Voxed In

Some of us remember a time when learning about anything Mod wasn't as easy as reading a Wikipedia entry. And if you didn't have a group of friends already into it to teach you, it was even more difficult. If you were lucky enough, you could find addresses of fanzines modzines and hope they were still available.

I was lucky enough. One of the first modzines I remember getting in the mail was Voxed In from San Diego. I can't really remember the feeling I had opening up the large-sized manila envelope, nor can I remember what I first felt going through its pages.

No, my most vivid memory of this experience is running to class with the manila envelope wrapped between my schoolbooks. I remember it being a cool morning and I can still picture myself rushing across the lawn to get to the classroom, even though class didn't start for another 10 minutes or so. There was an excitement I was feeling that morning because I had in my hands something purely dedicated to Mod life! And not just Mod life... but proof of Mod life happening in California!

Even though I had spent the evening reading the articles, I wanted to spend those first 10 minutes before class going over them again. Plus, I wanted to show my latest purchase, another piece in my Mod puzzle, to my friends! In this 'zine, was information on current Mod bands, many based in my own state. There were pictures with guys in Mod clothing. There was information on Mods from outside the U.S. All in all, it opened up more windows into the Mod culture I was hunting down.

I met the editor of Voxed In, Scott Harper, once, at a San Diego all-dayer called New Sounds of the Sixties. I was about 17-years-old and still very much a newbie into this whole thing. When I saw him at the show, I actually got nervous. See, back then, I saw anyone who may have been in a band or put out something Mod-related as a sort of local celebrity. Y'know, as in "Wow, you put out the Voxed In modzine?" or "Wow, you're the lead singer of The Idea?" It may sound silly now, but not to a 17-year-old who was meeting other Mods for the first time. And at that New Sounds show, I had a chance to talk to the guy who put out this modzine.

I approached him and said something lame like, "Hey, you know Dez from the Contact modzine in Chicago, huh? Yeah, we're pen-pals friends!" He responded with something like, "Oh, yeah, I know Dez." And that was that. He was busy helping with the show and, really, what else was there to say? But for me, well, I walked back to my friends and announced, "I just met the guy who does Voxed In!"

Yesterday, I heard that Scott Harper passed away at a far too young age. It's really not my place to write about or announce his passing. We were never friends and I didn't know him. But when I heard the news, the memory of rushing to class that morning to re-read and share Voxed In with my friends hit me immediately. The memory of that excitement I felt now that I had new information on current Mod happenings close to my part of the state. And the memory of wanting to share that with anyone else who may have been interested that morning.

Although Scott Harper and I didn't know each other, I have to thank him for giving me those memories and opening those windows.