AMERICAN MODS DANCING featurinf bart davenport y xan mcurdy

[lambrettaize]

american mods or a sorry excuse for the real thing BRITAIN AT ITS BEST

[goldenspecial]

Its The Beat Merchants NOT Davis jones....????...every real Mod should know that mate

[lambrettist2007]

The best part of this show, "It's Happening!" was the bands that played live on the show, like The Untamed Youth, The Tell Tale Hearts, The Event (Xan and Bart's band at the time), The Fuzztones, The Nashville Ramblers, and many more. The show was an homage to 60's American Teen Dance shows like American Bandstand and Shindig. In fact, Shindig host Jimmy O'Niell guest hosted an episode of It's Happening. There may be a DVD box set in the future.

[helgenx]

This video proves white people really can't dance. From Europe, or USA.

[lambrattle]

Say what you want but in San Diego Til 1990 we didn't have to wear helmuts

so the coast - best speed - no helmuts

great weather year round - it was horrible

[mrhitmanisback]

what do americans no about mods lol they dont even danc elike us brit mods lmao or dress right dear oh dear

[ONKlub]

"mrhitmanisback" (and any other Brits) - relax. This is a clip from "It's Happening" which was a 60's-related cable show; it's not about "mods" as you or I think of the word. According to the comments, there were some mods in the crowd, since there obviously was some crossover.

Understand?  It's a 60's do.

[Coastiesurf]

This was shot at a little TV studio in Del Mar, California, north San Diego County in about 1988 or so. A large number of Berkeley crew had come down. Not to many SD Mods in the crowd, SD was into Powerpop and OC bands like The Others....

[Saglew]

What's the name of the song and the artist?

[emsanqui]

I'm from the Los Angles area, buy I remember these guys. I remember them playing with the Birminghams... some time in the second half of the 80's?

do I feel old...

[starshiptrouter]

Hey emsanqui..where did you see the Birminghams? I played drums for them. I'm trying to get some youtubes up from a show in SF but have technical difficulty. There is a really funny backstage seen with Xan acting like "Guns n Roses" - KC

[emsanqui]

sorry for the delay... don't check this account very often. Can't remember the exact place, but I believe it was in Southern California not SF. I may have picked up a flyer at Dye Laughing? or word of mouth? Looking forward to more videos of other Cali gigs?

[AndyKofHB]

This looks like it was produced for TV in the 60s or 70s. I may be wrong but I doubt it was actually filmed at an american club or show.

[faoroobs]

Eh? Xan McCurdy is from the band Cake, and if I'm not mistaken, he's in his mid thirties...so there's no way this was produced in the 60s or 70s. Is it a pastiche of old timey music shows like 'Oh Boy' or sup'm??

[starshiptrouter]

Hey...I played with Xan in the Birminghams in 1987-88. This clip is probably from "Its Happening" which was some sort of public broadcast show put on my Dominique Priori and Audrey Moorhead.

There was nothing more exhilirting in the 80's than to produce something that looked like it was underproduced and from the 60's.

As for the clothes....extremely painstaking searches through thrift stores and catalog ordering from the UK.

I'll post some Birminghams clips soon.

[faoroobs]

Ah, thanks for the explanation. Thought I'd slipped into an alternate universe there... he's my favourite guitarist, that's pretty awesome that you played with him!

[starshiptrouter]

:) Awesome to hear it! It was done in about 1990 in southern CA. The mod scene in the late 80's was a way underground movement. It was extremely anti-80's for the most part. I have a VHS of the whole "Its Happening" show.

If its not available I'll get the band "The Event" out there. They covered John's Children's "Jagged Time Lapse"...Mike Therrieau went on to play with Dave Gleason's Wasted Days.

[Umskiddy]

I'm sorry, but there's just something about American mods that has never been right.Mod, essentially, is a British thing.Only the British can really carry it off.The American effort seems so fake, plastic and synthectic.

[art72]

American culture in genaral mainly immulates many other styles....they completely missed the english phenomena...

Problem is they are too controlled...they interpret nice clothing and good music with being stiff...where in the uk mods just let go and had fun....

[div3s]

Dude...what. British mods in the 60s (and the in the 80s revival) were emulating Jamaican rude boys, and a little American beatnik culture, in turn. And in any case, the blues? American. R&B? American. Soul? American. Jazz? American. All of those genres had a huge influence on mod culture back then. It's not like Britain was in a bubble in 1960.

[art72]

maybe...but America didn't really recognize jazz and blues back then....it was too racist....how much jazz was glorified in britain and france then....it was loved n respected...of course mods were emulatin rude boys...what's not to emulate..you're not tellin me anything new....all I was saying was that US mods just didn't and still don't seem to have the same passion...

[div3s]

I took umbrage with your saying that American culture imitates other cultures, (and subseuently implying that other cultures don't) which isn't true, that's all. Americans in the 50s and 60s definitely did like the blues and R&B, they just liked it when white guys were singing it.

If you don't think American mods have the same coolness as the Brits, I'm fine with that, it was just the beginning bit I objected to.

[starshiptrouter]

art72...America was too racist for jazz? America has never monocultural....sweeping generalizations will never fit America... Jazz was homegrown in America..it starts in the late 1800's early 1900's in New Orleans...and with guys like Jelly Roll Morton and evolves until it leaps continents at some point.

I was a mod in CA in 1980's, the passion required to go 100% counterculture and start a mod scene in CA was a passionate dedication to English subculture. Its true we loved Brit culture!

[art72]

I believe I was making sweeping generalizations about the mod movement in the states and the uk

....this little fiasco discussion started from some blokes statin that english mods in the 60's were simply more gritty and freshl. It wasn't institutionalized like in the states...since it was fresh...usa got the 2nd wave of some sort..and they immulated it...but not in the same way, the dynamic was gone...it's more plastic, magazinie and more american scooter skin styled..like in southern cali

[ONKlub]

This doesn't look different from the black & white footage, elsewhere here, of 60s British mods in a club. Not at all.

[ONKlub]

Interesting--I guess this must have been about 1985 or so?

[modvet]

Ahh, obviously one of the people leaving comments couldn't see my cufflinks, italian loafers, tab-collared shirt and other garb. Man, this was so fun. It was called "It's Happening". Truly a good time and history in the making for San Diego and other mods from all areas. Thanks JJ for posting this. I'm hoping Dominic and others will release the rest of the episodes.

[staypress]

u r not mods just poor copies I was a mod in 64 and original gr8 music by the way

[danielpeterpresberge]

What awesome Music !!! Wanna start dancing when hearing that, faces !

[bitchcupcake]

I still have to say, "WTF?"

[danielpeterpresberge]

i am the king of the mods, you are all only hicks !

[careerbellman]

Fuck the mods.

[danielpeterpresberge]

you wanna die or what, you little bitch ! schlampe

[mcconkeyMOD]

Fuck you too.....

[chatarrero150]

fantastico video

[bambinayetset]

we are the mods

[bitchcupcake]

WTF!?! kill the poor!

[Fethemod]

GREAT!

[jjpruca]

PRETTY FACE----DAVIS JONES

[TomTanktop]

Wicked! Whats the song?