Mods on scooters in Ganton Street in Soho filming the documentary ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979.
Paul Wright writes:
The Sex Pistols split-up shortly after their final gig on 14 January 1978 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. For me punk wasn’t the same without the Sex Pistols. During ’78 many of the bands that I had watched the previous year in small clubs were now playing larger venues, such as The Lyceum, The Roundhouse and Hammersmith Odeon. The punk scene, which had started out so exciting and rebellious, was in danger of becoming part of the mainstream. The Jam had never been ashamed of their Mod roots and influences and they released their third album, ‘All Mod Cons’, in November 1978. It included the hit single “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight”. Punk was all but over by the end of 1978 and there was a lot of talk about what would be ‘the next big thing.’ A Mod revival was brewing and The Jam would soon find themselves right in the middle of it.
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight The Jam cover
A photograph of Paul from 1979. “I am wearing a two-tone tonic suit that I bought in a clothes shop somewhere in East London. The great thing about that suit was that I could wear it to work, and also wear it to the Mod and 2-Tone gigs in the evening, which meant I didn’t have to change.”
Mods on scooters on Ganton Street in Soho being filmed for ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979. ‘Steppin’ Out’ is a short music documentary movie that was released in 1979 – directed by Australian film director Lyndall Hobbs and was a survey of fashionable lifestyles in London which featured Secret Affair On the far right of the photo (holding crash helmets) is Mick Talbot of mod band The Merton Parkas and later of the Style Council with Paul Weller.
Mods on scooters in the Carnaby Street area of London being filmed for ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979.
On the right of the photo is Mick Talbot of mod band The Merton Parkas. © photo by Paul Wright
Mods on scooters in the Carnaby Street area of London being filmed for ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979.
Mods on scooters in the Carnaby Street area of London being filmed for ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979.
Bank Holiday fighting headlines, April 1980
BEASTS!
A SUNNY Easter holiday exploded into violence yesterday at seaside resorts. The invaders wore different labels – skinheads, punks, rockers, mods – but their aim was the same: Aggro.
They left their mark all over Britain, from Oban to Southend, from Scarborough to Brighton and Weston-super-Mare. Police dogs rounded them up – “a case of animal against animal”, as one handler put it – and there were hundreds of arrests and remarkably few serious injuries. But for family holidaymakers it was a terrifying experience.
– Daily Express, Tuesday 08 April 1980
Bank Holiday fighting, April 1980 MODS AND WRECKERS!
Mods on scooters in London, 1979
© photo by Paul Wright
Mods on scooters in the Carnaby Street area of London filming ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979. ‘Steppin’ Out’ is a short music documentary movie that was released in 1979. It was directed by Australian film director Lyndall Hobbs and was a survey of fashionable lifestyles in London which featured Secret Affair (photo by Paul Wright).
Mods on scooters in the Carnaby Street area of London filming ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979. ‘Steppin’ Out’ is a short music documentary movie that was released in 1979. It was directed by Australian film director Lyndall Hobbs and was a survey of fashionable lifestyles in London which featured Secret Affair.
I took many photographs inside the Marquee Club in Soho, but I only took two photographs of the outside of the club. The door on the right hand side of the photo was the entrance to the club. Immediately inside the doorway was a narrow corridor with a ticket booth on the left-hand side where you paid to get in. I took this shot in 1978 and I think I must have taken it quickly to get the people in, so the photo is at a bit of an angle.
The Marquee Club closed in July 1988.
In 1979 a girl I used to work with kept talking to me about a band she had seen at The Wellington pub in Waterloo. The band was a mod revival band called The Chords.
I went to see them several times in 1979 and 1980 and I think they were one of the best Mod bands around, along with Secret Affair and Purple Hearts who I also went to see.
This is one of the photographs I took when The Chords played at the Marquee in 1979.
Mods on scooters in the Carnaby Street area of London filming ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979. ‘Steppin’ Out’ is a short music documentary movie that was released in 1979. It was directed by Australian film director Lyndall Hobbs and was a survey of fashionable lifestyles in London which featured Secret Affair (photo by Paul Wright).
Mods on scooters in the Carnaby Street area of London being filmed for ‘Steppin’ Out’, summer 1979.
On the right of the photo is Mick Talbot of mod band The Merton Parkas.
The Chords – Marquee Club London, 1979 – Soho © photo by Paul Wright
The Chords – Marquee Club London, 1979 – Soho © photo by Paul Wright
Quadrophenia and Manhattan on at the Classic next to the Virgin Megastore, Oxford St, 1979. Photo Paul Wright.
The Chords – Marquee Club London, 1979 by Paul Wright
Badge seller Carnaby Street 1979
Marquee Club membership card 1979
Paul Wright in Mod Gear 1980
ROBOT clothes shop in the Carnaby Street area of London in 1979.
Mods, Sounds music paper, 15 September 1979
The Merton Parkas, Marquee Club, 1980
Mods in London 1979 by Paul Wright
Mod revivalists band the Purple Hearts at the Marquee Club, London 1980
Purple Hearts at the Marquee Club, London 1980
The cover of Purple Hearts’ Millions Like Us
The Chords – Marquee Club London, 1979 by Paul Wright
The Kids Are Alright film, Rialto Cinema, London (1979)
Paul, who has captured some wonderful moments in London youth culture of the 1970s and 80s, has a brilliant Flickr site here
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