Mod Related

The Lamberts (UK only)

by Andrew Motion [Faber & Faber 8/95, 399pp.]

"A story of three generations destroyed by drink, drugs and bohemian life. George Lambert served as a war artist in Palestine and Gallipoli, and became Australia's leading painter. His son Constant founded the Sadlers Wells ballet, and Kit Lambert managed the pop group, The Who, and was murdered."

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Everyone's Gone to the Moon

by Philip Norman [Random House 4/96, 437pp.]

"Set in London during the Pop heyday of the 1960s, Everyone's Gone to the Moon gives us Louis Brennan, a naive but talented young reporter who has been recruited from a small-time daily to work for The Sunday Dispatch, London's most prestigious weekend newspaper. The job lands him smack in the middle of many of the mod era's golden moments, including recording sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Rolling Stones' notorious drug bust."

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Subculture: The Meaning of Style

by Dick Hebdige [Methuen 1979, 1981; Routledge 1979, 3/81, 1991, 200pp.]

"Hebdige broadens his writing. This volume is concerned with the UK's postwar, music-centred, white working-class subcultures, moving from teddy boys to mods and rockers to skinheads to punks."

"From mods to rastafarians this books covers the history and social significance of them all. Although heavy at the start the book levels out at a nice factual tempo providing meaning to every subculture youth movent interlinking them and weaving them with the music scene. There are a few gaps, perhaps due to lack of knowledge, which I believe are significant but have been left out. Worth a read if you are intrested in fasion, youth, sociological research or music."

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Style Of The Mods

by Dick Hebdige [Univ. of Birmingham 4/74, 14pp.]

"An academic look at youth and fashion in the 60s. One review described it as a "....piece of coursework done by a student in the 70s. it isn`t a good book if you`re just getting into the scene. if you are already quite knowledgeable it is well worth obtaining."

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Ready, Steady, Go: The Smashing Rise and Giddy Fall of Swinging London

by Shawn Levy [New York, Doubleday 7/02; Broadway 7/03, 336pp.]

"The 1960s in Swinging London brought about a sudden a wave of bob cuts, mod struts, pink-shirted blokes and Scotch-and-cokes. Had it not happened, 'nothing nothing of the modern world we share could have been the way it is,' writes Levy. Sure, the American journalist/film critic admits, there were youthquakes at other points and in other cities, but this was 'a cultural paradigm' that erased the classes and embraced freedom of expression, exploration and entertainment. The book, which lifts its title from the era's what's-hot-now! TV hit, spotlights the places and the faces who made dowdy London fabulous: The Snapper, photographer David Bailey, credited as first on the scene; The Crimper, hair liberator Vidal Sassoon; The Draper, Mary Quant, a fearless clothes designer; The Loner, Brian Epstein, who found his calling and when he found the Beatles. 'For a few years, the most amazing thing in the world was to be British, creative and young.' In three main sections structured loosely around the decade's rise, saturation and dark demise, Levy deftly correlates its many moods with such markers as the latest Beatles album, nightclub or drug first it was booze, then amphetamines, pot, LSD, heroin. An invigorating book, it's packed with can't-miss material on the skirt-chasing escapades of actor flatmates Terence Stamp and Michael Caine; the acid party that jailed two Stones and one famous art dealer; the reaction of London musicians to the coming of the "prophet of their downfall," Jimi Hendrix from the States. Levy has gleaned his insights from interviews and from books, but the book reads as if he'd lived the era himself."

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London In the Sixties

by George Perry (ed.) [Pavilion 1/03, 96pp.]

