the Architect of Mod: how Peter Meaden restyled and launched the Who - by Steve Turner
Peter Meaden was a key figure in the Mod movement. He changed the world view of Andrew Loog Oldham, which shaped the early Stones, and he managed the Who, remodelling their look and sound, writing their first single and turning them into Mod figureheads. Steve Turner interviewed him in 1975, an exchange that's now the centrepiece of his new book 'King Mod: the Story of Peter Meaden, the Who and the Birth of a British Subculture', and the NME's published extract in 1978 paved the way for the Mod Revival. It's an extraordinary story that would make a movie, discussed here with Steve and including ...
... the Scene Club in Windmill Street "when a band was a way of life".
... Angus McGill and the first press mention of 'the Modernists'.
… the tale of Sandra Blackstone, the DJ who vanished into thin air.
... the lifelong values of Mod culture for teenagers like Eric Clapton, Marc Bolan and David Bowie.
... the single Meaden wrote for the Who - Zoot Suit/I'm The Face - and where he stole the music from.
... police raids in Soho.
... doing press for Bob Dylan at the time of Madhouse on Castle Street.
... the Flamingo Club's dress policy, French and Italian film and fashion, boxing boots, cycle jackets and the origins of Mod style.
... Chuck Berry in suburban Edmonton!
... Meaden's disastrous attempt to bring Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band to London.
... and a typical weekend in 1964, a sleepless, Drinamyl-powered 48 hours from the Ready Steady Go! green room to the Scene Club via Carnaby Street.
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