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.
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.....
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.
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 ..
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
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.
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.
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?
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 😉
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.
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?
@@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 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.
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 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
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
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 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
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.
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!
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
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 🇬🇧
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 :-)
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
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 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 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
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...
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.
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.
Wimpy Bar at 3:25 ! Boy I loved that hamburger with hot greasy greasy greasy onions after my swimming at Porchester Hall & Baths in Paddington in 1957 when I was 10. I suppose my palate's ruined now and I'd complain because no pate & wine with it.
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
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
3.20 seeing that poor lad getting beat up seeing his face I felt really sorry for him 😢 as I've grown up i hate seeing people get out numbered and set upon by cowards
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 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!
😂🤣😂 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.
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
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
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.