"A cutting edge series of books on cult cities London, Paris, New York and San Francisco, captures the key moments of the sixties through key images, accompanied by a succinct narrative by film critic George Perry. With the passing of the twentieth century into history, the 1960s can be confirmed as one of its most crucial decades, an era of unprecedented social and cultural revolution. Across the world, barriers collapsed, new freedoms were claimed and an explosion of creative energy electrified the arts, fashion, politics and general lifestyles, often with accompanying anguish. Certain world cities - London, Paris, New York and San Francisco - were, in their very different ways, at the vanguard of this global ferment. The series of books reveals the arts, fashions, passions, people and events in each of these cities during this extraordinary era, by means of candid, striking images by contemporary photographers. The selection has been made with the advantage of hindsight, and offers both insights and surprises. London in the Sixties includes the famous - Mick Jagger, Terence Stamp, Michael Caine - and the beautiful - Jean Shrimpton, Twiggy and Marianne Faithfull. Seminal moments are captured of Swinging London to give a thrilling taste of how it was to live in this exciting decade."

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The 60s : Mods & Hippies

by Kitty Powe-Temperley [Gareth Stevens 1/00, 32pp.]

"Part of a series which charts the evolution of fashion from the Edwardian tea-gown to Lycra sportswear, this book looks at the 1960s period. It contains eight looks, information about advances in design and technology, theme spreads, and an illustrated glossary."

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Groovy Bob : The Life and Times of Robert Fraser

by Harriet Vyner [Faber & Faber 5/01. 336pp.]

"The first authorized biography of one of 1960s London's most influential trendsetters. Arrested for possession of drugs with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in the infamous 1967 Redlands bust, Robert Fraser embodied many of the elements that made up Swinging London in the 1960s: pop music, fashion, drugs, art, and cinema. Yet he was himself a curious representative of his culture. An Eton-educated, former Kings African Rifles officer, and the son of a highly successful banker, Fraser was a promiscuous homosexual who avoided the gay scene. He was also a trendsetter, a hedonist, and a lousy businessman, whose artists -- including Peter Blake, Bridget Riley, Richard Hamilton, Jim Dine, Andy Warhol, and Ed Ruscha -- adored him. By the time of his death from complications due to AIDS in 1986, he had become an almost forgotten figure, his sixties vision out of tune with the conservatism of the eighties. In this new biography, the first to have the complete co-operation of Fraser's family and friends, Harriet Vyner has recreated not only an extraordinary figure, but also a compelling and colorful era. Told through the voices of those who knew Fraser best -- Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull, Kenneth Anger, Dennis Hopper, and many others -- Groovy Bob is both a fascinating biography and a portrait of the most exhilarating period in postwar British social history."

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Swingin' Chicks of the 60's

by Chris Strodder [Cedco 10/00, 204pp.]

"An affectionate tribute to the women who waged a cultural revolution, this book offers photos, profiles, and little-known details of the lives of 101 defining divas of the decade. Twiggy, Annette Funicello, Ann-Margret, Diana Rigg, Patty Duke, Janis Joplin, Mia Farrow, Marianne Faithfull, Cher, Jane Fonda, Edie Sedgwick, plus ninety more!"

"Chris Strodder's Swingin' Chicks of the 60's is a well-researched, fact-filled and very humourous trip down memory lane. Even if you don't remember the 60's or know all 101 of the girls, this book is for you. Strodder gives the 60's lowdown on the careers and lives of these women but also fully chronicles their lives from their early beginnings to what they are doing today. Many of these swingin' chicks have lived the 60's ideal that one person can indeed change the world for the better: Julie Newmar's political activism, Chris Noel's lifelong commitment to Vietnam Vets, Mary Tyler Moore's tireless work for the Diabetes Foundation, Tina Louise's school literacy programs and Cathy Rigby's involvement with the Special Olympics. This lively, informative book has chapters which include Beach Girls, Bond Beauties, Elvis Girls, Movie Stars of America, Britain and International, Songbird, TV Stars and even Cartoon Cuties. The book is a large-format trade paperback with colorful graphics which capture the 60's look and the text is enhanced with over 300 photos. This book is a must-read for everyone!"

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The Mini-Mod Sixties Book

by Samantha Bleikorn [San Francisco, Last Gasp 12/02, 144pp.]

