As a rocker I can remember fighting with the mods in Bangor near Belfast on most Bank Holidays back in the day. Now when I'm on my bike and I see some of the aging mod group I smile and give them the big thumbs up. Kids nowadays don't know how to enjoy themselves.....
The guy talking at about four minutes was right, it was all blown out of all proportion, I too was at Brighton during those bank holidays, I was a Mod on my Vespa GS 160 and although there were a few little bust ups, on the whole it was quite a good time to be there. I always thought that the guys on motorbikes would sort of look down on our scooters because we could not go as fast as them but then we used to look down on them because they could only wear scruffy clothes, we could dress up to look good when we went into the clubs to pick up girls but when we rode our bikes, we had our Parkers on to protect our clothing. Some girls preferred the Mods, some preferred the Rockers, it was like belonging to two separate clubs but overall, it was just young people having a good time and I loved that period of my life, it got boring once I got a car.
That's the difference between Mods and Rockers once a rocker always a rocker.. Mods were just a fashion statement, part of the system, pop music, fashion ect.. and although people thought Mods were like angels they weren't and the proof was lots turned to into skinheads, unlike rockers/bikers who remained Rocker bikers.. I got into rock at the age of 13 and I'm still into rock, I still ride a bike, I still wear a Brandon stye jacket with a cut, Boots and Jeans.. 🤟😎
@@OldSkoolBiker62 yes, of all the bikers that I knew and still ride bikes, the majority of them are still scruffy, just like they used to be and I don`t know of any Mods that turned to being Skinheads, we all just grew up and out of the phase of being a Mod. Being a mod when I was young was a terrific time but when I matured and started with cars, I never wanted to go back but I did have a Honda and two Kawasaki's but putting on the gear and wearing a crash helmet soon had me back in my car, it was fun but much nicer to travel by car. Sorry but I feel that the bikers that grow old and still think that they are rockers are fooling themselves, they are just old men that cannot accept that they are not just old men riding motorbikes.
@@honestchris7472 Well I don't think I'm a rocker I am a rocker lol.. always listened to rock and always will.. but I'm not scuffy these days.. I'm very clean cut.. but still have a beard and had long hair up until a few weeks ago when I decided to shave it off.. yes I'm old, and I'm proud to be old, a lot of my mates didn't make it.. I also love cars and would never sell my Gti..
@@OldSkoolBiker62 So, in fact what you are saying is that you are an older guy that listens to the same music that you used to listen to when you were young but really, you are not a Rocker, that was like being in a club, just like it was with the Mods, it was us just being part of something, a group of young people enjoying that way of living but that went long ago. As I said, old people that ride motorbikes are not Rockers, they just still ride bikes.
I'm an original mod from the 1960's. I bought my 1967 Lambretta SX 150 in red and white brand new then decked it out with flyscreen, backrest and extra lamps. I subcribed to "Scooter World" magazine. Took my Lambretta to Brighton once but my favourite places to go were Wales and Derbyshire. My favourite mod music was The Who, The Small Faces and The Move. Sold my scooter in the 1970's. I like a lot of the mod-revival music from the 1980's though.
My aunt was a Mod and she fell in love with a rocker they met on that weekend in Brighton but ended up staying away from the fights and later on they dated and eventually got married in 1970 and are still together today and they still go to Brighton where they met infact their just back from there
In 1964 in upstate NY it was the Hoods vs the Squeaks. The Hoods being the bikers and the Squeaks being clean cut. I was a Hood, still am today at age 75. Still ride motorcycles too.
Growing up early 70's, here in the Massachusetts, us Hippies types were buds with the Greaser types. The greaser type loved their Budweisers (as did we), but us hippy types were into all kinds of psychedelic drugs too. If you were part of of the certain area of town (West End for me), we all got along. We were more into hippy type music and rock, and the Greasers were more into Zep and Alice Cooper and such.
@@teleguy5699I have been a Rocker/Biker since my teens.. I have as many hippie friends as I do biker mates.. In the 80's I even lived on the road with many Hippie traveller's/Convoy here In the UK.. I loved the music and the drugs.. we all grow up in the end so I stopped taking drugs but the rest remains. 🏍....... 🤟😎 🏴🇮🇪🇬🇧
@@OldSkoolBiker62I know some mods ended up becoming hippies once they realised the limitations of speed, but didn’t some rockers end up becoming hippies too? Also, didn’t some rockers end up getting into the leather scene?
You have to remember every Mod would've been a Rocker one/two years earlier. I can remember looking forward to reaching that magic age of 16 and getting a Triumph Bonneville or Norton Dominator but just like the Teddy Boys to Rockers the Mods were the next 'fashion 'move. Rockers weren't called Rockers until there were Mods, that was the distinction. The Rockers stayed behind, the Mods were the new phase, a new phase with 'STYLE' metaphorically printed on their Suits, their Parkas, their Scooters their Image. I loved my copper plated GS160.....but I look at a Triumph Bonneville today.....and wonder... could I have been a Mod on a Triumph? What a machine!
Rockers and/or Mod...you either like the Beatles or the Stones..scooters or motorcycles... dedicated Rocker hang out or Mod places. The picture of a friend and l at 3.29 in about 63/4 ... it was a hell of a time to have ones youth...what ever your affiliations ..
