We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons. And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt.
Let's get straight to the point today. This is Ronnie Lane, of the Small Faces, in an awesome window-pane jacket with a breast-pocket flap:
Photo from the Magic Mac blog which always has the best photos.
Lane's hair is styled perfectly with sides that aren't TOO long and bangs slightly above his eyebrows. A nice pink-toned button-down which goes great with the brown of the jacket. And that jacket... whoa! You ever wonder if any of these clothes still exist out there in the world? Is this particular jacket hidden away in someone's closet, being unappreciated? Or is it in a trash heap somewhere? Just dig on how slick, yet comfortable, it looks!
Yeah, I used to be a Steve Marriott devotee. I dug it all, from his immense voice, to his sharp outfits, to his mannerisms on stage. When I was younger, I used to backcomb my hair, hoping to reach Marriott heights. Heck, I used to jokingly call myself 'Esteban Marriott.' And I still do really dig Steve Marriott, don't get me wrong, but these days, I'm much more of a Ronnie Lane devotee.
A few years back, our friends Mike and Sarah lent us a DVD on Lane's life (see bottom of this post) and it totally changed our perspective on his contribution to music. Soon after watching the biography, we hunted down his solo material and played it every day for months. I dug even further into The Faces output for every song Lane either wrote or sang on.
I know I should be writing more about how awesome Lane's Mod style was, but his music trumps all of that. If you're already hip to this stuff, you know where I'm coming from. If you're starting out with this Mod thing and haven't moved beyond the Small Faces yet, give Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance a... chance. You really won't be disappointed! The following are just 5 songs to open you up to the beauty of Ronnie Lane.
1. Debris
2. Kuschty Rye
3. Glad and Sorry
4. Barcelona
5. The Poacher
And here's just Part One of the documentary I referred to earlier. Enjoy!
We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons. And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt.
Everyone on Facebook is talkin' about the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones' first show. Listen, after enduring celebrity birthdays and celebrity deaths on Facebook, I don't think I can handle anniversaries of shows on there. (I can barely keep up with birthdays and anniversaries of real-life friends!) When a celebrity starts wishing ME happy birthday or happy anniversary on Facebook, than I'll get more excited about wishing him/her one on Facebook!
That said, in honor of the 50th anniversary, let's take a look at a stylish shot of early Rolling Stones manager, Andrew Loog Oldham:
Although I'm not into the general shape of Oldham's jacket, I still find it pretty interesting. For me, the lapels are a tad too wide, especially for a 2-button front. Growing up in the 1980s really turned me off to this look. But why does it work on Oldham? Is it due to the ticket pocket? Is it due to the pattern? Or does Loog just carry it off because of the confident swagger?
The details of the jacket aside, Andrew Loog Oldham just owns this look! The black button-down shirt, unbuttoned on top... that wide belt with the HUGE round buckle... the slim-fitting (but not 'skinny') pants... and a pair of sharp, narrow shoes. Damn!
Again, a great way to carry off a casual, yet swank, look. Think about this image next time you're trying decide on what t-shirt will go better with your jeans, the target t-shirt or the Jam t-shirt.
Ever wonder what the correct way to dance 'mod' is? Well, a few days ago, Parka Avenue posted a great video on Facebook. Now, take a moment, appreciate the lack of music to focus in on the actual dance steps, and learn a thing or two.
Feel like taking a fork and plucking your eyeballs out? Yup, I know how you feel. Don't get me wrong... I've no doubt these are 'professional' dancers. But, my god... that guy's horrible Beatle wig, peace necklace, and shirt made my skin crawl. And don't even get me started on that woman's stripper "go-go" boots! (Although her micro-mini-skirt is Mod Male-approved.) Then, you toss in all that hopping and those regimented dance moves we've seen over the years on-screen ranging from Troop Beverly Hills to Dancing With the Stars and I just can't take it. Things like this make me think, "Man, I hate the sixties!" until I look in the mirror and realize, "No, I don't."
Look, I know some of these dances were performed and popularized in the sixties. It was the times, making a dance fad out of anything possible. These days, however, my guess is that these dances are usually reserved for 1960s-themed costume parties across the nation.
Now, although the instructional video above refers to those dances as 'mod' and although there's a chance that some of these dances might have been performed by actual Mods in the sixties, I'm guessing that a lot of Mods were most likely dancing to a different set of dance moves... dance moves created in the clubs and then broadcast on the weekly Ready, Steady, Go!
I love watching these clips of actual 1960s-era Mod kids getting down with their foot-steppin'. This is the stuff that has inspired so many over the years. The foot shuffles, the ankle twists, the hip shakes... that's how you work it! From what I've read, the popularity of these dance steps changed as often as the fashions. Things are different today though.
Personally, I don't do the Freddie. I don't do the Underarm Scratch (or whatever that guy in the top video was doing). And, so help me God, I definitely do NOT do the Batman. I do lean more toward the foot movements demonstrated on Ready, Steady, Go! But, you don't have to be tied to any of these moves to dance 'mod'. And you definitely DON'T need to dance like the couple in the first video. In fact, please please please spare us those dance moves!
