Product Description

This is a celebration of Britain's enduring youth cult, the Mods. Including personal testimonies from both well-known and unknown contributors, it attempts to trace the link between the two key elements of modernism - American rhythm and blues and British working-class fashion. It follows the transition of musical styles from London in the late 1950s, with the black American servicemen and their love for bebop, and from the sharply-dressed Mods of the early 1960s to the dawning of the skinhead and suedehead movement which provided the musical and stylistic inspirations for 1980s bands such as Madness, the Beat and the Specials. The book discusses such diverse characters as Pete Townshend, David Bowie and Ray Davies, as well as club owners, tailors and shop owners, in an analysis of the changing trends. The work also explores Britain's northern soul scene, which saw thousands of youngsters in the North of England dedicate their lives to buying the most obscure American soul records. It claims that the Mods live on still, with many hip-hop disciples sporting the Tommy Hilfiger look of the early jazz modernists.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1065627 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 175 pages

Customer Reviews

Could have been so much better
That there is a link between American R&B and British male fashion is inescapable - and this book seeks to draw a line from the immediate post war years to the present. If you were part of any of the movements described here you will find much to bring a smile to your face - but for those who missed it, you won't find any pictures to enlighten you. It is an incredibly perverse choice for a book about how people look - and that sets the tone for the book.

Hewitt has clearly researched his topic, and the sections on the original Mod movement are very interesting, but may frustrate those who lived outside London. There are many anecdotes which come with a very elitist tone - but doesn't this deny the huge number of working class kids who followed the trend without ever being a "face". Succesive style are given the same treatment.

So we move From Mods and Motown, through Skinheads and Ska, via Northern Soul and the 2 Tone thing to Casuals and ???? - yes Casuals - exactly how did they follow the modernist tradition? and what was their musical link? It doesn't work I am afraid.

I can't help feeling that this book has Paul Weller's name on it to create credibility. Hewitt seems to have fallen between 2 stools - he portrays Mod and it's successors styles to be an elite lifestyle choice, but at the same time he is telling a story which is inescapably working class and thus accessible, in some form, to all.

Buy this by all means, but there are better books on Mods in particular - and they'll have pictures too.

A long overdue tribute to Forty years of British Modernism.
Paolo Hewitt's latest tribute to the multi-layered world of Modernism, will disappoint those looking for more pictures of children in fishtail Parka's fighting at the Seaside.

Soul Stylists is a celebration of working-class British street fashion and it's relation to a love of African-American and West Indian music. The connection is made between late '50's Soho Beatnik's, Mods, Skinheads, Suedeheads, Northern Soulers, Soulboy's and most recently the infamous Casual. Different names, different clothes, different records, but all united by a singular lifestyle perspective.

The absence of photographs may frustrate those who were never there. So too will Hewitt's less is more writing style. But for the rest of us, Soul Stylists will make the heart skip a beat and bring a smile to the face as we ponder the vivid descriptions of haircuts, clothes and rare funk 12inches.

A perfect companion piece to Hewitt's earlier The Sharper Word.

Not great, but it'll do
Thankfully Paulo and Paul finally got round to putting something out about this subject. Thoroughly enjoyed the section about Northern and skinheads (thankyou Jim Ferguson, your words echo sentiments of mine which are rarely voiced). Some sections are a bit thin and can be scanned over, but the passion and conviction of a number of contributors cannot be overlooked. Not as good as "can you love a poorboy" by Hal Bernal, but definitely as good as "Cool Jerk" by the Capitols