Yes I was a mod and fixed all the bikes and shooters for free I had the who and the jam playing while fixing my Yamaha RD350YPVS Scooter handled so bad but looked good with mirrors
1979 my ambition was to become an "Angel". My father had a different opinion. He got me a 1960s Li 150 Lambretta and one of his hairdressers. To be honest I didnt regret it. And to be honest - there wasnt much difference 😉
I remember hearing about mods and rockers as a child in London in the early sixties and saw glimpses of them but was kept well away. In my early teens it was "skinheads and greasers," I was neither really but you had to follow something at my school or be outcast. To be honest I had a deep hate for skinheads, the ones I saw were like packs of dogs looking for someone vulnerable to pick on for no reason, kicking and stomping them on the floor with those "bovver boots." Plus I always preferred rock music, he long haired image. I think "glam rock" helped when it arrived because although the music was "iffy" it was mainstream but neither one nor the other. Where I lived it was all about not getting your head kicked in, without showing your fear. There were places I wouldn't go near, but mine was a small world, maybe it was different in other towns and regions. Its funny how childhood and adolescent experiences become part of you. Here I am after a full life travelling the world, enjoying a second youth at 60 with long hair and two very large motorcycles and nothing left to fear; yet even now when I see a group of resuscitated old mods (the same DNA as the skinheads that followed) on scooters and we are polite to each other, I can feel my hair stand on end and part of me wants to blow them off and cut them up on the road. If I met the same guys in some other situation I'm sure we would get on fine, but when you're "in uniform" the tribal instinct is hard to hold down. Explains a lot of history, probably.
This is a classically British phenomenon that never materialized here in North America. There were always roving motorcycle clubs across this continent, which later became notorious via negative (mostly fictitious) news media coverage of a drunken riot at a rally in Hollister, California. It was never really mainstream. Most kids in the 60s fell in love with the hippie subculture, drugs and psychedelic rock&roll.
@grindupBaker rockers do ton up boys.if your refering rockers are greasers your wrong rockers are not greasers look the same in ways but style is different different likes two different subcultures.for example pirates are different to wreckers they both plunderer ships in a different way.its like some people teddy boys are greasers are rockers teddy boys are big difference yes they're all rock n rollers but different group subcultures.theys a lot confusion with all these groups if you don't know the difference.any way keep rocking 🤟🤟 stay safe 🤟🤟🏴☠️🏴☠️
I remember our family driving down to brighton in our old Austin a 50 I was about maybe 7yrs old, when a load of rockers thundered past us the noise of the bikes was awesome, all in black leather girls on the back, I was hooked that's what I wanted to be when I grew up, of course by the time I did grow up it was all over no more mods or rockers, I think I missed out on something-------maybe?
That’s me and a friend at 3.29. This was actually at Southend - on- sea. not Brighton . My mother gave me hell for being on the BBC news something I wasn’t aware of. I never saw this newsreel until seeing this 55 years later..I was 18 at the time.....
@@cycologist7069 yeah mate absolutely. saying that tho loads of things happened because of punk it was a ground zero moment. amazing really mod revival skinhead revival then early goth bands then grunge later. being a music fan i love it all
@@karlclarke It’s funny. While I can see how 60s British rockers had some influence on late 70s/early 80s punk rockers, I always thought of the rockers as being the metal heads of their time and mods sort of being the punks. Over time, things cross over.
Great mini series on TV. Reminds me of the Mockers events put on by John Martin in the 90's in Southend, playing both a mixture of Rock 'n' Roll, Northern soul and sixties music.
I ride a Victory touring bike and occasionally an old 58 Harley 3 wheeler. My riding partner has a BMW that he never rides but he does ride his Honda scooter with me 2 or 3 times a week in the summer. Everybody in town laughs with us and we have great fun riding our scoots and handing out American flags to the little ones.
Bank holiday punch ups, it was great. I remember around 200 of us in cars and bikes being escorted through Margate by the local plod the beach front was lined with parkas. We ended up having a punch up in Ramsgate. I`m grown up and sensible now. LOL
let a few of us Teds and rockers patrol some of our streets at night, i gaurentee the so called hard kids won't think themselves so hard after a few nights lol
I loved the music of the era, Beatles, Stones, The Who etc. and liked to dress smart. I also road a Norton 750 so tis era always confused me. I was a Mocker.
I always imagined Rockers to be mechanics or construction workers for a living. Mods on the other hand worked as shop assistants in M&S or British Home stores
Unfortunately a lot of people don't understand that the Ton-Up/Rocker subculture was and still is all about British motorbikes, Rock'n'Roll and Rockabilly, greased hair, and that smart looking style that began in the 1950s and evolved ever-so-slightly during the 60s. It was a uniquely British subculture based on American 50s music and a style influenced by the American Greaser look, the Teds and the RAF of WWII. "A youth cult based on a rebellious form of transportation; timeless music; and a style from a more innocent time, will never fade away."
I'm told I was born in 1964 in the US. I've been messing around with British bikes since I was 17. now got a 1951 Thunderbird almost ready for the road by springtime. I'd find them dirt cheap in the 1980s but those days are over!
I have a factory BSA Lightning Clubman nearing completion. First stop the Ace Cafe. I missed it first time round as I'm a mere 52 yrs old but yes - I'd have been a rocker. My jacket will have a Slayer pentagram though :-)
I was a young Rocker in 1964 and went to Brighton (not on Mayday though) I went with friends, 3 of us were Rockers and the other 4 were Mods, We all managed a day in Brighton without fighting each other. Good times.
Lots of fun as a kid growing up in Liverpool with dockers strikes ,every kid had a guitar wanting to be famous ,I was a mod ,boyfriend had a scooter we went everywhere on it .those were the days
The press mostly set up the "mod v rocker" fights they would offer a few kids a few quid to mock a fight so they could sell a story to the papers.....the press will never change.
Yes I've been looking back at all this and now its strange Looking at the bigger picture I've come to think that it was a sham I think music and youth culture was used as weaponry We had a massive Soviet power near us and in days past the young would join political groups to rebel Post war they didn't want that so set up paper gods to turn to to entertain us Play a clash record put in a leather your rebelling, well no your not as the rich owned most music and the bad boys turned out to have dads in political power or from arts school What they gave us was music drugs fun gangs workers fighting workers What wasn't wanted was the young joining political gangs like in the 30s And the anti government things were set up by government think tanks to stop fascists as that needs 100% government worship like the ww2 Now music sucks we have more polarized political thinking Put a record on quick
@@somethingelse4878 YES hence Punk being born imo but Music has held the protest way before then. It's identity to the means (if that makes sense) is all rebelling when feel it's a lost cause that needs to be heard. There is some polarising music being made still
I was a rocker from 1964 till now. How can vesper compete with a norton dominator 650. Of course wear a leather jacket and you were in league with the devil. Bikers forever
No they were not, in the 60s the motorbikes were sort of greasy, that`s why we called them greasers, I think that you are talking about what we called "teddy boys"
1983 the back end of the Mod revival, I was a 13 year old Mod, fish tail, Fred Perry's , boating jackets, then that summer holiday my mate came back from Liverpool, all Tacchini, Fila and Adidas, we became casuals, football changed for us that year, never looked back, still got a bean can when I was 17...
