of time of your life hosted by Noel Edmonds too.
Time of Your Life 1984, wasn't it? One of the guys had a broken down scoot that belonged to Bob Manton.... And a sixties mod (George) talking about the life (and the speed) Yeah you're right, someone needs to dig that out!
There was a 1983 version of time of your life too where Vidal Sassoon picked 1964 as his favourite year too . The 1984 version was Terence conran as the main guest
Well, Secret Affair had a scintillating career...
They only lasted for 3 years but made 3 very good albums.
I bet the lead singer cringes at the crap he use to come out with back then.
@Paul Hall One man's treasure.. 😉
Were they meant to last forever ? I doubt it .
@@paulhall5548 Glory Boys I used to often play in the mornings before going to school and still sounds great, but even better was Business As Usual; although their last original album, I think it's their best. Like The Lambrettas first LP, it's just a really good pop record.
When I was a kid we had tribes based around music, punks, mods, new romnatics, rastas, rockers, etc. I myself was a heavy metal teen from the mid 1980s. I think it's sad that there doesn't appear to be diverse and strong allegiance to musical tribes like we had back in the 1970s and 1980s. I never really liked Mod music or clothes but I respected them as they had their own identity and they were and still are proud of it. Often times when we found a tribe we liked as a teen, we'd stick with it for life. I still look and dress like I did when I was teen, long hair and band shirts, it makes you feel like your part of something, that you belong to something and it anchors your life to something no matter what ups and downs life throws at you. Kids today could really do with what we had, a strong sense of belonging to some that's not really serious it's just music, but at the same time your tribal allegiance is a bond for life.
We are the mods we are the mods 👍
Ian page and Jimmy pursey of sham 69 talking mods and rockers 1979 on the TV show Friday night Saturday morning hosted by ned sherrin would be good to see
The Who are the greatest band for what will become soon over 60 years modism was a part of them but they are a rock band with a roll
15 when this film came out, still remember the revival from Sunderland.
Yeah I was too young for the 79-84 years but knew I lad called Stu who was in that scene and now or did works in M&S in the town.
Hazellbush cafe, the halfway to Scarbro brew stop 👍
Awesome
I want a 2022 version of this made. Royal Alloys Dr. Martens Ebay bling ......and not a salad in sight!!
GTS scooter with fox tail, and those bloody scomadi's! Comedy mods..
A nice, albeit cynical at times, little film. I liked the Mod purity spiral at the beginning and the one that sounded like Chorlton from Chorlton and the Wheelies. I think the take on the Mods v Rockers thing was a bit one sided. I don’t think the Rockers were always the innocent victims; they have as good as they got. And great picture quality too. Film - even 16mm shot on the fly - holds such lovely detail, colour and atmosphere.
Chorlton and the Wheelies was made in Chorlton. One off the animators was a yoing scooterist called John Squire, who played guitar in some local combo...
Anyone else just as soon give the narrator a good kicking?
Cool fashions. Especially as a contrast to the 70s (beards, long hair, disco, punk). Music...ahhh, really hit or miss with those revival bands. But man, they sure looked cool.
ugh, and people with their beards now
omg were you even around
@@kyfaydfsoab Yup. Funny but at ten tears old (1977), I got as a gift "My Aim is True" by Costello, then Blondie in '78. Until late 1980, I heard ska and The Jam etc on mainstream Canadian radio. After that, what became known as "alternative" was rarely heard anywhere except stations like CFNY. Long answer but, funny enough, I was just talking to someone about this today.
I regret never owning a scooter then , but I did have a Honda 75 cc in 1984 to do the taxi driver knowledge stuff .heehee
Time For Action -secret Affair , still smash that tune out even now and Im retired ! it's an Anthem , and I was one of the Glory Boys so called Secret Affair quasi Mods smart dresser type .
Walking down the Kings Road by Squire. Good days.
MOD REVIVAL and know one mentioned Tony Class
The High Numbers !! Itailian scooters & french style 😎...
I'm sure French style/design played a part but, wasn't it about Italian tailoring and the US college look.
Scootering in Yorkshire is stronger today than ever.
"I'm a mocker."
Guitar bands are on the way out
Ringo Starr
Can smell that 2 stroke from here
the picture of Peter Sutcliffe drew me in
A great time to be young ,got a vespa 50 special in 1979 , loved being a revival mod , at 17 got a lambretta, it was a exciting and scary time but feel sorry for today's teenager's got no tribe
4:44 is that Bernard Cribbins on the left? 😂
First video of Squire from the era that I have seen but they focus on the bassist not the singer on guitar lol.
Enzo left the following year, but great to see this early clip! I wonder if the BBC have outtakes from the night in storage...
Great mod shop called Tonics has opened in blackfen Sidcup worth a visit
Long live mods old and new 🤩😊😎🤗
Northern mods with moustaches! 😊
Good to see john entwistle RIP the ox
'This is my world today'
7:10 much as there's a conversation to be had about how much music entertainment is used in the larger media apparatus, i find it refreshing to take the focus off of gang-fighting as with the older Mods and making it more about having a place to play loud and party. the peacocking is pretty embarrassing once you accept that youth doesn't last forever and there are far more sensible enemies to be made.
I've never met anyone from canning town that wasn't absolutely nuts
We are t'Mods!!!
5 mins in the lad with the tash what a accent! Haven’t heard anyone talk like that before. I’m from London but assume that’s a proper Yorkshire accent from days gone by. “I tell thee” that’s something from old English. If only local accents had continued
I just commented on that. I couldn’t understand a word! And they say people from donegal are hard to understand. Could you make that out?
@@williamgeorgelopezjunior8533 haha ye I was able to understand it but it made me really focus! The Yorkshire accent is a strange one it has a lot of Scandinavian influence from my understanding, there’s a great video il link you that shows a interview with a much older man who I couldn’t understand at all and was a older version of this accent
@@williamgeorgelopezjunior8533 kzhead.info/sun/hsd-fMWQhHWMnKs/bejne.htmlsi=vJOf1A07P2qNrA-T
As an old punk this was quality 🙏
Shout out to John and Kenny ❤️
uh why are these KPOOP ' artists ' styled like our cultures ?
@@kyfaydfsoab Because culture is meant to be shared. And yes they're artists, they are perfomers
Narrator sounds like Eric Idle.
guaranteed the Yorkshire mods turned into scooter boys immediately the camera stopped.
The Narrator 😂