The Mods and the Rockers were two British youth movements of the early 1960s.
Gangs of mods and rockers fighting in 1964 sparked a moral panic about British youth. They can be seen as a type of Folk devil.
The Rockers adopted a macho biker gang image tending to wear such clothes as black leather jackets .
The Mods adopted a pose of scooter-driving "sophistication". It was believed that Mods were cleaner and tidier than Rockers. They often wore colourful clothes considered outrageous by the standards of the time.
In Britain during the 1960s most teenage boys could not afford a motorbike or a motor scooter. These bikes/scooters were a status symbol perhaps equivalent to a car today.
The film Quadrophenia (1979), based on the album of the same name by The Who (1973), also commemorated the movement. The conflict between the Mods and the Rockers was the butt of a joke in The Beatles' first film A Hard Day's Night. In the press conference scene, a hapless reporter asks Ringo, "Are you a mod or a rocker?", to which he replies "I'm a mocker."
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Last updated: 08-03-2005 16:07:12
