Not a bad piece on the Style Council here if anyone's interested. From an American's point of view.

http://mod-male.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/in-defense-of-style-council.html

Last edited by Yuca (2013-11-21 11:52:49)

Weller has lived of the back of The Jam, when he was a BYT.

Never understood The Style Council.

His solo stuff, blah. Didn't mind that Dr John cover he did though.

Terry on the djhistory forum tells us...

"The idea that ALL london lads were part of the 79 skinhead revival is way off the mark , jazz funk was huge and the soul boy look everywhere , sure boneheads stood out more than someone dressed in a way your nan would call smart but that scouse story is far from the whole truth, far more scousers with bad taches and jean jackets on the kop in 79 than a few dozen proto scals in the annie rd."

Shame you can't believe all you read on forums eh chaps?

re:TSC, they were in fact my favourite Weller incarnation.
His first solo album was actually stunning as well.
Unfortunately, along with the Gallagher brothers , he became an icon of 'new lads', Loaded readers.
You see them in the pubs to this day, "What d'you listen to mate?" "Welluh".

Last edited by chuck power (2013-11-22 04:28:35)

I always liked the 12" version of 'Precious' by The Jam. Pretty much white jazz-funk .

The question is: what defines a youthculture?

German wikipedia suggested:
* it often starts with a small group that develops an innovation in fashion, music, attitudes..
* they find adopters, than develop an own world-view and values
* they use specific symbols like language, music, clothes, jewelry, tattoos etc. to differentiate themselves from the mainstream
* the grade of acceptance in their generation leads to either the development of a real youthculture or the stay as a subculture       

Personally, I think that
- today, these symbols are not that important anymore. I often have the feeling that younger people tend to gather around specific interests without the need of codified clothing. I have colleagues who look absolutely "normal" in the meaning of high street fashion, but who listen to punk, visit punk concerts and clubs...
For example:  I do not very often go to concerts anymore, but from my small experience I also have the impression that the visitors of let's say a ska concert may share certain things, but those who dress in a sense of "Mod" or "Skin" often are older. The younger ones either don't know, care or both

- Most of us grew up in a certain time. At that time, thee was a strong mainstream from which you could and would distance yourself. If you wanted. There were enemies, so to say. Who serves as an enemy today, if even your grandpa tells you how he went to see the Rolling Stones in his youth and the whole family wears the same clobber.

- and then, maybe we are too old and too far away to actually see the new cultures. We are trained to see mods, rockabillies or whatever comes to mind of the classical youthcultures. What if the new cultures use different codes which we can not identify and what if they fly under the radar? What if we are the enemy, what only would be logical.
In my town, we have a large Japanese community. I often see groups of kids in Japanese supermarkets gazing at the stuff on sale, wearing some sort of manga /cosplay stuff. They also seem to meet in a park nearby where I live. No youthculture?

- Skaters. No youthculture?

- ravers, techno freaks. No youthculture?   
- Hooligans? Metal fans? Goths?

I think the times of the "next big thing" are over. There still may be youth cultures, but they do not have the large visual impact in daiy life anymore. Is that good or bad? I tend to say it's positive.