Agree, still ride British bikes, wear a leather with cut, jeans and boots.. and still listening to heavy metal. 🏍....... 🤟😎 Where I live 🏴 (40 yrs) My blood 🇮🇪 My nationality 🇬🇧
now that im older i appreciate all species, even the mods, but you have to admit that if not for the ROCKERS we would be stuck in land of EOR, heavy metal can change the world, the power of the head banger should not be underestimated. and if not for the mods we may never have felt such a need to CHANGE THE WORLD, heavenlymetalmaiden
I know i was well past the times being born in ,87 ive still always been fascinated by the culture of the Times I watched qudraphenia about 10 years ago and I loved it. Being a brit I prefer British made films I still learn something new all the time about people and the way of life.
I know mods became skinheads, got into the northern soul scene or became hippies when they realised the limitations of speed. What did the rockers become by the end of the sixties? My mind’s eye has the image of rockers either joining outlaw motorcycle clubs, becoming Teddy Boys, getting into the leather subculture or becoming hippies. Am I right?
Some english nannys here in a pub ( ny- usa ) asked me which I was, a mod or a rocker. Well I was on my 1964 triumph bonneville. So I said rocker of course. They had a cute ac ent which I copied. Many people thought I was from the uk too. Ah the 60s. Miss those days.
I was a young rocker in brighton and I can assure you all the fighting was minor, NO battles as the outdated BBC put it. It was more running back and forth. The real fighting was when we rockers became greasers and fought the scumbag skin'eads!
Strange: When ever you ask people who had been actually there they say, there wasn't much fighting going on. BBC and Newspapers picked out the most shocking pictures and thus produced a false impression.
I was at Brighton and believe me all the hype that the media put out was a load of crap, There was some minor trouble but when you get two opposites together you will get some sort of reaction, it was all about selling newspapers I worked on the door of a night club at the time and fights happened all the time but nobody got to hear of it because the press didn't know about it
Sunshine Saxon Pete Townsend wrote his interpretation of the sixtes a great film, but at the end of the day it was only a film get in the real world, if all that happened in real life then I would have thought that some one would have been serving life for murder
Even if I had money when I was younger I wouldn't have spent it on crap clothes designed by snobby designers.. mods were and still are a fashion/pop music culture.
@johncox2115 THAT was the whole point, rising above that is what being a mod was about. Scooters were more cost effective than motor bikes and still got you around leaving money for clothes. Apart from the fact Vespas are cool lol
Do they still have any of these groups in England now, or what is the scene now? It looks like the beaches were not a warm enough place to swim so they just hang out on bikes and kept the jackets on, right?
The Rocker has always been associated with Rock n Roll and rockabilly, so yes they are still about, but not in the numbers they once were as the Rockabilly lifestyle now has over 60 years of fashion to choose from. The Mods are still around but like the Rockers smaller in number. The Mod scene has also spawned a child called scooter boys who seem to listed to Mod music and the Rockers music E.G. Two Tone and Psychobilly.
+runreilly They were manual. Usually four gears, I think. My old Vespa PX in the 80s was anyway, and it evolved from the 60s scoots. The bikes would, I imagine, have been larger capacity engines than 150-200, as "ton-up boys" (riding over 100mph) could never have done so otherwise.
I was a Mod in Glasgow,early 1960s, and I had a Vespa 125cc and a front carrier with lights and a Jaguar car silver hood ornament on the headlight, stuck in where the high bean light would show,and a huge antenna at the back that i got from a Tank and when I went around corners it would catch on a lamp post and bend back and forth, the police gave me a ticket for having a dangerous weapon and I had to take it down. Tamla Motown music, speed pills washed down with Vodka was the order of the night, Parkas dyed purple with a fur collar.
Bikes generally started at 250cc & up, although "real" bikes were usually at least 500cc or 650cc. There were also a few 1000cc bikes around but they were expensive & rare.
@@abw48 cool! I had a swan hood ornament on mine and whip antena. Got stopped by cop said your mirrors are a little wide response "I can fix that" ran my hands up my stems and stadiums asked is that better? All good lol, had no licence
Not really, both mods and rockers were young working class people, there was no rich poor divide, they just liked different styles of music and fashion
Wrong.. Bikers are cool mods we're a fashion statementon two little wheels.. music was and still is crap.. But hey we have all grown up and if I see a mod riding solo and I'm in a good mood I will nod.. but memories are deep.
Are you sure you are spelling that right ? From memory it was "WE ARE THE NOBS" !!! Scooters were ok - but Motorbikes were for Men ! 100 mph shut throttle- Oom-Baaa. "If theres one fing that I like its a Burn up on me Bike" Happy days indeedy
I was 16 years old In 1964 in Sothend all my friends were mods and rockers all had bikes and scooters. I was a little different l liked dressing nice but owned a c15 bsa and couldn't stand scooters but as soon as we where 17 straight into a car everyone either bought a mk 1 Ford consul or zephyr and after a year on to the mk 2 zodiacs got your parents to insure them and you as added driver , petrol was four gallons for a pound everyone had plenty of cash to spend what great times to be a teenager.
I was about for the second wave of the Mods late 70s early 80's I would be I suppose classed as a Rocker as I was into Heavy Rock / Metal jeans and leather jacket but there was also the Punk's , Skin's , Scooter scruffs Rude Boys about at the same time all fun and games
I was young, I was fresh faced, I dressed snazzy, in the blink of an eye it disappeared...............live your young lives fast and furious my friends and worry about the consequences later!
