Glasgow Mods - R&B, British Beat Music, Motown, Northern Soul

Then there’s the Watford Bypass, a road that by-passes the town ofWatford and that has now been by-passed by the M1. There it is-more than two miles of lightly traveled straight-away, perfect for burn outs and for doing the ton. The Busy Bee, now that the lorry drivers no longerstop, has become a latenight refreshment spot for the young people from surrounding communities. the majority are cyclists, but many show up in cars. Among that second group are the Mods.

Now the Mods of Mods-vs-Rockers fame observe a considerable different lifestyle than the Rockers, thought they come from the samesixteen-to-early-twenties age group. Where most Rockers are tradesmen or labourers, most Mods are white-collar workers-clerks in any of the enormous bureaucracies that British society produces. The dress of the Mods is stylish, modish (or ” Mod ” ), colorful, expensive, and carefully maintained.

For transportation, the Mods have chosen motor scooters, mostly Vespas and Lambrettas, which, again are more stylish or stylized than mostmotorcycles, and to which they add a vast array of lights, reflectors, horns and mirrors. Scootering has a functional value: the machines are cleaner and therefore protect the rider and his prized clothing from road grime as well as engine grime. Mod hangouts or meeting places are more often coffee-houses than diners and cafes.

These clearly distinguishable difference between groups of young people make for clearly defined conflict, especially in a society as class-oriented as modern Britain. Mods versus Rockers means clerk versus labourer, white-collar versus blue-collar, dude versus scrub, scooterist versus cyclist, dandy versus tough. A few rumbles at beach resorts and there’s a beautiful bit of puffery for the international press.

The flaw in such journalism is that the class origins of these young people are really not all that distinct. They all come from lower or lower-middle class families. Their respective incomes are about the same. Besides turning on to girls and music, they (like the papers say) all go to the beach. Each group harbours some overt homosexuals, but neither is characterized by homosexuality. Probably More girls flock to the Mod crowd, because fashion and artiness conventionally have more feminine appeal.
At the Busy Bee we saw just about how the group conflict works out-what the rules of the game are. Everyone accepts that the Busy Bee is primarily a Rocker watering place. So when the Mods show up, they must divest themselves of their most conspicuous symbol. This season the symbol is a kind of poncho or cape that pulls over one’s head and substitutes for a jacket. Rainbow colors and exotic weaves create a flamingo effect.

Mod males leave their capes in the cars when they come into the Busy Bee. Women don’t count in the battle, and the girls from either group come in dressed as they are. For the most part, the Mods and their girls sit apart in a group by themselves, rather stiffly.

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