"Did you ever dream about a place you never really recall being to before? A place that maybe only exists in your imagination? Some place far away, half remembered when you wake up. When you were there, though, you knew the language. You knew your way around. That was the sixties....
No. It wasn't that either. It was just '66 and early '67. That's all there was....."
I have found this photo of Mick Avory, drummer from The Kinks, modeling a John Stephen suit in 1966. It was in Uncut magazine. I wouldn't take for granted that it really is John Stephen's suit, because there were some mistakes in the article (They actually referred to a designer as John Stephens), but it is quite likely, as it is quite typical for John Stephen's designs from that period. If anybody knows more about this photo, please leave a comment.
Dave Davies is mostly known for his guitar riffs in such Kinks' classics as "You Really Got Me" and "All Day And All Of The Night"As a songwriter, Dave always stood in the shadow of his older brother, Ray. But his skills as a guitarist, perfectly complemented Ray's brilliant songwriting, making them one of the most dynamic duos in popular music history.
However, the aim of this post is not to talk about Dave Davies - the musician, but to say a few words about his very flamboyant dress sense in 1960's.
As far as fashion goes, The Kinks were in the avant-garde. In late 1964,while most of other London groups were sporting sharp, minimal Mod style (usually designed by John Stephen), The Kinks were wearing more dandified clothes - Victorian style morning jackets and frilled shirts (sometimes combined with riding boots). This was one of the first sights of Peacock look, which became so popular in London around 1966. Dave Davies remembers: When we first started, me and Pete Quaife (Bass Player) we were as much into clothes and fashion as we were into music. Pete was a graphic artist and we used to go out and look at clothes and draw them (www.punkglobe.com/davedaviesinterview0111.php).
Dave Davies was a regular customer in Carnaby Street and King's Road boutiques. He took Peacock style to the extremes , mixing epochs and centuries - from Victoriana , through Regency to 18th Century court dress. His clothes and his trademark Oscar Wilde-style haircut made him possibly the most eye- catching male pop star of 1960's Swinging London.
Performing his song, "Death of the Clown" in an outfit inspired by 18th century court dress, 1967.
Cover of Dave's solo EP from 1967
From the same photoshoot...1967
The Kinks, 1965
The Kinks with Mike Nesmith (far left), 1966
Dave Davies, 1966
Dave Davies modeling for Terylene adverts, 1966.
From the photoshoot for a cover of Dave's solo EP, 1967
With female fans, 1967
Riding horses through London with The Kinks, 1967
The Kinks, September 7 , 1964 - soon after their first number one, "You Really Got Me"
Dave Davies, early 1965
Dave Davies, 1965
1966
Dave Davies, 1966
Dave Davies on the covers of Dutch teen magazine, 1966-1967
1966
1967
Dave Davies, 1967
Dave Davies, 1967
The Kinks, 1967
The Kinks, 1967
1967
Pete Quaife and Dave Davies performing on The Beat Club, 1967
Cover of an album released in 2007 , containing Dave Davies' solo tracks from late 1960's.
Brilliant Kinks' song, written and sung by Dave, "Mindless Child Of Motherhood" - a B-side to their 1969 single "Drivin' "
1966
Dave Davies, 1974
Ray and Dave in Konk studios, early 1970's
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Images scanned from various issues of Mojo and Uncut.
My lovely hometown, Brighton, has always been strongly associated with Mod subculture (well, at least since 1964 - a year of famous Mods vs.Rockers clashes during May Bank holiday weekend). It is only appropriate that New Untouchables - a promotion company from London specializing in Mod/Soul/Psych clubnights, chose Brighton for their Mod weekender - a 3 day event which usually includes clubnights, gigs, record fair, vintage clothing fair and an exhibition. Since 2006, every August Bank holiday, the Mods from all over the country come to Brighton to dance to their favorite music, show off their suits, scooters, etc. This community of 1960's obsessives recently had been a subject of the photo book by Horst A. Friedrichs titled I'm One - 21st Century Mods. It is a good account of a contemporary Mod/Psych scene focused around New Untouchables and other London clubnights such as Mousetrap.
This year's weekender was the first one ever to sell out, which can only mean that the popularity of the scene is growing. Daytime events at the Volks - popular seafront venue in Brighton, consisted of mini vintage clothing fair, and live performances by 60's Garage revival bands such as Thee Vicars and The Higher State. The evening events at the Komedia saw top 60's scene dj's spinning their precious vinyl records. In theory , the two rooms of the Komedia were supposed to be Psychedelic/Garage room and Northern Soul room. However, the Psych room usually was turning into second Northern Soul room after about 2 hours. I would say that about 75% of music played during those 3 days was Northern Soul. Which, in my modest opinion, is a bit unfair to the Psych/ Garage fans such as myself. My Other criticism would again concern certain dj's and their annoying tendency of talking over the microphone between songs. When you are feeling all excited by hearing your favorite obscure soul/psych/garage song in the club, you just want a dj to play the next number - not give you a 45 second - long history of the band that recorded the song.
Typical 60's Mod look - in the best tradition of Steve Marriott
And Clothes? Well, what can I say? I was very impressed by the ladies. Be it Mary Quant look, Grace Slick look or space-age Barbarella-style look, the female part of the crowd got it right to the last detail. Looking at the ladies, you could really feel like you stepped into 1967 or 1968.
