Mod (subculture) in the context of "Subculture"

⭐ In the context of cultural sociology, how are subcultures generally positioned in relation to mainstream culture?

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⭐ Core Definition: Mod (subculture)

Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in late 1950s London and spread throughout Great Britain, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries. It continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and fashion, the subculture has its roots in a small group of stylish London-based young men and women in the late 1950s who were termed modernists because they listened to modern jazz.

Elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits) and music (including soul, rhythm and blues and ska, but mainly jazz). They rode motor scooters, usually Lambrettas or Vespas. In the mid-1960s, members of the subculture listened to pop groups with rhythm and blues (R&B) influences, such as the Who and Small Faces. The original mod scene was associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night jazz dancing at clubs.

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πŸ‘‰ Mod (subculture) in the context of Subculture

In the sociology of culture, a subculture is a group of people within a cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the mainstream or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, political, and sexual matters. Subcultures coexist within mainstream society while keeping their specific characteristics intact.

Since its inception in the English-speaking world (primarily North America and the United Kingdom) during the 1940s–1950s, the concept and study of subcultures was developed in the academic fields of sociology, communication studies, and cultural studies. Examples of subcultures include punks, skinheads, Teddy Boys, mods, rockers, bikers, hip-hoppers, and more. Subcultures differ from countercultures.

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Mod (subculture) in the context of Skinhead

A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in the late 1970s. Motivated by social alienation and working-class solidarity, skinheads are defined by their close-cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing such as Dr. Martens and steel toe work boots, braces, high rise and varying length straight-leg jeans, and button-down collar shirts, usually slim fitting in check or plain. The movement reached a peak at the end of the 1960s, experienced a revival in the 1980s, and, since then, has endured in multiple contexts worldwide.

The rise to prominence of skinheads came in two waves, with the first wave taking place in the late 1960s in the UK. The first skinheads were working class youths motivated by an expression of alternative values and working class pride, rejecting both the austerity and conservatism of the 1950s–early 1960s and the more middle class or bourgeois hippie movement and peace and love ethos of the mid to late 1960s. Skinheads were instead drawn towards more working class outsider subcultures, incorporating elements of early working class mod fashion and Jamaican music and fashion, especially from Jamaican rude boys. In the earlier stages of the movement, a considerable overlap existed between early skinhead subculture, mod subculture, and the rude boy subculture found among Jamaican British and Jamaican immigrant youth, as these three groups interacted and fraternized with each other within the same working class and poor neighbourhoods in Britain. As skinheads adopted elements of mod subculture and Jamaican British and Jamaican immigrant rude boy subculture, both first and second generation skins were influenced by the rhythms of Jamaican music genres such as ska, rocksteady, and reggae, as well as sometimes African-American soul and rhythm and blues.

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Mod (subculture) in the context of Northern soul

Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British mod scene, based on a particular style of Black American soul music with a heavy beat and fast tempo (100 bpm and above).

The Northern soul movement generally eschews Motown or Motown-influenced music that has had significant mainstream commercial success. The recordings most prized by enthusiasts are by lesser-known artists, "rare grooves" released in limited numbers on labels such as VeeJay, Chess, Brunswick, Ric-Tic, Gordy Records, Golden World Records (Detroit), Mirwood Records (Los Angeles), Shout Records and Okeh.

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Mod (subculture) in the context of Freakbeat

Freakbeat is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music developed mainly by harder-driving British mod groups during the British Invasion and Swinging London period of the mid-to late 1960s. The genre bridges R&B, beat and early psychedelia.

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Mod (subculture) in the context of Punk fashion

Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like the Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.

The early, pre-fame work of designer Vivienne Westwood helped pioneer the look of early British punk with her scene-establishing clothing shops Sex and Seditionaries in the mid-1970s, co-run with Malcolm McLaren who managed the Sex Pistols. Westwood was asked by then-partner McLaren to outfit the Sex Pistols, and Westwood's designs found a canvas on Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious. Her early work with Sex and the Sex Pistols helped to establish her as one of the most influential British designers of the 20th century.

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Mod (subculture) in the context of Ska

Ska (/skɑː/; Jamaican Creole: skia, [skjΓ¦]) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.

Music historians typically divide the history of ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s; the 2 tone ska revival of the late 1970s in Britain, which fused Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with the faster tempos and harder edge of punk rock forming ska-punk; and third-wave ska, which involved bands from a wide range of countries around the world, in the late 1980s and 1990s.

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Mod (subculture) in the context of The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, their contributions to rock music include the development of the Marshall stack, large public address systems, the use of synthesizers, Entwistle's and Moon's influential playing styles, Townshend's feedback and power chord guitar technique, and the development of the rock opera. They are cited as an influence by many hard rock, punk, power pop and mod bands. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

The Who evolved from an earlier group, the Detours, and established themselves as part of the pop art and mod movements, featuring auto-destructive art by destroying guitars and drums on stage. Their first single as The Who, "I Can't Explain" (1965), reached the UK topΒ ten, and was followed by a string of hit singles including "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", "My Generation" (both 1965), "Substitute", "I'm a Boy", "Happy Jack" (all 1966) and "Pictures of Lily" (1967). In 1967, they performed at the Monterey Pop Festival and released "I Can See for Miles", their only US top ten single. The group's 1969 concept album Tommy included the single "Pinball Wizard" and was a critical and commercial success.

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Mod (subculture) in the context of Small Faces

The Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of singer/guitarist Steve Marriott, bassist Ronnie Lane, drummer Kenney Jones and keyboardist Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston in 1966. The band were initially one of the most acclaimed and influential mod groups of the mid-1960s, with hit singles such as "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" (1965), "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" and "All or Nothing" (both 1966). From 1967, they evolved into one of the UK's most successful psychedelic bands, achieving further hit singles including "Here Come the Nice", "Itchycoo Park", "Tin Soldier" (all 1967) and "Lazy Sunday" (1968), the latter taken from their critically-acclaimed concept album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968), which reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart.

In 1969, Marriott left to form Humble Pie, while Lane, Jones and McLagan continued under the shortened name the Faces with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Following the breakup of both the Faces and Humble Pie in 1975, the classic Marriott/Lane/McLagan/Jones line-up of the Small Faces re-formed after a re-release of "Itchycoo Park" became a top-ten hit. Lane left shortly thereafter, and was replaced by Rick Wills (later of Foreigner). This line-up (dubbed Mk-II by Marriott) recorded one album, Playmates (1977), before adding former Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch for a second reunion album, 78 in the Shade (1978). The band split for a second and final time in 1978.

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