Mod to Suedehead

[Thin White Duke]

These were the 'baseball' boots I remember (basketball boots)
View attachment 2032063

Not nice.

Yup. We called them ‘basies’ but they were really basketball not baseball boots. My Mam got all four of us a pair each for our summer holidays when we went to Gairloch in NW Scotland. They didn’t last long and the long laces were a pain *********** but they were perfect for us scrambling around the beach rocks that summer of 1972. I can remember the following songs being played over and over on the Radio 1 limited playlist as we drove up there. (It pissed down 12 out of 14 days and we burnt the skin off our backs on the two days it was sunny!)
You Wear It Well - Rod
Automatically Sunshine - Supremes
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do - David Cassidy
Silver Machine - Hawkwind
Starman - Bowie
Rock And Roll - Gary Glitter
I Can See Clearly Now - Jonny Nash
(Can you imagine a top 40 being that eclectic these days?)

 

[covskin]

I'm pretty sure basketball boots were popular around the time the Harlem Globetrotters came into the public eye over here. I had a pair like the above too.

 

[Reggae Mike]

I'm pretty sure basketball boots were popular around the time the Harlem Globetrotters came into the public eye over here. I had a pair like the above too.

My Dad took me to see those guys. One of the highlights of life.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

I remember them, but not necessarily being worn by mods. They were pretty popular amongst all kinds of kids, for a while. Mostly pre-teens, I would say. I kinda associate them with snake belts.

I do, however, remember a trend for going to a bowling alley in a pair of worn-out shoes, swapping them for bowling shoes, and conveniently "forgetting" to swap them back before leaving.

In 1967, in my early mod days, I did have a pair of blue canvas boots - same basic shape as Clarks dessies. I didn't see anyone else in those!

Once, in Blackpool, my mate Paul Archer* turned up in a pair of plain white plimsoles, and for a while two or three of us did the same, but that never really caught on.

*I'm still in touch with him, via Facebook. He's happily married and enjoying life in Blackpool. Back then, we all thought he was from London - which gave him a lot of street cred amongst us - but in fact he was from Torquay.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

A bit of news. Yesterday I met my friend Kate Mowbray for coffee in St Andrews. She confirmed that she has decided to apply to run "Soul Shack" on STAR (St Andrews online student radio station) for the coming semester, and that she will have me back as a guest on the show several times. I shall be researching for the show, suggesting tracks to her and interfering in general! I've told her she can certainly get away with recycling all the Motown/Stax/Atlantic classics for two semesters, but she has her own ideas and has a good feel for the aesthetics of soul for a person in her mid/late 20s. I predict that we shall have some pretty decent shows to upload onto Mixcloud.

If anyone wants to make requests & dedications, or suggest tracks, please let me know. I'm open to one or two post-1970 tracks (I rather like Ce Ce Peniston's 'Finally', for example - can't sit still to it), as well as pre-soul R&B and blues to show where the genre comes from. Northern Soul is always an option, with the proviso that tracks really ought to be ones that come across well on internet radio.

 

[Inkss]

On canvas shoes, been watching The Prisoner series again for like the half a dozenth time. Bought some McGoohan-style Hush Puppies.

 

[Reggae Mike]

Got a great deal on this stripe shirt from Brooks Brothers.

 

[Inkss]

Me mam found this photo of yours truly aged 13 in my first whistle.

Bought from the Carnaby Cavern. I can't imagine many 13 year olds today being allowed to go Up West on their own, let alone being trusted to, or even wanting to buy a suit. It's not that it's more dangerous today. It isn't.(no matter what the hysterical press would lead you to believe) Soho was a lot more rough in the early 80s. Nonces, ponces, runaways, dirty macs and nutters in every nook back then, and the whole area stank like a peepshow mop.

 

[Inkss]

A bit of news. Yesterday I met my friend Kate Mowbray for coffee in St Andrews. She confirmed that she has decided to apply to run "Soul Shack" on STAR (St Andrews online student radio station) for the coming semester, and that she will have me back as a guest on the show several times. I shall be researching for the show, suggesting tracks to her and interfering in general! I've told her she can certainly get away with recycling all the Motown/Stax/Atlantic classics for two semesters, but she has her own ideas and has a good feel for the aesthetics of soul for a person in her mid/late 20s. I predict that we shall have some pretty decent shows to upload onto Mixcloud.

