MOD memories (source Kristan Deconinck, UK)

There is a lot of myth surrounding the legendary rivalry between mods and rockers - much of perpetuated by the tabloids of the day.

A couple of groups mock-charging along an esplanade, with only the occasional physical injury was, and still is, far less dangerous than any hooliganism you see today.

I recall walking along a riverbank one day and coming across a huge muddy puddle. I couldn't escape because the river was on one side and a high hedge on the other.

Two rockers were on the other side of the puddle and when one of them started wading through the mud towards me, I inevitably throught he was going to beat me up.

Instead, he simply lifted me up and carried me across the mud so I wouldn't get my smart "mod" clothes dirty.

Another myth regards the music. REAL mods weren't into the Who - who looked like mods but played beat music. No, REAL mods were into the original R&B standards which had been copied copiously by all British groups.

A real mod, as opposed to a poseur, would never have been seen carrying an ordinary beat record (although we did allow ourselves to enjoy groups such as the Yardbirds, who had a certain cred-value at the time).