Quote:
Originally Posted by Eichhörnchen
Do/did they have Mods & Rockers in Oz too?
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Rockers yes but not to the same extent as in the UK.
Here in Wallsend they used to hang out at Defoe's Milk Bar ( the pubs wouldn't let them in ). As a group they were only around for a few years in the early 60s. Most of the hardcore guys got killed in crashes and the rest got old, married, moved out of town ( the usual story ). But they were great guys. The cops gave them a hard time and the townsfolk used to shake their heads when they saw them. They were rebels in a VERY conservative time.
Nowadays you'd say it was a poor town, nobody had much money. Then slowly people became more affluent and about the same time the whole "British Beat" ( or whatever they call it ) happened. People had tv's, record shops were everywhere, and the whole Mod thing took off. VERY FASHIONABLE. But that's where it stayed down here - FASHION.
Mod music, Mod clothes, Mod haircuts, but no real violence or dickhead Band behaviour like in the UK - instrument abuse, trashing hotel rooms, heavy drug abuse.
Interestingly, in 1979, there was a bit of a Mod revival in Sydney. They had their own pub at the bottom end of Goulburn street. And outside you'd see all these Vespa's and Puch's with all the mirrors and roundels, and inside they'd all be jumping around to "The Jam" covers.
Funny thing is that a lot of these guys became City Councilors and now run Sydney ( into the ground ).