PHK: When did you first get involved
in the Mod scene?
AM: It was
when I was at school in the late 1970's, I was 14, it was 1979....Thatcher had
raised her ugly head and the country was in turmoil, we need change and it was
'time for action'….
PHK: What was it about Mod that most
attracted you?
AM: Clothes,
music, attitude etc.? My brother in law had told me about his time in London as
a mod in the 60's, and when I baby sat I used to play all his 45's like the
who, small faces, creation, Tamla etc.
from his collection, I loved it ...then a couple of years later the revival was
happening - I was hooked.
PHK: What were the earliest clothes
that you had that you considered to be Mod? What was your favoured style back
then?
AM: For
knocking around in I'd wear Levis jeans always 501 and a Fred Perry T shirt
with a Harrington jacket and desert boots, if I was dressing up then it was a
smart brown suit, 3 button slim fit with a ben Sherman pink shirt with burgundy
tie and jam shoes usually. As a statement we always wore the parka m51 even if
it was 25 degrees outside (sometimes we would take the white lining out so not
to over-heat ! other clobber I owned were boating blazers and Sta-prest
trousers and different coloured button downed shirts as well as printed T
shirts like the chords or the roundel mod target . I had a phase of deck shoes
with bleached jeans for a while in about 1980....
PHK: Which clubs and rallies did you
first frequent within the scene?
AM: My
father was in the RAF so we moved with his posting to a market town in
Cambridgeshire called St Ives - not much happened here except the radio
Caroline roadshows for the rockers and
the St Ives soul club, which wed go to as 13/14 year olds at the burgess hall
at the local recreation centre. For live bands sometimes the youth centre on
broad leas would have a band on - the 1st band I saw there was the hasting's
mod outfit The Teen beats with Huggy Leaver. they nearly didn’t make the gig
due to adverse weather conditions but finally rolled in at 10.45 pm for an hour
set to an anxious crowd of teenagers who didn’t know that the local rockers
were waiting outside for a small ruck once it had finished and we got kicked
out at the curfew time of 12 midnight - the funniest and oddest thing was the
youth centre faced opposite the local nick - though I recall it was closed for
the night! and the fight went on for about 30 minutes with kids running amok
everywhere.... other than that we would have to travel to London or Cambridge
to see the bigger acts - I went to Ipswich once with Mick white to see the
chords - £1.75 pre booked and slept on the train station in our parkas until
the 1st train home in the morning....worth every minute as we got to meet the
band and came away with buddy's sticks and some signed memorabilia. My 1st scooter
rally was to great Yarmouth in the rain. We used to ride to Peterborough quite
a bit to the Wirrina centre and the fleet for soul all-nighters, often met up
with Grinner.
PHK: What type of music/records did
you listen to in the beginning and who were your favourite bands then?
AM: I had
a bit of a head start by listening to my brother-in-laws records but as I was a
teenager in the late 1970's I grew up listening to punk and enjoyed bands like
the Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, Skids, Buzzcock's, Sham and The Undertones
along with a whole host of other punk/new wave bands. Which led me nicely into
the mod revival movement as I was always a big jam fan, with the obvious
crossover I was listening to bands like The Chords , Purple Hearts, Lambretta's,
Squire, Merton Parkas, Beggar, Directions, The Circles , Small Hours and my
favourite of them all Secret Affair with my all-time favourite record of theirs
being I'm not free (but I'm cheap).
PHK: How has that evolved over the
years?
AM: I
would say that I believe a lot of the music has stood the test of time and with
the revival going underground C1982 this led to a second revival in the mid
80's with bands like The Prisoners, Making Time, The Moment, The Gents etc. The
obvious sound was the same apart from there being additional brass sections in
the groups which gave a Style Council’esk stroke soul vibe. Following on from
that there wasn’t really anything until the brit pop era with bands such as
Oasis cottoning on to the mod banner.
PHK: How has Mod changed during the
years that you have been involved?
AM: It
continually keeps evolving and even today is as popular as it was in 1979 or
even 1964.
PHK: What scooters have you had and
what are you currently riding?
AM: I
first started with a Vespa 50 special at 16 which I bought on HP from I think
Graham Jenkins scooters in Cambridge. Then following the successful passing of
my test for the full license I bought a Vespa PX 150 then moved on to a Lambretta
SX 225 stage 4 tuned in 1982/3 since then I have owned a whole host of different
scooters including two GP 225 ts1's, 2 li 150's, a Vespa PX 200 disc, a 1986
Douglas Vespa p150, a 2004 PX 166 and I’m currently riding a Lambretta 1959
series 2 li150 (with a 200 block) all mod style - plenty of bling.
PHK: Do you have your suits/jackets
made bespoke and who do you use for this?
AM: Yes of
course - I have used George (Kristofer's which is named after George’s son) in
Leeds mainly (PHK: Yes, me too),
he's a top bloke and has a lot of patterns from back in the day. After George, I
am quite happy to source off the peg items from shops like Adams, jump the gun,
Dirty Harry's (in Brighton) mod clothing or buying items from independent shops
and creating my own style.
PHK: What’s your normal weekly
schedule of clubs/gigs/shopping?
AM: I try
to go and see as many bands as possible usually once a week or once a fort
night anywhere in the UK with my friends Neil, Mick, Mandy and Lucky.
PHK: What are your key memories and
highlights from the Mod scene over the years?
