Mods n Rockers And How They Beat the Crap Out of Each Other
More Mods and Rockers vintage motorcycle meetups are cropping up across North America and around the world. The mod-rocker movement has inspiring the vintage motorcycle scene and is attributed to the café racer revival. But back in the 60's, in England, a Mods and Rockers meetup, defined by fashion and style, guaranteed fights and brawls. Rockers would ride to Blackpool, Yarmouth, Brighton and other sea side areas for a weekend rumble with Mods.
The Rocker was defined by a chains and studded leather jackets. The Mods, dressed in tweed and swede shoes. They were the first real sub-cultures of the 60's youth movement.
Rev. Bill Shergold Second from Right
Mods and Rockers fighting
The Sea Side Riots of '64
"No weapons other than fists, boots and belts. You had to have been there and lived it to know what it was all about. Those days can never be duplicated, nor should they. Yeah, mods and rockers was what England was all about. It defined us, it made us unique." - Rod Templar
In 1964, the BBC reported on the what is now referred to as the legendary Sea Side Riots. Things came to a head around Easter weekend May 18 and 19 when thousands of teens descended on a number of sea side towns where they were involved in skirmishes on the beach and promenades around Margate, Brighton, Bournemouth, Whitsun and Clacton.
At the Palace Pier in Brighton alone 1,300 Mods and Rockers gathered chanting and jeering at each other. They threw deckchairs around, broke them up to make bonfires, shouted obscenities at each other and at passers-by, jostled holidaymakers and terrified elderly residents. They threw stones at police but when they tried to disperse them and the Mods and Rockers united and staged a mass sit-down.
Both Mods and Rockers were jailed and given prison sentences. Some offenders were sent to detention centres for up to six months.
Brighton Mod-Rockers
Brighton Rockers 1964
Rockers on the Chelsea Bridge
No media - No moral panic
It was the youth movement of the 60's, but labelled the "moral panic" by newspapers.
'You had to be there to understand what it was all about.' Editorials fanned the flames of hysteria, calling Mods and Rockers internal enemies bringing about "disgrace and disintegration to the nation's character".
They were called "virmin" and "louts". The media went so far as to fake interviews about the mod-rocker violence. Then, of course, newspaper writers also began to associate Mods and Rockers with various social issues, such as teen pregnancy, contraceptives, amphetamines, and violence.
Quadrophenia, a 1979 British cult film, tells the story of how London Mod Jimmy Cooper, disillusioned by his parents and his job, finds an outlet for his teenage angst with his Mod friends Dave and Chalky. They all find themselves at the sea side riots in Brighton.
Quadrophenia Movie Poster
Stan Cohen documented the movement in his book, Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. His text was foundational in terms of investigating the workings of subcultural groups and identifying the concept of a 'moral panic' generated by the media.
In an interview with Vice Magazine, Cohen explains that moral panics are expressions of disapproval, condemnation, or criticism, that arise every now and then to phenomenon, which could be defined as deviant. The example I took was the perceived misbehavior, which we would now call 'anti-social behavior', of teenagers which was really exaggerated, and out of proportion to the original events.
Today a Mods and Rockers meetup is a friendly, civilized affair
No brawls, no deck chairs flying. Although, maybe it would feel good to throw a punch or two, but not at a biker, at a distracted driver.
Triumph Motorcycles at Mods vs Rockers Chicago 2011
Related Stories
Check out these photos of the Melbourne Mods and Rockers 2011 meet up. Where you there? Do you have a mods-rockers story?
