Product Description

With first-hand interviews with the people involved, this complete history of Mod to date covers all things Mod-related from 1952 to 2002, taking in "the Men"'s fashion, music and nightclubs. The book examines how the sub-culture has influenced, and evolved into, other recognisable movements, and how it has affected the lives of the people involved.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1041040 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Scootering Magazine, Edition 196, September 2002
A book you will go back to time and time again. The Influential Factor is well worth the investment.

OK! Hot Stars Magazine, 28 September - 4 October 2002
Through memoirs, interviews and pictures, this fascinating book charts the music, clothes and the people of this popular movement.

Record Collector Magazine, Feb 2003
'The Influential Factor is an important addition to the growing library of mod-related histories.

Customer Reviews

Don't waste your time or money
When you pay good money for a book you naturally have high expectations. In terms of presentation and layout the book does okay (hence the 1 star) but the problem is the content. It's not too much to ask for the information contained in the text to be accurate but there are many, admittedly small inaccuracies and a couple of embarrassing ones. For instance the picture of the Southend (August Bank Holiday) rally that appeared in Sounds in 1979 was captioned 1980..as I said embarrassing.

We were also promised a full history of the Mod scene and its offshoots..what we got was a lot on the 1979 revival and not much on anything else. Also, one of the biggest offshoots of the Mod scene was the Casual movement, yet no mention at all.

There were a lot of good contributors..Brian Betteridge, Anthony Meynell etc but there wasn't anything holding the quotes together. At times it read like a book of quotes.

I can't really see the point of this book. Terry Rawlings in Mod - A Very British Phenomenon done it so much better, with superior content, presentation and layout for a lotcheaper. Don't waste your money on this.

I Wish I'd Read The First Review
It's hard to believe that seven years of research went it to this book. If it did it can't have been full time. Some of the material about the 60's and before is interesting but I had seen a lot of it elsewhere already.

"Mod" was a 60's thing, which died in that decade, and London was its centre. There is not enough in-depth material about it in this book. No mention is made of places like the Last Chance Saloon on Oxford Street or suburban gathering places such as Klooks Kleek, Tottenham Royal, Leyton Baths, Ilford Palais and, slightly further out, Basildon Locarno where the Dave Clark Five ( never considered a "mod" band by mods )were resident intially.

Being "mod" was very much, although not exclusively, a working class thing and it was spontaneous, coming from the streets. Although there was an overall "look", those who took it seriously wanted to have a certain individuality about their appearance. One thing they did not do was to walk around in army surplus parkas.

But that image came after the media seized upon the "Mods 'n' Rockers" idea. Anything "underground", hip or not generally known about becomes anathema to those involved with it once the national press and TV get hold of it ( and get it wrong, of course ). This is precisely what happened in this case. Suddenly anyone, anywhere with a pair of Levis, desert boots and a parka had the "mod look" and there were "mods" everywhere. This plus the gradual change in music and fashion generally helped to kill it.

I have to say that I don't understand the "mod" scene of today as described in this book. If mod means modernist or modern how can people wearing their interpretation of 1960's styles be modern? Aren't they more retro or revivalist?

There are far more informative books around than this one. If you really want to know about the real mod scene look elsewhere and save your money.

The Influential Factor
It's hard to believe that seven years of research went into this book. Some of the material about the 60's and before is interesting but I had already seen quite a lot of it elsewhere. The reminiscences of the 1960's brought back memories for me. Particularly Ron & Nanda Leslie, The Flamingo, The Marquee and The Scene.

However "mod" was a 60's thing which died in that decade. There is not enough in-depth material about it in this book. No mention is made of places like The Last Chance Saloon, The 100 Club and others in London such as Klooks Kleek which attracted a mod audience. Mod was a London thing and there were plenty of other place mods gathered like Tottenham Royal and Ilford Palais, not forgetting Leyton Baths and slightly further out, Basildon Locarno. Once it had spread out to the provinces it was on its way out. Anything "underground", hip or not generally known about becomes anathema to those involved with it once the national press get hold of it ( and get it wrong ). This is precisely what happened once the papers and TV started reporting on "mods and rockers".

I don't fully understand the "mod" scene today. If mod means modernist or modern, how can people wearing their interpretation of 1960's styles be modern? Aren't they more retro or revivalist?

Mod died as the music and fashions generally changed and the flower power thing was prominent for a while. But after that the "modern" look that I and my friends aspired to came from shops such as The Village Gate, The Squire Shop, Quincy, Take 6 and Stanley Adams, amongst others. That look lasted, with subtle changes, from the late 60's to around the mid 70's then things changed again. Modern styles were different and so were the shops.

And so it goes on. I still love and collect soul, Motown and Hammond organ type music but whilst I find the current fascination with "mod" interesting I have to say that I consider it finished in the 60's.

There are far more informative books around than this one. If you really want to know about the real mod scene save your money