AM: Well
where do you start? I obviously have a lot of memories from the revival period
but its more about today and living for the moment especially hardworking bands
still on the circuit as Dennis greave's is 9 below zero and the unstoppable,
irrepressible, wonderful Secret Affair. Other highlights for me are going to
events like the modernist weekend in Brighton and sadly no more mod event at
the sound bar in Birmingham which were always suburb.
PHK: What do you consider to be the
best gig that you have ever been to?
AM: Recently
I went to see the rage do a one off reform gig at the 100 club at Oxford Street
which was absolutely awesome, also for about the 40th time I saw 9 below zero
play a small WMC in Shipley west Yorkshire and I believe this was there
tightest performance and the most enjoyable gig to date. It is very difficult
as I have seen so many bands but again a couple of weeks ago I went to Liverpool
to watch 3 bands at the IPO Festival, who were The Men from Sweden, The Theme
from South London and RAF from Portland Oregon USA and all 3 acts, though
slightly different, raised the bar and blew the doors off at the cavern.
PHK: What one record would you choose
as your Desert Island disc?
AM: One
song that epitomises the mod scene for me would be Tommy Tucker’s ‘Hi Heel Sneakers’.
PHK: You are currently a well-known
Mod Radio DJ. How did you get involved with Glory Boys Radio and how long have
you been hosting your show now?
AM: It
started in 2011 with my friend from Stoke-on-Trent Rob Ledgar asking me to fill
a slot on the timetable as a presenter as 6 towns radio was being created. I
did say I’d love to help him out but just for 3 months however 4 and a half
years later I'm still at it!!!
PHK: Do you still enjoy doing the show
as much as you did when you first started?
AM: Yes I
do! What is important for me is the opportunity to mix all the wonderful genres
from our scene and increasingly give airplay to unsigned acts which obviously
gives them the opportunity for some radio air time if I can do my small bit to
promote the mod scene and keep it alive that has to make me happy. The show has
grown enormously in popularity over the years and continues to do so.
PHK: You are known for championing Mod
revival and current bands but what records and artists do you enjoy within the
Modern Jazz, R&B, Soul and Ska genres?
AM: I am
not a massive Ska fan though I do like Prince Buster, The Selecter and The Beat
somewhat. For modern jazz I like Dave Pike Set and Glenn Miller’s ‘It gets me
in the mood’ lol, but most importantly if a tune has a smooth rhythm and plenty
of swing then it has to be liked. I do like northern soul but only really the
floor fillers and the soul/R&B from the mid 60's is always good to dance
to.
PHK: What other areas of the Mod media
do you get involved in?
AM: Apart
from helping with March of the mods at various venues and promoting that,
nothing really. Mick the Mod and I do have a roadshow which we call ' shake it
easy' which keeps us busy sometimes
PHK: Which contemporary bands do you
currently admire and are there any new bands you have seen that you are tipping
for greater things in the future?
AM: I'm a
real big Who and Kinks fan as I admire the song writing power of both Ray
Davies and Pete Townshend; they are both musical geniuses and legends. For the
moment, I'm really blown away with South London Band, The Theme, who give a jaw
dropping live performance
PHK: Which events/clubs do you most
enjoy at the current time?
AM: In
recent times I've DJ'd in London at the Dublin Castle and some other venues
which has been fun but you can’t beat a northern venue - only joking, I will
play anywhere as long as people enjoy the tunes. I helped at a few march of the
mods events this year like Chippenham, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent and will do
it again for the worthwhile charity event. I've recently DJ'd at the dance set
in Scarborough which was nice and intimate with a decent crowd. On the band
circuit I'll go where the action is and if I can afford to. I do enjoy the Half
Moon gigs in Putney (hosted by Steve Worrall) and also the Alley Club in
Cambridge do some good nights.
PHK: What’s currently top of your
playlist?
AM: Well
there are so many tracks that I love but if I were to choose 10 for now in no
particular order these would be in it: -
1, The
Face, The Power
2, The
Moment, One two they fly
3, The
Found, Find a place
4, Squire,
My mind goes round in circles
5, Secret
Affair, I'm not free but I'm cheap
6, Nine
Below Zero, Doghouse
7,
Yellowstone, Melanie Paxton
8, Thee
Jenerators, Gotta move on
9, The
Scene, Stop go!
10, Purple
Hearts, I've been away
PHK: Which forthcoming release are you
most looking forward to?
AM: The
Moment have been working on a new project cd album which should be out in June
2015. I hope it’s as good if not better than Mod Gods!!
PHK: Are there any other projects that
you are currently working on for the future?
AM: Not at
the moment apart from organising the live acts for Stoke on Trent's 2016 march
of the mods - we've got 8 confirmed and waiting on the headliner, which will be
the icing on the cake if it comes off.
PHK: How strong do you think the
current Mod scene is?
AM: It’s
massive at the moment and because so it’s getting a slating by certain areas of
the public. Mainly because its 2nd time around for most of us and were sort of
reliving our youth in one respect, on the other hand I'd sooner see 50 year old
mods on scooters listening to some great retro music than the non- descript
nonsense which fills the charts and main time television. I think the word Mod
has become a brand which is a shame but at least it’s out there. I say let
people be what they want to be even if they make poor choices – let’s embrace
our subculture and promote it to keep it going for as long as we can!
PHK: What do you think it is about the
Mod sub-culture that has kept it alive and relevant for so many decades?
AM: In a
nut shell - it's cool ….the music is so diverse, the clothes can be smart or
casual and of course there's the scooters and the mini....I don’t know about
the drugs!!
Glory Boys
Radio at www.6towns.co.uk
on Sunday’s from 7pm till 9pm
radio now 6pm till 9pm sundays x
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