Here's a secret for you: I used to HATE dancing. When I was in 7th grade, I asked a drill team member to be my date to the first dance of the year. Surprisingly, she said yes! She had to work the refreshment stand at the dance so I had to meet her there, but I didn't care. I was on my first junior high dance date! When Stacey Q's 'Two of Hearts' hit the speakers, she and I jumped on that dance floor and got down! Well... I thought I was getting down. I remember the exact dance I was doing: the same dance Lisa Bonet did on the Cosby Show opening credits. I thought I was doing pretty well until the one nerd kid at the dance started making fun of my dance moves. Yes, I was so bad that even the class NERD looked cooler than I did.
That was the last time I danced... until I learned how to 'skank' a few years later. Of course, I was even doing that dance pretty badly. I was doing the running-in-place skank. Ugh. I was even more hesitant to dance when I started going to Mod parties. Some of these guys were great, but I had less rhythm than that character on the Fresh Prince show.
Things changed though. One night, well into the early morning when one of these parties was still going on, a few people started dancing to Small Faces videos. One of them grabbed me to join, but I was too nervous. Luckily, I was also a little drunk so I gathered up the courage and just went for it. No one made fun of me, despite the fact that my feet were not moving to the songs playing. But it didn't matter... no one cared. We were all just there to have fun! It wasn't a game to see who could dance the coolest. It was just a chance to dance to awesome music with your buddies.
Despite that experience, I did want to try learning how to dance a little better. I did want to try learning how to make use of rhythm. There was one image I really took to in the Mods (Richard Barnes, page 52) book... an image of a kid about to unleash some massive dancefloor magic:
I wanted to learn whatever move this kid was doing. That's when I started to study old videos. I wasn't looking at instructional videos, like above. I wasn't looking at videos of people dancing "sixties"-style. Naw, I went straight to the masters. If you're new to this whole thing, I definitely recommend the same. No, none of us will ever be as good as these guys, but it'll give you some great direction. And notice the most important thing. Everyone in these videos just moves so effortlessly. They're not thinking about their steps.
Take Sam and Dave, for instance. Dig on this whole piece, but if you want to get straight to their steps, check out the 3:23, 4:04, and 4:34 marks:
Whew! I gotta loosen up my collar after that!
Of course, when you think of soul dancing, I'm sure James Brown is the # 1 guy you think of and for good great reason! Here he is, doin' his thing with Sammy Davis, Jr. If you go out onto a Mod dancefloor, chances are you'll see at least 3 people trying to work these moves.
I said before that I don't really like doing regimented 1960s dance moves. Y'know why? Because the early '70s happened. As much as I like sixties music, it's those early seventies funky dances that can really get one to steppin'! Some of those dances can be as mellow and controlled as Michael Jackson here at the 2:24 mark:
Or, you can just go all out and really let loose, 1971 Soul Train-style (to Curtis Mayfield, no less)! These dances may not really be 'Mod,' but, hell, who cares? If you got funky moves like this, you shouldn't keep them hidden.
And now, there are even more modern dance moves to try borrowing from. Check out Aloe Blacc here, lookin' slick and lookin' hip, all while gettin' his groove on:
Mods of today, you know how this works: take a little of the old and mix it with some of the new. Apply that to your dance style and roll with it!
I didn't get much into Northern Soul dancing here because, frankly, I'm not super into it. Don't get me wrong, I think some of those dancers are amazing! I know a couple who blow minds out on the dance floor. But, I absolutely HATE talcum powder on a dance floor. And, I'm not really into those feet sweeping moves. Personally, I think more Mod dancers ought to shake their hips more and pick those feet & knees up when they're dancing (see Sam & Dave above)! But like I said, when you got good Northern Soul dancers out on the dancefloor, they really rock that floor.
I'm not a great dancer, but I do like having a good time at Mod/Soul/whatever dances. You might not be a good dancer either, but that's not the point of all this. Forget regimented dances like the Monkey or the Frug. Forget the idea of 'Mod' dances. JUST GROOVE. But... try groovin' well! And try not to step on your neighbor's toe.
We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons. And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt.
Lookin' for the king bee? You found him. Slim Harpo, the man who helped fuel hits for The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and many more. Not only was he a master of the harmonica (and guitar), but he was also as swank as they get:
The photo above is filled with nice, detailed touches, from the thin, harlequin-patterned tie (with tight, perfect knot) to the hard-edged fold of the pocket square. In addition, you have the sharp, striped suit with thin lapels, and the broad (wedding?) ring and wrist-watch. Slim Harpo's just looking at you and daring you to match his suave self!
Slim Harpo is, hands-down, one of my favorite blues musicians. When I first moved to the Bay Area, one of the first LPs I purchased was 'The Best of Slim Harpo'.
What caught my eye immediately was just how slick he looked with that gal totally entralled with him. But when I played the LP for the first time, it was like all these Mod musical questions being answered at once for me. I was getting the roots of all these covers I had been listening to up until this point: The Rolling Stones' cover of 'I'm A King Bee', The Crawdaddys' cover of 'Rainin' in My Heart', The Yardbirds' cover of 'Got Love If You Want It' (which wasn't on this album, but a song I heard around the same time), The High Number's re-dux of that song as 'I'm The Face' , etc. Slim Harpo's originals were just so much more haunting than their covers. Then, when I heard 'Mohair Sam' for the first time, that funky groove just hit me right!
Slim Harpo... one of the most suave blues men that ever was. Now get to groovin'!
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!
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.