I was slightly less impressed by men. Unfortunately, the majority of them were middle-aged Paul Weller lookalikes. Not to say, that they did not make an effort - some of them were dressed in the most amazing tailor-made suits, but they tended to look more like late 1970's revivalists, rather than original 1960's Mods. Perhaps , it is just my personal taste - I absolutely loathe late 70's/80's mod revival and all its crimes - bad haircuts ( the combination of short fringe, spiked top and long-ish back), checkered shoes, target t-shirts and dreadful bands such as The Lambrettas or the Purple Hearts.
I am also not suggesting that there weren't any young people there - there was plenty of them, and it is great to see that 1960's music and fashion continues to acquire so many young enthusiasts. I myself had a great weekend, and I encourage anybody who is passionate about 1960's music and fashion to come to future New Untouchables events.
I took some photos, but unfortunately they do not do justice to the clubnight. Most of them turned out to be unusable.It is hard to have a good time and take good photos at the same time.
One of the few passable photos. Me and my girlfriend in our psychedelic attires.
For better photos and information about future events, visit www.newuntouchables.com
I remember watching a documentary about Performance in which Anita Pallenberg said that there was a whole genre of so-called 'Swinging London films', in the late sixties and they were all dreadful!. It is true. A lot of films had been made that tried to repeat the success of Blow-Up, Alfie or Georgy Girl. The most memorable of those films would include Up The Junction (Hollywood - financed attempt at the kitchen-sink genre, lacking both, the edge and a depth of Tony Richardson or John Shlesinger), rather brilliant Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush (1967) and Smashing Time (1967).
Poster for "Smashing Time" (1967)
Smashing Time was described by many as "Carry On Swinging London", although such description is not entirely accurate. It flopped at the time of its cinematic release in 1967 , and to this day it has not been released on dvd in Britain (a region 1 dvd will set you back £35 on Amazon). Not so long ago, it emerged on YouTube in 12 parts, only to be taken down after few months.It is there where I finally saw this film , about which I have heard so much. I must admit, that it is not a great film - but there are some interesting things in it. Amazing costumes are certainly a reason to watch this film. A footage of Carnaby Street at its height is another.And a scene in which an outfit destroyed in a pie fight prompts a young 'peacock' to commit suicide is priceless.
The film features Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave at the height of their fame, but their great abilities as comic actresses, so well presented in their earlier films, The Knack..And How To Get It (Tushingham), and Georgy Girl (Redgrave) is lost here between really tacky slapstick humor. The film was scripted by George Melly - jazz musician, raconteur, Swinging London scenester, and above all, an author of Revolt Into Style - a great analysis of Sixties London scene. His script was an attempt to document and satirize 'Swinging London' at the same time. Perhaps this too obvious attempt to document an era is a main fault - the film captures the spirit of the time and it hits a viewer over the head with it, to the point where its neither funny nor interesting. The film follows a story of two hapless Northern 'lasses' who come to London , having read all the stories about swinging scene. They quickly get lost in a world of dodgy bedsits and even dodgier strip clubs. Lynn Redgrave's character eventually makes it big as a pop singer and dates a David Bailey-esque photographer (Michael York, in his first ever role), but she realizes that fame and fortune are not what she thought they would be. Hardly an original story, but the film has certain kind of charm.
Readers of this blog should find one scene interesting. At one point in the film, Rita Tushingham's character finds a job in a uber-hip boutique called Too Much.
This fictional place is obviously inspired by places such as Granny Takes a Trip or Hung On You. In one scene, the owner of Too Much visits a run down second hand clothing shop in search for an inspiration (which is what Sheila Cohen and John Pearse from Granny Takes a Trip were doing). In other, she disappears, leaving poor Rita Tushingham (whom she hired only five minutes earlier) in charge of the shop. She gets irritated when posh and trendy friends of the owner come to the shop to hang out, without intention of buying anything (which was a common practice in Granny Takes a Trip). This brilliant scene, luckily is still on You Tube:
Note a brilliant cameo from Murray Melvin (reunited with Rita Tushingham after A Taste Of Honey). Rita Tushingham's scream about the sort of people who want something for nothing is poignant, and shows a class division in Sixties London, which George Melly later pointed out in Revolt Into Style.
It was already mentioned that the film was neither a commercial nor critical success. Lynn Redgrave said: "We thought as we were making it, this will be just right. But the minute it came out people said, 'It's over. Swinging London is over' " (Shawn Levy, Ready! Steady! Go! The Smashing Rise and Giddy Fall of Swinging London, Doubleday edition, p 300).
It is possible that making of the film was quite chaotic. One of my tutors at University told me that he once interviewed Rita Tushingham on the subject of costumes in Smashing Time. Apparently she could not remember any details whatsoever about the production , apart from the general feeling of chaos.
Smashing Time might not be the greatest film about 1960's London, but it can be described as 'Interesting Failure' .Hopefully BFI will release it on dvd at some point, or maybe the film will reappear on YouTube again. Here's the original trailer to give you a little taste of Smashing Time.
