THE WHO & MOD CULTUREIdentity, Language, Fashion

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.

British “Teddy Boys” (1950s) (Elvis)

Rockers (1950s-1960s) (Brando)

Mods (1960s) – Fashion & Italian Scooters

Mod with Customized Scooter

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.

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.

“5.15”• The song “5.15” sums up the major tenets of Jimmy’s

identity crisis:• Sexuality and gender (masculinity)• Modern culture• Consumerism

• Alienation

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