"The 1960s was a revolutionary time not only in action and spirit but also in fashion. Filled with color photos, this book looks at 1960s youth culture through the hippest clothes of the day. Author Samantha Bleikorn covers everything from Day-Glo to daisies, with special emphasis on the miniskirt and go-go boots. Top models and actresses, from Twiggy to Stefanie Powers, display the most outrageous styles of the time."

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All Dressed Up (UK only)

by Jonathan Green [Jonathan Cape 1998; Pimlico 8/99, 496pp.]

"More of an overview of 60s culture. It begins with the "teenager", then Teds, Beats and CND, ending with the Oz trial, the women's movement and gay politics. Comprehensive, detailed, often hilarious, this will be the definitive account of the sixties in Britain, challenging the myths fostered by those who were there and enlightening those who were not."

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Sawdust Caesar

by Howard Baker [Mainstream 1/99, 223pp.]

"While there has been a fair amount of pulp fiction about the skinhead subculture (most notably Richard Allen's Joe Hawkins series in the early to mid-'70s), the mod subculture has mostly been absent in fiction. Baker looks to fill that gap with this novel of one early mod's exploits in and observations of 'the scene.' Apparently drawing largely on his own background as an early mod, Baker seeks to set the record straight through the character of Tommy. He firmly paints the movement as arising from working class kids who didn't want to buy into the existing social system. So, while there's plenty of detail on clothes, haircuts and the like, there's also quite a bit of social commentary-and as with any good pulp fiction, plenty of violence, drugs, and sex and sometimes all three at once. Baker's mods are violent, nasty, and always on the prowl. Tommy's definitely a scene snob of the 'old-school' variety, as he sneers at the middle-class mods who appear in greater and greater numbers. Indeed in fall 1963, 'The Who began to promote themselves as mod icons and we knew it was time to move on' and the Hastings 'riots' in August 1964 are described as 'the death' of mod. While much of the book's initial action has to do with early mod vs. rocker bank holiday battles, as Tommy starts to distance himself more from the scene, he gets involved in organized crime. The book then becomes something slightly different-portrait of the mod as a young criminal (actually as this point he's turned into a 'smoothie'). Things get heavier and heavier until Tommy is forced to make a choice. His adventures continue in Enlightenment and the Death of Michael Mouse, which I have not read."

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Teenybopper Idol (UK only)

by Richard Allen [1973; STP 1996]

"From London to Los Angeles, from Berlin to Paris, student riots are becoming more militant. In DEMO, the threat of a young people's uprising grows more real every day! Meanwhile, Bobby Sharp is the newest star in a growth of youthful worship. His records sell in their millions thanks to his manager who knows exactly how to manipulate the teeny-boppers. But not even Steve Morash can stop Johnny Holland in Teenybopper Idol. But Johnny Holland's rapid rise to fame made him enemies in the music business, and in Glam an the conflict finally erupts at the largest pop festival of the year!"

Bomp note: according to Jon Savage, this book was the source of the phrase "The Boy Looked at Johnny."

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Lambretta Innocenti : An Illustrated History

by Nigel Cox [Haynes 2/97, 96pp.]

"Nigel Cox is the premier Lambretta enthusiast of England. He owns a wonderful museum that includes every model of Lambretta ever made. HE IS THE AUTHORITY on the LAMBRETTA. This book covers Lambrettas from A to Z on everything from literature, sales brochures, advertising---heck everything. Go out and buy this book!"

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Scooter Boys

by Gareth Brown [Olmstead 7/01, 128pp.]

