A Very British Phenomenon, But...

At a pretty early age, I became infatuated with a particular British subculture... which is obvious if you're reading this blog. However, it wasn't the 'Britishness' which captured my attention. It was the method by which that subculture chose to express itself which piqued my curiousity, leading me into a life-long obsession.

Sure, the fact that the whole Mod thing was, indeed, very British did get me interested in the social/economic/cultural conditions of post-war England that led to Mods and surrounded their existence throughout the sixties and beyond. And to this day, I still find that whole history fascinating.

However, as much as I love that history, as much as I think the Union Jack is actually a great design motif, and as much as I really dig the humor of Ricky Gervais, I've never considered myself an Anglophile. For one thing, I don't spell the words humour or colour. Too much typing energy for me. I have also never used the words mate, oi, blimey, carboot, arse, or shite in conversation. I use my middle finger when flipping people off, not a two-finger salute. I call women women, not birds. And I don't know a thing about Manchester or Liverpool football teams. (But I do know it's better to call it football and not soccer!)

That said, I love a lot of British music from the 1960s up to today. (But, I also don't care for a lot of British music... Blur and Oasis, I'm looking at you.) I would rather watch a marathon of the U.K. Office instead of an episode of the U.S. Office. (Let's face it, the British know how to make great TV!) I think know James Bond is way cooler than Jason Bourne! And, of course, British culture helped spawn my greatest obsession: Mods!

And yes, it was a 'very British phenomenon.' Over the years, on occasion, I've heard about how non-British Mods have gotten called out on how they can be into this subculture when they themselves aren't even British. I've always found that to be an odd put-down, especially considering how world-wide interest in Mods has grown over the years. As a Mexican-American, personally, I've been asked before how I could be into a culture that is neither Mexican nor American in nature. And heck, I don't even live in Mexico, unlike these Mexican nationals!

My response to questions like these is that Mods/Modernists themselves weren't feeding off their own culture to begin with! Heck, they were influenced by bits of European culture (Italian scooters, French films, etc.) and a whole lot of American culture! In fact, as I've gotten older, I've realized I'm getting more into the American influence that originally fed Mod tastes and continues to do so today.

So today, in honor of the 4th of July (Independence Day), let's celebrate some of the American influences on Mod/Modernist culture over the years. (Click the header links for more info!) And then, go throw on The Kinks' Something Else LP to balance it all out!

Modern Jazz (and Soul Jazz, for that matter)

John Coltrane
Photo source: the Ivy Style blog.

The Chico Hamilton Quintet
Photo source: Night Lights.

Ivy League Style

Photo source: The Ivy League Look.

Photo source: Ivy Style.

Photo source: A Modernist.

Photo source: Phil Are Go!

American Blues and R&B

Muddy Waters

Little Walter
Photo source: All About Jazz.

Levi's 501s, Sta-Prest, and More

Photo source: Where is the Cool?

Photo source: VINMAG.

Soul Music

The Impressions.
Photo source: Doo Wop.

Etta James.
Photo source: Little By Little (Hales).

Steve Wonder and the Funk Brothers.
Photo source: Soul Walking.

Bass Weejuns

Photo source: The Weejun (didn't see that coming, did you?)

American Pop Artists (Yes, British Pop Art did pre-date American, but keep in mind the prevalence of these images in Mod design over the decades.)

Roy Lichtenstein - Sweet Dreams, Baby, 1965

Andy Warhol - Campbell's Soup Can, 1964

Well, there you go. Mod may be a British phenomenon, but where would it have been without all of these great American influences? And, quite frankly, where would I be without all of those great British Mod influences? Not writing this blog, I'll tell you that.

Hope you have a super fun Independence Day today! Me, I'm oddly craving some fish & chips, a pint of Boddingtons, and some British freakbeat music right now. Go figure.

The Mod Target

Yeah, I get down on the Mod target a lot, as seen here and there. It's not at all that I don't dig it, really, but it's just so over-used as a Mod image. It's as if putting a target on anything makes that thing 'MOD!' I just don't buy it. Plus, in my eyes, only one guy has really ever made the target look slick:

My fave image of the Mod target as clothing on Keith Moon.

As seen above, the target as a design motif can be pretty cool. The Parka Avenue blog has a nice write-up on the target-as-Mod-icon worth checking out: http://parkaavenue.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html. For me, though, the standard blue/white/red target has been done to death.

However, over the years, I've always appreciated the attempts at either creating variations on the ol' blue/white/red image or coming up with something new altogether. For instance, as a teen, I thought this was amazing and oh my god why didn't anyone think of doing this earlier:

It's like the standard Mod target, but something's just a little off...what could it be...?

Wow! By reversing the colors, I was blown away by the look. (Hey, as a teen I was easily impressed, so lay off.)

I was also really taken, at the time, with the color contrast of this, my ol' Squire pin:

Back when I used to walk the streets thinking it was a Mod, Mod world.

Such a simple, great design that can really work well with other color schemes. In fact, the Anorak Thing blog had a great post a while back on the varying Air Force roundels that have influenced many a Mod badge: http://anorakthing.blogspot.com/2011/06/bullseye.html.

But why limit it to just 3 colors? During my last year of high school, I saw the Mod target taken to a new, cool level with this record sleeve:

Oh yeah... bringin' back memories of senior year in high school!

I loved the liberty taken with the old Mod icon on this sleeve... and no, I'm not talking about Paul Weller and his love beads. Adding in an extra ring along with the green and yellow colors made the the target seem new again. After this, why go back to the standard?

Today, with so many awesome graphic designers out there, the target can be an excellent tool or jumping-off point for nice designs. Saw this recently for an all-dayer thing that recently occurred:

I just like how they built the imagery over a usually stale target.

 Some time ago, this guy I know tried to take the target and build it up with slightly psychedelic paisleys for a club night. Don't know if it was successful or not:

And no, I didn't swipe the idea from Ben Sherman... in fact, didn't see their version until a month later!

Back in high school, I would spend so much time trying to research anything Mod and, thanks to The Who, anything pop-art. That's how I came across Jasper Johns, the guy I thought responsible for the target imagery in the first place:

Jasper Johns, age 29. For more info, click here.

I'm horrible because I used to cut images of his paintings out of books to hang up on my wall... one of many things I'll have to answer for come Judgment Day.

Now, oddly enough, there was another pop artist around this time playing with targets: Sir Peter Blake.

Self-Portrait with Badges  1961 - This must be where the idea to cover up your jacket in badges came from!

Peter Blake is an interesting guy, especially when it comes to Mod iconography, such as his painting of... you guessed it:

The First Real Target, 1961

Most famous (I think) for his design of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP, Blake has also gone on to design record sleeves for The Who (Face Dances), Band-Aid (Do They Know It's Christmas?), and Paul Weller... and what's that I see on the sleeve:

That's a pretty awesome cover, you gotta admit.

According to interviews, Sir Peter Blake refers to himself as a 'lifelong Mod' and has recently teamed up with Fred Perry to offer a limited range of shirts taking cues from his art style:

Interested in what this is about? Look no further than here.

And the amazing ModCulture website posted a very recent interview with Sir Peter Blake that's worth checking out for his take on pop-art and the Mod thing: http://www.modculture.info/2011/08/video-sir-peter-blake-interviewed.html

The target can be a great visual tool in design, but overall, I'm just a little burnt-out on its use to identify anything as Mod. These days, you won't find any targets on me. Not on my suits, not on my coats, not on my shirts. My target days are behind me because I think that at my age, I shouldn't need to brandish a target to let anyone know what I'm all about. Too easy.

Now excuse me, I've got some shopping to do: