a nocturnal network of illegal drinking, gambling, smoking and sex

epub or mobi, with thanks to the original sharer

The mods, a widespread, sharp-suited, amphetamine-fuelled, largely working-class white youth cult of the time, adopted ska as a supplement to their soundtrack of imported US soul music. Deadly serious about their music – it made as big a lifestyle statement about them as the correct trouser width or hat angle – increasing numbers of mods were to be found at the Flamingo, the Twenties, or the Marquee. Blue Beat and Island records, plus an impressive number of imported singles, were cropping up at mod clubs and all-nighters, as were a noticeable sprinkling of black mods. Many social commentators of the day pointed out that the physical proximity of the indigenous working-class mods and newly arrived immigrants – on council housing estates and in the workplace – fostered such cultural alliances.