Mods and Rockers
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The Mods and the Rockers were two British youth movements of the early 1960s. Gangs of mods and rockers fighting in 1964 sparked a moral panic about British youth. They can be seen as a type of folk devil.
Rockers
The Rockers adopted a macho biker gang image, tending to wear such clothes as black leather jackets.
Mods
The Mods adopted a pose of scooter-driving sophistication. It was believed that Mods were cleaner and tidier than Rockers. They often wore colourful clothes considered outrageous by the standards of the time.
Conflict
Rockers – with leather jackets and heavy motorcycles – poured scorn on the Mods. For Rockers, Mods were weedy, effeminate snobs. Mods saw Rockers as out of touch, oafish and grubby. Mods were usually city dwellers, whereas Rockers tended to be more rural. Mods held down office jobs, whereas Rockers were manual workers. Musically, there was no common ground, with the Rockers clinging to 1950s Rock and Roll like Elvis and Gene Vincent. Mods favoured 1960s soul, RnB and Ska. Rockers rebelled from without, whereas Mods rebelled from within. Rockers looked like trouble, but most Mods looked like presentable, if rather arrogant, young chaps.
Fights occurred where territories overlapped or rival factions happened upon each other. Mods sometimes sewed fish hooks into the backs of their lapels to shred the fingers of manhandling assailants. Weapons were often in evidence – coshes and flick knives being favoured.
Second Battle of Hastings - 1964
The conflict came to a head on the south coast of England, where Londoners head for seaside resorts on Bank Holidays. In 1964, thousands of Mods descended upon Margate, Broadstairs and Brighton - to find that an inordinately large number of Rockers had made the same holiday plans. Within a short time, marauding gangs of Mods and Rockers were openly fighting, often using pieces of deckchairs. The worst violence was at Brighton, where fights lasted two days, and moved along the coast to Hastings and back: hence the tag the "Second Battle of Hastings". A small number of Rockers were isolated on Brighton beach where – despite being protected by police – they were overwhelmed and assaulted by Mods. Eventually calm was restored and a judge levied heavy fines, famously labelling the arrested protagonists as Sawdust Caesers. [link]In Popular Culture
The film Quadrophenia (1979), based on the album of the same name by The Who (1973), commemorated the Mod movement and its clashes with Rockers.The conflict between Mods and Rockers was the butt of a joke in The Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night. In a press conference scene, a reporter asks Ringo, "Are you a mod or a rocker?", to which he replies "[No, I'm a mocker]."
See also
- Greasers
- Raggare
- Teddy Boy (youth culture)
- Motorcycle gang
- Outlaw motorcycle club
- Rock and roll
- Quadrophenia
- The 59 Club
- Biker gang
- Brighton
External links
- [The Who Location Guide]
- [What the Rockers rode]
- http://www.photonet.org.uk/printsales/past/teenage/teenage.html
- [Rocker Reunion website]
- http://www.stthomasu.ca/~pmccorm/modsandrockers1.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A707627
- http://the59club.com/public_html/amerocker.html
- [Harold Hill: A People's History - Fire'n'Skill]
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