Original skinhead has NOTHING to do with the american and east european bonehead nazis,it came from the hard end of mod and like mod loved black culture especially the jamaican rude boy and a great love of r n b.just thought i'd say. Ha and they hated greasers as well
Fitzliputzli23 "Original" skinheads as I recall them got their idea from the film Taxi Driver. Look at the transformed taxi driver and that is quintessentially what the kids started mimicking.
T Hemphill Gotcha. Didn't know it went back that far. I always thought it was an insignificant trend, without any real movement behind it, and a fairly cynical "let's get the kids out rebelling and buying records" thing like the punk movement.
+Roadghost88 Yeah, skinheads started appearing around 1967 in England, just the harder mods really and influenced by Ska but still very keen on how they looked.
Ah clip ones, dustbin, Tritons, featherbed frames,North Country Night Riders, or was it No C#nt No Ride, oxo cube corner , the ton, punch ups, noddy bikes, those were the days my friends.
The only reason Rockers ride big bikes is because of a leather sexual fetish and having inadequate genitals. Try doing 80 mph plus on 10 inch wheels and see who cant handle it. Ha ha
😂🤣😂 Very different from when I first got my licence here in the early 80s here in Australia. 😂🤣😂 Can see why my dad got arrested so much in the late 50s Britain being a Biker.
I had to laugh .... at the Rocker near the end of the film. Studded leather jacket, jeans, Nazi helmet, looking 'the part' - with 'L' plates on his bike! "Me Mum made me put them on, mate"!!
Old Rockers never die,they only smell that way. Rock 'n' roll forever.👍🍺😎
Im 67 And Ive Owned My 56 T110 / TROPHY/BIRD EAST Coast Style !!! 😁I STILL Ride it g
they only fade away
As a rocker I can remember fighting with the mods in Bangor near Belfast on most Bank Holidays back in the day. Now when I'm on my bike and I see some of the aging mod group I smile and give them the big thumbs up.
Kids nowadays don't know how to enjoy themselves.....
like you say that was then.
@@jeffb9903!??!
@@Team-fabulous sorry i meant things are different now.
@@jeffb9903 unfortunately they are ha ha ha
All good fun. Once the angst has gone all theres left to do is laugh :)
The guy talking at about four minutes was right, it was all blown out of all proportion, I too was at Brighton during those bank holidays, I was a Mod on my Vespa GS 160 and although there were a few little bust ups, on the whole it was quite a good time to be there. I always thought that the guys on motorbikes would sort of look down on our scooters because we could not go as fast as them but then we used to look down on them because they could only wear scruffy clothes, we could dress up to look good when we went into the clubs to pick up girls but when we rode our bikes, we had our Parkers on to protect our clothing. Some girls preferred the Mods, some preferred the Rockers, it was like belonging to two separate clubs but overall, it was just young people having a good time and I loved that period of my life, it got boring once I got a car.
That's the difference between Mods and Rockers once a rocker always a rocker.. Mods were just a fashion statement, part of the system, pop music, fashion ect.. and although people thought Mods were like angels they weren't and the proof was lots turned to into skinheads, unlike rockers/bikers who remained Rocker bikers..
I got into rock at the age of 13 and I'm still into rock, I still ride a bike, I still wear a Brandon stye jacket with a cut, Boots and Jeans.. 🤟😎
@@OldSkoolBiker62 yes, of all the bikers that I knew and still ride bikes, the majority of them are still scruffy, just like they used to be and I don`t know of any Mods that turned to being Skinheads, we all just grew up and out of the phase of being a Mod. Being a mod when I was young was a terrific time but when I matured and started with cars, I never wanted to go back but I did have a Honda and two Kawasaki's but putting on the gear and wearing a crash helmet soon had me back in my car, it was fun but much nicer to travel by car. Sorry but I feel that the bikers that grow old and still think that they are rockers are fooling themselves, they are just old men that cannot accept that they are not just old men riding motorbikes.
@honestchris7472 😏 but it does require dedication, would you not say?
@@honestchris7472 Well I don't think I'm a rocker I am a rocker lol.. always listened to rock and always will.. but I'm not scuffy these days.. I'm very clean cut.. but still have a beard and had long hair up until a few weeks ago when I decided to shave it off.. yes I'm old, and I'm proud to be old, a lot of my mates didn't make it..
I also love cars and would never sell my Gti..
@@OldSkoolBiker62 So, in fact what you are saying is that you are an older guy that listens to the same music that you used to listen to when you were young but really, you are not a Rocker, that was like being in a club, just like it was with the Mods, it was us just being part of something, a group of young people enjoying that way of living but that went long ago. As I said, old people that ride motorbikes are not Rockers, they just still ride bikes.
So, being a Mod was a fashion trend but wearing a leather jacket & riding a motorcycle has never gone out of style.
No surprises there...
As it ever been in style??
No mods wore parkas and drove Lambrettas N vespers
@@JapatiYTP Yeah, just like no soldier ever carried a gun...
@kyfaydfsoab What? The whole idea of being a mod was to dress fashionably. Do you even know what a mod was?
@kyfaydfsoabDefinitely was and still is a fashion trend.. Part of the pop and fashion culture.
I remember it well, I was there, im still in the 59 club and ride my motor bikes at 73, 118 till I die.
Should have read 18 till I die.
Thanks so much for posting this! We link to it in the shownotes for the Ace Cafe podcast with Mark Wilsmore.
I'm an original mod from the 1960's. I bought my 1967 Lambretta SX 150 in red and white brand new then decked it out with flyscreen, backrest and extra lamps. I subcribed to "Scooter World" magazine. Took my Lambretta to Brighton once but my favourite places to go were Wales and Derbyshire. My favourite mod music was The Who, The Small Faces and The Move. Sold my scooter in the 1970's. I like a lot of the mod-revival music from the 1980's though.
ive had bikes since i was 16. but ive had scooters as well . im 62 and still ride and still love both. ride free.
Wasn't mod culture pretty much gone by 1967? Anyway don't forget bands like The Birds (not to be confused with Byrds), The Creation, The Attack.