"Dead cool, if you're into sharp suits, shades and Wuadrophenia: this mostly pictorial document of the rise, fall and rise again of the humble Lambrette and Vespa scooter -- and the associated scenes which centered around this eminently impractical machine -- is written from the enviable perspective of an . Years of observation have clearly gone into this portrait of the original '60s movement, its spread until the early '80s and Britpop's adoption of the 'italian skateboard' in the mid-'90s. Although Brown has attempted to embrace the whole of scooter culture in this slim tome, he can only be partially successful due to the enormity of the scenes he needs to address. But he paints an appealing sketch nonetheless, and in any case it's the pictures which draw the reader in, especially the South Coast shots and the candid (and earthy) festival and rally scenes." --Joel McIver, Record Collector

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Vespa : An Illustrated History

by Eric Brockway [Haynes 5/99, 96pp.]

"This really is a great book with wonderful pictures. The title is however misleading in terms that it is in no way a definitive history of Vespa. It is however a very valuable resource on the Vespa in the UK and Douglas motorcycles. If you already have an interest and other resources on the Vespa history at large, and a passing interest in the socio-economic conditions in the UK in relation to the rise and fall of British motorcycle companies (a stretch, but I certainly do), the book is a must have. Some time is spent on the earlier Vespa clubs in the late 40s and early 50s, as well as detailed information on UK-only modifications and offerings well into the 1960s. Several pictures offer insight into Vespa production facilities and methods."

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How to Restore and Maintain Your Vespa Motorscooter

by Bob Darnell, Bob Golfen [Motorbooks Int'l 1/00, 160pp.]

"I am currently restoring my 1970 Rally 180 and this book has been a priceless resource. I am somewhat handy with tools but don't know all that much about engines and all that. This book helped me with everything I was unsure of. It contains just about everything you need to know in easy to read steps. In addition to the restoration section it also give tips for maintaining your scoot. Also, it has a nice little history of Piaggio and the Vespa motorscooter. This book is necassary for anyone who is restoring a Vespa. Especially if you are not as mechanically handy as you would like to be like me. The only downside to this book (and it really isn't a downside) is that everything is generalized for either large frame or small frame bikes. It doesn't really get into individual models very much. This isn't that big of a deal since they are all very similar. Just combine this book with the Haynes Manual for your bike and you are good to go."

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Scooterama : Cafe Chic and Urban Cool

by Alistair Walker, Steve Berry [Motorbooks Int'l 8/99, 128pp.]

"This book gives a quite good history of those beautiful little hair-drying machines that are scooters. It is filled with pictures of the old and the new (an advancement technologically, not stylistically...)and offers information about all the greats including Vespa, Piaggio and Lambretta and some newer brands to the scooter market. The only downside is the small amount of text, but mechanics buffs will be delighted the amount of detail it does contain. I myself didn't really mind, but it would've been nicer if there was more. A good one for the enthusiast."

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Scooters

by Michael Dregni, et al [Motorbooks Int'l 12/95, 96pp.]

"Just when I thought nothing could top the Dregni's earlier book (Illustrated MotorScooter Buyer's Guide), they have come up with another masterpiece with their new book. In Scooters! the authors trace the history and development of the scooter and make an ambitious attempt to show the effect of the scooter on society and popular culture. The book boldy attempts a full tour de force of the wonderful world of scooters and scootering.... Visually, the book is dazzling. Drawing from archival photos, advertisements, and brochures, many long forgotten or unknown images appear for the first time. Like the text, the photographs are often whimsical and attempt to cover the full panorama of scootering....If you are looking for a book to introduce a friend to the joys and romance of scootering, this is definitely the book. Quite possible, it is the best scootering book of all time." --John Gerber, American Scooterist magazine, Autumn 1996

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Vespa : From Italy With Love

by Stefano Biancalana [Geirgio NADA Editore 11/00]

"Especially LOTS of great colour photos, including ones of various models with some specifications (up to modern models), and extracts from vintage Vespa calendars and advertising as well as photos of muddy messy scooter scrambling! The text is also very interesting and gives a history of the development of the Vespa scooter. The only thing I did not like about it was the use of American spelling (it's an Italian book), but I coped with that. I think anyone who has a Vespa should own this book."