Long after the press and charts had forgotten about the 'Mod Revival' of the late 70's, hardy bands of teenagers held on to the cherished principles of Mod as laid down by Pete Meaden in 1964 ... 'Clean living under difficult circumstances'. The East London and our wayward cousins in Essex took this to heart and under our own motto of 'Adapt, Adopt, Improve' we steadfastly soldiered on regardless.
One day Dean and I decided to hire a video camera from Granada TV in Ilford. It weighed a ton and cost £150 with £300 quid deposit, and as we were only just 18 years of age my mum had to sign for it and personally guarantee the deposit! We took the camera to Carnaby Street on a Saturday with some of the firm and although Dean managed to miss us slapping some boneheads (the only reason to visit that tourist trap in the 80’s). We did capture some classic moments in the Flea Market and outside the pub, including a interview with two of East London's finest, Big Al and Carl, who's hobbies included 'football and killing people'... strange hobbies indeed. That evening we took the camera down the Albany with Cockney Mick and Dick Coombes spinning the vinyl and featuring Shithead Sean in fine dancing form. It was quite odd that when I revisited the venue with the Heavenly Social crew in the early 90’s the crew would drop long forgotten classics such as ‘Seven Days is Too Long’ to a crowd including Weller, the Chemical brothers and Oasis. Mind you, they couldn’t dance!
On Sunday we 'boycotted' the Moddy boys Alldayer event at Ilford Palais, we had our own ‘alldayer’ there a few weeks later, but plotted up in the car park all the same, where we witness Mappy getting nicked ‘again’ and the Hornchurch elite giving ‘defensive driving’ lessons. Later that evening a gang of ‘rough lads’ smashed the granny out of the bouncers spoiling the event and sadly Andy Ruw the organizer never returned. We ran events there from then on. The following Tuesday we had a 60's Rhythm & Soul Society do, presided over by Dick Coombs at the Electric Stadium in Chadwell Heath. Witness some of the cool dance moves, faces and violent 18th birthday bumps for one of the HX.
From the heady days of The Jam's 'All Mod Cons' 1978 tour when it all came together, The East London (we never really had a scooter club name - that name alone was enough to open doors or kick 'em in in some cases) were always ahead of the game. By 1982 our 'firm' had moved from the Canning Town Bridge House and the Forresters in Stratford to The Chatsworth Arms just off Forest Lane E7, and our own clubs (though the owners might have something to say about that) like The Greyhound (Electric Stadium) in Chadwell Heath and Scamps in Southend. Our musical preferences had moved on and evolved from power pop bands and Motown to Northern and 60's Soul and authentic R&B bands like Fast Eddie. We were running our own clubs, fighting all comers and busy stripping the shelves of 'old fashioned' shops like Grants in West India Dock Road, Limehouse Army and Navy of Denson's shoes and Levi's hipsters, which never quite hung well on me, and I took a size 9-11 in Densons. Like all good 'movements' the scene was constantly in flux and so were we. I was so fluxed one night I fell asleep standing up in the WAG.
Within a few months of this video being shot the scene would degenerate into several splinter groups such as Moduals (casuals on scooters), Northerners (deck slippers, army greens and 'Eye to Eye Contact' were not very Mod) and The East London Psychos (football hooligans). However by 1983 the Scene had burst back into life once again thanks to the East London and the impact of The Crawdaddy R&B clubs, and our record lable Countdown but that's another story...
So roll back the carpet peel back your eyelids and relive those halcyon days of the early ‘80s Mod scene. A distant echo that you can still feel, see and hear today.
© Words – Bob Morris / ZANI
© Photographers – Bob Morris