My aunt was a Mod and she fell in love with a rocker they met on that weekend in Brighton but ended up staying away from the fights and later on they dated and eventually got married in 1970 and are still together today and they still go to Brighton where they met infact their just back from there
Romeo and Juliet story. Or "West Side Story".
@@teleguy5699yeah
In 1964 in upstate NY it was the Hoods vs the Squeaks. The Hoods being the bikers and the Squeaks being clean cut. I was a Hood, still am today at age 75. Still ride motorcycles too.
Growing up early 70's, here in the Massachusetts, us Hippies types were buds with the Greaser types. The greaser type loved their Budweisers (as did we), but us hippy types were into all kinds of psychedelic drugs too. If you were part of of the certain area of town (West End for me), we all got along. We were more into hippy type music and rock, and the Greasers were more into Zep and Alice Cooper and such.
@@teleguy5699I have been a Rocker/Biker since my teens.. I have as many hippie friends as I do biker mates.. In the 80's I even lived on the road with many Hippie traveller's/Convoy here In the UK.. I loved the music and the drugs.. we all grow up in the end so I stopped taking drugs but the rest remains.
🏍....... 🤟😎 🏴🇮🇪🇬🇧
@@OldSkoolBiker62 Cool! Rock on my brother.
@@OldSkoolBiker62I know some mods ended up becoming hippies once they realised the limitations of speed, but didn’t some rockers end up becoming hippies too? Also, didn’t some rockers end up getting into the leather scene?
You have to remember every Mod would've been a Rocker one/two years earlier. I can remember looking forward to reaching that magic age of 16 and getting a Triumph Bonneville or Norton Dominator but just like the Teddy Boys to Rockers the Mods were the next 'fashion 'move. Rockers weren't called Rockers until there were Mods, that was the distinction. The Rockers stayed behind, the Mods were the new phase, a new phase with 'STYLE' metaphorically printed on their Suits, their Parkas, their Scooters their Image. I loved my copper plated GS160.....but I look at a Triumph Bonneville today.....and wonder... could I have been a Mod on a Triumph? What a machine!
Rockers and/or Mod...you either like the Beatles or the Stones..scooters or motorcycles... dedicated Rocker hang out or Mod places. The picture of a friend and l at 3.29 in about 63/4 ... it was a hell of a time to have ones youth...what ever your affiliations ..
BANG ON g
It is great the way you have worded that
my dad was a rocker he only wore a crash helmet in the winter to keep his ears warm
Absolutely brilliant....
My grandad was a Mod in his time, he still has his isetta scooter and a few more to this day. Love that style
nice
I was a mod until my first ride on a Motorcycle then I bought one, still riding bikes now 50 years latter.
Yes I was a mod and fixed all the bikes and shooters for free
I had the who and the jam playing while fixing my Yamaha RD350YPVS
Scooter handled so bad but looked good with mirrors
Shite story
1979 my ambition was to become an "Angel". My father had a different opinion. He got me a 1960s Li 150 Lambretta and one of his hairdressers. To be honest I didnt regret it. And to be honest - there wasnt much difference 😉
Scooters are for sissies, motorcycles are for men ✌️
@@stevenr2463 but stevie boy, rockers had testicles 🍑, sweetheart,🌹just ride them 🛵perfume burners with the rest of the posing darlings 🌺😂
I remember hearing about mods and rockers as a child in London in the early sixties and saw glimpses of them but was kept well away. In my early teens it was "skinheads and greasers," I was neither really but you had to follow something at my school or be outcast. To be honest I had a deep hate for skinheads, the ones I saw were like packs of dogs looking for someone vulnerable to pick on for no reason, kicking and stomping them on the floor with those "bovver boots." Plus I always preferred rock music, he long haired image. I think "glam rock" helped when it arrived because although the music was "iffy" it was mainstream but neither one nor the other. Where I lived it was all about not getting your head kicked in, without showing your fear. There were places I wouldn't go near, but mine was a small world, maybe it was different in other towns and regions. Its funny how childhood and adolescent experiences become part of you. Here I am after a full life travelling the world, enjoying a second youth at 60 with long hair and two very large motorcycles and nothing left to fear; yet even now when I see a group of resuscitated old mods (the same DNA as the skinheads that followed) on scooters and we are polite to each other, I can feel my hair stand on end and part of me wants to blow them off and cut them up on the road. If I met the same guys in some other situation I'm sure we would get on fine, but when you're "in uniform" the tribal instinct is hard to hold down. Explains a lot of history, probably.
You have to admit, the skins were into some pretty catch music: th-cam.com/video/Oxicw1-7dOw/w-d-xo.html
And: th-cam.com/video/Bk1nDkHppDM/w-d-xo.html
Well said.. I feel the same way.
Great to see that the Mods and rockers are still around today but thankfully not having punch ups on a bank holiday weekend on a beach
This is a classically British phenomenon that never materialized here in North America. There were always roving motorcycle clubs across this continent, which later became notorious via negative (mostly fictitious) news media coverage of a drunken riot at a rally in Hollister, California. It was never really mainstream. Most kids in the 60s fell in love with the hippie subculture, drugs and psychedelic rock&roll.
still love me parka and getting out on my lambretta we do see the rockers down the pub sometimes it's all friendly now though
@Miss Take very funny lololol
Has your scooter four wheels and you drive it on the pavement lol
Yep just sold my ypvs sadly
@grindupBaker rockers do ton up boys.if your refering rockers are greasers your wrong rockers are not greasers look the same in ways but style is different different likes two different subcultures.for example pirates are different to wreckers they both plunderer ships in a different way.its like some people teddy boys are greasers are rockers teddy boys are big difference yes they're all rock n rollers but different group subcultures.theys a lot confusion with all these groups if you don't know the difference.any way keep rocking 🤟🤟 stay safe 🤟🤟🏴☠️🏴☠️
I remember our family driving down to brighton in our old Austin a 50 I was about maybe 7yrs old, when a load of rockers thundered past us the noise of the bikes was awesome, all in black leather girls on the back, I was hooked that's what I wanted to be when I grew up, of course by the time I did grow up it was all over no more mods or rockers, I think I missed out on something-------maybe?
i just missed it too Kevin. would have been fun.... live in the states now and all folks say about my triumph is COOL BIKE MAN!
