The Who & Mod Culture

1. The Who & Mod Culture Identity, Language, Fashion

2. Mod Subculture • “Mod” is from “modernist” – fashion (suits), R&B music, customized motor scooters. • Also the Decadents – (Pseudo)intellectual – existentialism, claims to sophisticated taste, rejection of oversimplified masculinity • Coffee shops (late night), jazz, and American beatnik culture (direct descendants of modernism). • Amphetamines and dancing.

3. British “Teddy Boys” (1950s) (Elvis)

4. Rockers (1950s-1960s) (Brando)

5. Mods (1960s) – Fashion & Italian Scooters

6. Mod with Customized Scooter

7. Quadrophenia (1973) • Rock opera about Jimmy, a teenager, and his doings in London & Brighton in 1964-65. • Mass violence – Gang warfare – echoes of C20 Wars • “Quadrophenia” = • Technical term for advanced, volatile schizophrenia • Reference to four personalities of Jimmy • Reference to the four members of The Who • Reference to quadrophonic sound (4-channel or surround sound; i.e. stereo doubled), which was new at the time. In sense of themes emerging “from corners,” according to Pete Townsend.

8. Quadrophenia: The Story • Jimmy is a Mod dealing with mental instability • His illness derives from inability to identify with major institutions: • Parents/family • Psychiatrist (medicine) • Vicar (religion) • Eventually his own youth subculture • And subsequently himself.

9. “5.15” • The song “5.15” sums up the major tenets of Jimmy’s identity crisis: • Sexuality and gender (masculinity) • Modern culture • Consumerism • Alienation

10. The Who Sell Out (1967) • Mock radio broadcast with fake commercials • Ironic take on rock, commercial culture, and modern media • “Odorono” – irony: pop song turns out to be a commercial – because that’s what pop songs are