If anyone wants to make requests & dedications, or suggest tracks, please let me know. I'm open to one or two post-1970 tracks (I rather like Ce Ce Peniston's 'Finally', for example - can't sit still to it), as well as pre-soul R&B and blues to show where the genre comes from. Northern Soul is always an option, with the proviso that tracks really ought to be ones that come across well on internet radio.

Reckon this'll be right up your street Doc :

 

[DavidWatts69]

Me mam found this photo of yours truly aged 13 in my first whistle.
View attachment 2033849

Bought from the Carnaby Cavern. I can't imagine many 13 year olds today being allowed to go Up West on their own, let alone being trusted to, or even wanting to buy a suit. It's not that it's more dangerous today. It isn't.(no matter what the hysterical press would lead you to believe) Soho was a lot more rough in the early 80s. Nonces, ponces, runaways, dirty macs and nutters in every nook back then, and the whole area stank like a peepshow mop.

I wish I'd been looking so sharp at 13!

 

[Reggae Mike]

Me mam found this photo of yours truly aged 13 in my first whistle.
View attachment 2033849

Bought from the Carnaby Cavern. I can't imagine many 13 year olds today being allowed to go Up West on their own, let alone being trusted to, or even wanting to buy a suit. It's not that it's more dangerous today. It isn't.(no matter what the hysterical press would lead you to believe) Soho was a lot more rough in the early 80s. Nonces, ponces, runaways, dirty macs and nutters in every nook back then, and the whole area stank like a peepshow mop.

Cool like ice, sharp like knife.

 

[Thin White Duke]

Me mam found this photo of yours truly aged 13 in my first whistle.
View attachment 2033849

Bought from the Carnaby Cavern. I can't imagine many 13 year olds today being allowed to go Up West on their own, let alone being trusted to, or even wanting to buy a suit. It's not that it's more dangerous today. It isn't.(no matter what the hysterical press would lead you to believe) Soho was a lot more rough in the early 80s. Nonces, ponces, runaways, dirty macs and nutters in every nook back then, and the whole area stank like a peepshow mop.

Not many 13 year old looking this clued up and sharp in any location in any era so well done.
I may be giving you a couple of years but I was almost 15 IIRC when I got into the Mod look and visited the Carnaby Cavern (not actually in Carnaby Street!) maybe a year later in 1980. Had to wait a while as they’d closed for a short time as we’d just missed The Jam being in for fitting. They showed me a pair of ‘dummy’ frogmouth strides that were the model for Bruce. Even at a young age I was a bit disappointed by what they had on offer then - polyester suits etc - looking back I suspect that The Jam may have used them for their stage clothes which could be easily washed and reworn on the road, then had their higher quality gear made at a ‘proper’ tailor.

I recall an interview in Smash Hits with Bruce at the time he had his solo career starting - he was wearing two button checked suits with low gorge and wide lapels. Said his tailor was someone in Camden IIRC! Good to see that phase didn’t last as he was always the best dressed in the Jam and has long since returned to three button suits and jackets.

 

[Kingstonian]

A bit of news. Yesterday I met my friend Kate Mowbray for coffee in St Andrews. She confirmed that she has decided to apply to run "Soul Shack" on STAR (St Andrews online student radio station) for the coming semester, and that she will have me back as a guest on the show several times. I shall be researching for the show, suggesting tracks to her and interfering in general! I've told her she can certainly get away with recycling all the Motown/Stax/Atlantic classics for two semesters, but she has her own ideas and has a good feel for the aesthetics of soul for a person in her mid/late 20s. I predict that we shall have some pretty decent shows to upload onto Mixcloud.

If anyone wants to make requests & dedications, or suggest tracks, please let me know. I'm open to one or two post-1970 tracks (I rather like Ce Ce Peniston's 'Finally', for example - can't sit still to it), as well as pre-soul R&B and blues to show where the genre comes from. Northern Soul is always an option, with the proviso that tracks really ought to be ones that come across well on internet radio.

I don’t really listen to the music of my youth but the reggae version of Spancil Hill amuses and entertains me.


Compared to the unaccompanied version by Robbie McMahon


or The Dubliners version

 

[Botolph]

I don’t really listen to the music of my youth but the reggae version of Spancil Hill amuses and entertains me.


Compared to the unaccompanied version by Robbie McMahon


or The Dubliners version

That is a weird two-chord version. Weird, but fun.

 

[Reggae Mike]

I don’t really listen to the music of my youth but the reggae version of Spancil Hill amuses and entertains me.


Compared to the unaccompanied version by Robbie McMahon


or The Dubliners version

Very soulful.