That’s me and a friend at 3.29. This was actually at Southend - on- sea. not Brighton . My mother gave me hell for being on the BBC news something I wasn’t aware of. I never saw this newsreel until seeing this 55 years later..I was 18 at the time.....
Always Rockin'
Im going on the may day run to hastings tomorrow and I promise you all as every year the mods and rockers will be riding together. Stay upright guys.
ManMultiBusa n(
Vespas? U can't be serious!. What a joke.
Mod and Rocker's music both had an influence on Punk Rock, The Who especially
So true. Also the 80s mod revival happened because of punk rock. So yes it was both.
@@cycologist7069 yeah mate absolutely. saying that tho loads of things happened because of punk it was a ground zero moment. amazing really mod revival skinhead revival then early goth bands then grunge later. being a music fan i love it all
@@karlclarke Fully concur.
@@karlclarke It’s funny. While I can see how 60s British rockers had some influence on late 70s/early 80s punk rockers, I always thought of the rockers as being the metal heads of their time and mods sort of being the punks. Over time, things cross over.
@@cycologist7069 yeah mate lol same
rockers for life
Great mini series on TV. Reminds me of the Mockers events put on by John Martin in the 90's in Southend, playing both a mixture of Rock 'n' Roll, Northern soul and sixties music.
Brilliant decade - whether Mod or Rocker!!
The papers encouraged it, by saying they fear big trouble here or there!
I ride a Victory touring bike and occasionally an old 58 Harley 3 wheeler. My riding partner has a BMW that he never rides but he does ride his Honda scooter with me 2 or 3 times a week in the summer. Everybody in town laughs with us and we have great fun riding our scoots and handing out American flags to the little ones.
Bank holiday punch ups, it was great. I remember around 200 of us in cars and bikes being escorted through Margate by the local plod the beach front was lined with parkas. We ended up having a punch up in Ramsgate. I`m grown up and sensible now. LOL
We need these people to come back and sort our streets out!!!!!!
Yeah there are a few pot holes need filling in 🙄🙄
They will be descriptive
let a few of us Teds and rockers patrol some of our streets at night, i gaurentee the so called hard kids won't think themselves so hard after a few nights lol
@@adeh503 😂
I loved the music of the era, Beatles, Stones, The Who etc. and liked to dress smart. I also road a Norton 750 so tis era always confused me. I was a Mocker.
I remember Len from the 80's when he had high gear motor cycles shop ,went on a couple of the reunions too :)
For once it's great hearing it from the guys themselves who actually did it.
I always imagined Rockers to be mechanics or construction workers for a living. Mods on the other hand worked as shop assistants in M&S or British Home stores
Lol g
Unfortunately a lot of people don't understand that the Ton-Up/Rocker subculture was and still is all about British motorbikes, Rock'n'Roll and Rockabilly, greased hair, and that smart looking style that began in the 1950s and evolved ever-so-slightly during the 60s. It was a uniquely British subculture based on American 50s music and a style influenced by the American Greaser look, the Teds and the RAF of WWII. "A youth cult based on a rebellious form of transportation; timeless music; and a style from a more innocent time, will never fade away."
I'm told I was born in 1964 in the US.
I've been messing around with British bikes since I was 17. now got a 1951 Thunderbird almost ready for the road by springtime. I'd find them dirt cheap in the 1980s but those days are over!
There are great things about all these subcultures- especially the clothes and the music. They all have powerful influence on the way I dress today.
Hope current "style" would influence my sons to go opposite way 😏
*Reporter lady:* Are you a mod or a rocker?
*Ringo:* uh, no I'm a mocker 😘
I do enjoy a proper bird in leathers. Do the ton. See you at the Ace cafe. Regards, lads from across the pond.
I have a factory BSA Lightning Clubman nearing completion.
First stop the Ace Cafe.
I missed it first time round as I'm a mere 52 yrs old but yes - I'd have been a rocker.
My jacket will have a Slayer pentagram though :-)
I was a young Rocker in 1964 and went to Brighton (not on Mayday though) I went with friends, 3 of us were Rockers and the other 4 were Mods,
We all managed a day in Brighton without fighting each other. Good times.
mods never really died out up north,thats how we came to get northern soul
And casuals
Northern Soul is pish
@@benmacdui9328what a fucked up theory
During the 60s Beatlemania
Journalist/Interviewer: Are you a mod or rocker?
Ringo Star: I’m a mocker
Lots of fun as a kid growing up in Liverpool with dockers strikes ,every kid had a guitar wanting to be famous ,I was a mod ,boyfriend had a scooter we went everywhere on it .those were the days
The press mostly set up the "mod v rocker" fights they would offer a few kids a few quid to mock a fight so they could sell a story to the papers.....the press will never change.
Yes I've been looking back at all this and now its strange
Looking at the bigger picture I've come to think that it was a sham
I think music and youth culture was used as weaponry
We had a massive Soviet power near us and in days past the young would join political groups to rebel
Post war they didn't want that so set up paper gods to turn to to entertain us
Play a clash record put in a leather your rebelling, well no your not as the rich owned most music and the bad boys turned out to have dads in political power or from arts school
What they gave us was music drugs fun gangs workers fighting workers
What wasn't wanted was the young joining political gangs like in the 30s
And the anti government things were set up by government think tanks to stop fascists as that needs 100% government worship like the ww2
Now music sucks we have more polarized political thinking
Put a record on quick
@@somethingelse4878 YES hence Punk being born imo but Music has held the protest way before then. It's identity to the means (if that makes sense) is all rebelling when feel it's a lost cause that needs to be heard. There is some polarising music being made still
Had a Triumph T120, couldn't go anywhere without something falling off it!
Rocker box caps and pillion footrests !.
Right ?.... Badgern.
Old Triumph man.☺️🏴
Back when you had to be dedicated to owning AND maintaining a motorcycle...
Rock on Rockers...Super Rocket...
Nostalgia at its finest!
Fighting with Rockers boosted Mod reputation.
Once a rocker, always a rocker !
No wimps allowed.
Agreed.... Proper order too....
Rocker- 1955-2019 & still going strong on my 69 Bonnie, on the Eastside of Detroit
Grow up Sacco
I was a rocker from 1964 till now. How can vesper compete with a norton dominator 650. Of course wear a leather jacket and you were in league with the devil. Bikers forever
Ok anyone out there who remember the HPMCC from Guildford 1968. All in our 60's now. Would love to hear from you
rockers had a lot of style . leathers for the bikes . friday night down the pub etc it was smart suits . shaved up and hair immaculate.
No they were not, in the 60s the motorbikes were sort of greasy, that`s why we called them greasers, I think that you are talking about what we called "teddy boys"
I enjoyed being a mod in 1983
@bossman1905 same and my Vespa SS!!
@philippacrowe8499 what part of the country did you come from ?
@@bossman1905 Australia mate
1983 the back end of the Mod revival, I was a 13 year old Mod, fish tail, Fred Perry's , boating jackets, then that summer holiday my mate came back from Liverpool, all Tacchini, Fila and Adidas, we became casuals, football changed for us that year, never looked back, still got a bean can when I was 17...
We will we will rock you,rockers kick ass🏍🏍🏍🏍🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴
Agree, still ride British bikes, wear a leather with cut, jeans and boots.. and still listening to heavy metal.
🏍....... 🤟😎
Where I live 🏴 (40 yrs)
My blood 🇮🇪
My nationality 🇬🇧
now that im older i appreciate all species, even the mods, but you have to admit
that if not for the ROCKERS we would be stuck in land of EOR, heavy metal can change the world, the power of the head banger should not be underestimated.
and if not for the mods we may never have felt such a need to CHANGE THE WORLD, heavenlymetalmaiden
Deliciosa peli: Ha sido como una rama de "Black Leather Jacket". Enhorabuena!!
3:23 is Southend on Sea, not Brighton.
Anyone know sapphire motorcycles in Staveley
I know i was well past the times being born in ,87 ive still always been fascinated by the culture of the Times I watched qudraphenia about 10 years ago and I loved it. Being a brit I prefer British made films I still learn something new all the time about people and the way of life.
I know mods became skinheads, got into the northern soul scene or became hippies when they realised the limitations of speed. What did the rockers become by the end of the sixties? My mind’s eye has the image of rockers either joining outlaw motorcycle clubs, becoming Teddy Boys, getting into the leather subculture or becoming hippies. Am I right?
4:41 what a cool jumper!
Some english nannys here in a pub ( ny- usa ) asked me which I was, a mod or a rocker. Well I was on my 1964 triumph bonneville. So I said rocker of course. They had a cute ac ent which I copied. Many people thought I was from the uk too. Ah the 60s. Miss those days.
If is wasn't for The Who's "Quadrophenia" A lot of Americans would have never known about the Mods & Rockers,
I was a young rocker in brighton and I can assure you all the fighting was minor, NO battles as the outdated BBC put it. It was more running back and forth. The real fighting was when we rockers became greasers and fought the scumbag skin'eads!
Strange: When ever you ask people who had been actually there they say, there wasn't much fighting going on. BBC and Newspapers picked out the most shocking pictures and thus produced a false impression.
I was at Brighton and believe me all the hype that the media put out was a load of crap, There was some minor trouble but when you get two opposites together you will get some sort of reaction, it was all about selling newspapers I worked on the door of a night club at the time and fights happened all the time but nobody got to hear of it because the press didn't know about it
Sunshine Saxon Pete Townsend wrote his interpretation of the sixtes a great film, but at the end of the day it was only a film get in the real world, if all that happened in real life then I would have thought that some one would have been serving life for murder
Now the genuine skinheads where a great bunch of guys but when the national front high jacked their image everyone was tarred with the same brush..
@@Team-fabulous True, even some blacks were skins. because it was all about the music and nothing else.
the days you could ride a bsa 650 on a learners licence, as long you had a side car strapped in the bike
then early 1980's you could ride a 250cc on learners plates.
@@spitfire4206 you could all ways ride a 250 on L plates
but in 1983 you could only ride a 125 on a learner licence
I was a Rocker and so were my mates off the estate we lived. Looking back I think we had to be Rockers / Greasers as we had no money for posh clothes.
No money for posh clothes yet somehow you had money for leather jackets, crash helmets, motorbikes, etc?
@@bobblehat6603 Once you bought the bike, there was no money left.
Even if I had money when I was younger I wouldn't have spent it on crap clothes designed by snobby designers.. mods were and still are a fashion/pop music culture.
@johncox2115 THAT was the whole point, rising above that is what being a mod was about. Scooters were more cost effective than motor bikes and still got you around leaving money for clothes. Apart from the fact Vespas are cool lol
@@philippacrowe8499 the bikes we had were old and knackard made up of bits off other bikes. Cost very little.
did it take long to learn that song
Do they still have any of these groups in England now, or what is the scene now? It looks like the beaches were not a warm enough place to swim so they just hang out on bikes and kept the jackets on, right?
The Rocker has always been associated with Rock n Roll and rockabilly, so yes they are still about, but not in the numbers they once were as the Rockabilly lifestyle now has over 60 years of fashion to choose from. The Mods are still around but like the Rockers smaller in number. The Mod scene has also spawned a child called scooter boys who seem to listed to Mod music and the Rockers music E.G. Two Tone and Psychobilly.
I'm 26, a biker for life. Rocker all the way with my beat up leathers and Triumph. MODS just suck... everything about 'em!
Great to hear from a younger gen biker.. keep rocking pal and keep the shiny side up.
🏍....... 🤟😎
Were the old scooters manual (did automatic even exist)? Also, how big were the typical motorbikes? 150-200cc?
+runreilly They were manual. Usually four gears, I think. My old Vespa PX in the 80s was anyway, and it evolved from the 60s scoots.
The bikes would, I imagine, have been larger capacity engines than 150-200, as "ton-up boys" (riding over 100mph) could never have done so otherwise.
I was a Mod in Glasgow,early 1960s, and I had a Vespa 125cc and a front carrier with lights and a Jaguar car silver hood ornament on the headlight, stuck in where the high bean light would show,and a huge antenna at the back that i got from a Tank and when I went around corners it would catch on a lamp post and bend back and forth, the police gave me a ticket for having a dangerous weapon and I had to take it down.
Tamla Motown music, speed pills washed down with Vodka was the order of the night, Parkas dyed purple with a fur collar.
Andrew Blackadder Purple parkas?! That's a new one on me! I thought they were ALL military surplus, olive green. A local thing, perhaps?
Bikes generally started at 250cc & up, although "real" bikes were usually at least 500cc or 650cc. There were also a few 1000cc bikes around but they were expensive & rare.
@@abw48 cool! I had a swan hood ornament on mine and whip antena. Got stopped by cop said your mirrors are a little wide response "I can fix that" ran my hands up my stems and stadiums asked is that better? All good lol, had no licence
"all very minor" tell that 2 the poor beach chairs @ 3:42!
Just a question, are mods and rockers like a British version of socs and greasers?
Not really, both mods and rockers were young working class people, there was no rich poor divide, they just liked different styles of music and fashion
OMG, if I were a kid in that era, how could I not be a rocker??? I'd still like to take a sledge hammer to a Lambretta!!!
Were the Hells Angels connected with rockers or were they a separate thing from America?
The point is Mods were super cool, well dressed, into fantastic music and venues and brilliant dancing. Great life...
Wrong.. Bikers are cool mods we're a fashion statementon two little wheels.. music was and still is crap..
But hey we have all grown up and if I see a mod riding solo and I'm in a good mood I will nod.. but memories are deep.
Rockers Ruled mods crawled 😄
Westside rule: if you have to pi search for a sot.
Ahhh this was what that scene was in “Brighton Rock”
Are you sure you are spelling that right ?
From memory it was "WE ARE THE NOBS" !!!
Scooters were ok - but Motorbikes were for Men !
100 mph shut throttle- Oom-Baaa.
"If theres one fing that I like its a Burn up on me Bike"
Happy days indeedy
You've been to Greece? Wowser!
Who were cooler, mods or rockers ?
Come on, the mods were on scooters. 'nuff said.
who sang the song around 2:10? I cant find that version anywhere
"Slippin and Slidin" by Gene Vincent (originally a Little Richard song).
Mods were like the hipsters of today scooters are for recreation and shouldn't be allowed on major roadways.
I was 16 years old In 1964 in Sothend all my friends were mods and rockers all had bikes and scooters. I was a little different l liked dressing nice but owned a c15 bsa and couldn't stand scooters but as soon as we where 17 straight into a car everyone either bought a mk 1 Ford consul or zephyr and after a year on to the mk 2 zodiacs got your parents to insure them and you as added driver , petrol was four gallons for a pound everyone had plenty of cash to spend what great times to be a teenager.
I do miss the Ace but get back at least once a year. Pleased though with me three Triumphs that keep be rollin.
1:09 can you tell me the song in the backround?
"C'mon Everybody" sung by Eddie Cochran
Bloody hell, mate
5:11 , That 's the roughest hand poked tattoo I've ever seen . I wonder what it looks like now .
Brilliant times. ( Overtakers face Undertakers ) Rockers forever.
name of the song 0:40 ?
"Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf
I was about for the second wave of the Mods late 70s early 80's I would be I suppose classed as a Rocker as I was into Heavy Rock / Metal jeans and leather jacket but there was also the Punk's , Skin's , Scooter scruffs Rude Boys about at the same time all fun and games
I love heavy rock, in fact all good music but still classify Mod
I have a scooter & a motorcycle. Wonder how common that was in that era.
You were lucky if you could afford both, most youngsters had their bikes and clothes on finance in the 60's
I was young, I was fresh faced, I dressed snazzy, in the blink of an eye it disappeared...............live your young lives fast and furious my friends and worry about the consequences later!
Original skinhead has NOTHING to do with the american and east european bonehead nazis,it came from the hard end of mod and like mod loved black culture especially the jamaican rude boy and a great love of r n b.just thought i'd say. Ha and they hated greasers as well
Exactly! Original skinheads used to be proletarian and non political or even left wing. Nazis stole their style in the 80's.
Fitzliputzli23 "Original" skinheads as I recall them got their idea from the film Taxi Driver. Look at the transformed taxi driver and that is quintessentially what the kids started mimicking.
NO MATE KIDS IN ENGLAND HAD BEEN SKINHEADS SINCE 68
T Hemphill Gotcha. Didn't know it went back that far. I always thought it was an insignificant trend, without any real movement behind it, and a fairly cynical "let's get the kids out rebelling and buying records" thing like the punk movement.
+Roadghost88 Yeah, skinheads started appearing around 1967 in England, just the harder mods really and influenced by Ska but still very keen on how they looked.
Rockers forever
Rockers the best good times
Ah clip ones, dustbin, Tritons, featherbed frames,North Country Night Riders, or was it No C#nt No Ride, oxo cube corner , the ton, punch ups, noddy bikes, those were the days my friends.
The Only Reason Why Mods Ride Scooters Is.....They Cannot Handel A REAL BIKE !!!
The only reason Rockers ride big bikes is because of a leather sexual fetish and having inadequate genitals. Try doing 80 mph plus on 10 inch wheels and see who cant handle it. Ha ha
What is the name of the last song?
😂🤣😂 Very different from when I first got my licence here in the early 80s here in Australia. 😂🤣😂 Can see why my dad got arrested so much in the late 50s Britain being a Biker.
I had to laugh .... at the Rocker near the end of the film. Studded leather jacket, jeans, Nazi helmet, looking 'the part' - with 'L' plates on his bike! "Me Mum made me put them on, mate"!!
The law made him put them on.