I'm a huge Who fan Luke, have every album, Quadrophenia has a lot to say for itself, but Townshend was clever that way. You are spot on about the discrepancies in this movie (a bit of a head scratch) but I do love it (even in if some of the fashion choices of the wardrobe department were questionable -not strictly all mod and I've always been a little surprised about that one considering the mods lived by their fashion bible). Fantastic soundtrack and that beautiful moment of the reveal of the Bellboy (I can still hear Moon's camp cockney accent on this track). And so the Kids are Alright. Fantastic stuff !
Me too. Huge Who fan this end. I've included a bit about my old au pair girl who was an official Who girlfriend... they came to our house- in a blacked out limo to collect her. Can you imagine? Cut My Hair is an all-time favourite.
Me and my friends went to Boston from the suburbs to see this when I came out. We sat through it twice. One of the great thrilling moments in rock ‘n’ roll Cinema is the cut from Jimmy walking on the beach to him, riding his scooter in London, and “The Real Me” starts playing. I haven’t seen it since. I should probably watch it again.
re: wardrobe anachronism, I did notice that Steph's (Leslie Ash) hair seemed very distinctly 70s in its curls and not 60s, so I'm not surprised that other anachronisms slipped into the wardrobe - would you mind elaborating on what you noticed?
The Bellboy reveal was amazing and the final sequence had me holding my breath, just fantastic all around.
I absolutely agree Lily, Lesley Ash's hair was distinctly 70's , absolutely not what a girl who followed Mod etiquette would have styled her hair like and Toyah Wilcox colour was way over bleached. I absolutely agree about the Bellboy reveal too!!
If you think of the whole movie as a sort of flashback, of imagining the events more than a decade earlier, as a dream of the Mod scene, rather than an accurate depiction, the anachronisms actually fit.
But I have a problem with his Mod personality too... I mean, the man's weird. And not in a good way. That other slightly older Mod- the one in the suit who gets the birds. He's far cooler.
I had a moment of sympathy for him on that discovery - yeah he's the big man of nothing, and probably hanging on to a scene to stave off an identity crisis, but the fact of self-expression/group allegiance through music, dancing and fashion as the only bright spots in an otherwise downtrodden life are very, very relatable.
The other thing is that the Sting character's 27 years old, or so... pretty dubious. I mean, hanging around with the kids. Gives him instant, easy cred.
Ah, love that film! And now I have to go dig in my pile of vinyls for the album. Funny thing, when I got married I brought my records collection into my new home and hubby and I compared notes. We had 2 albums in duplicate: Quadrophenia and Pete T.'s All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.
Need to see it again, having only seen it once upon its release back in 1979, and though liking it, I don’t recall loving it.
Probably because of the presence of Gordon Sumner (its just too ridiculous to call a 73 year old by his supposed teenage nickname), who was an absolute irritant to us at the time; that’s those of us who viewed the Police as bandwaggon jumpers.
And, of course, this film also appeared to be bandwaggon jumping itself on the very short-lived post-punk Mod revival, which had at its starting point the Jam, who we loved, and then was taken up by the Secret Affair, Lambrettas, and any number of cod-mock-Modders!
But, the music is great, and Phil Daniels, too, and, of course, we all wished we were down that alley with Lesley Ash.
Yes; definitely need to re-visit, Luke.
Oh, and I lived for a decade in the 90s between the Goldhawk and Uxbridge roads, on Lime Grove, and I’ve only just now made the connection between the area and the film. Perhaps I was always too preoccupied with its connection to the Sex Pistols…ha-ha! So, thanks for joining the dots for me, Luke.
Apologies to all you High Street types out there, but when I hear the word Mods I automatically connect to the Mighty Boosh's Mod Wolves dance number: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLg2JbELs9o
When I complained about the 125 train to my girlfriend in the cinema in 1979 she thought that was such a weird comment. She did marry me and didn’t mention it in the divorce but I have always carried it as a mark of my inability to suspend reality when watching a film. Thanks to you now I know it’s not just me!!
In the summer of 1981, my best friend Marco spent a couple of weeks in London pretending to study English. When he came back to Italy, his English was still appalling, but he brought back a fresh bunch of LPs, Quadrophenia among them. Gatefold cover with a booklet with lots of arty black and white photos. Smashing.
Quadrophenia is definitely my favorite Who album. Even Pete Townshend admitted in a documentary I saw recently that it was their last great record.
Reading this, I was put in mind for some reason of Absolute Beginners, a film that I think is long overdue a reassessment. Also, I'm reminded that I haven't seen Quadrophenia since its cinema release and I really ought to watch it again.
I of course mean John Bindon of dubious legend . Lots of interesting stuff in a book about Peter Grant , Led Zeppelin manager who he pissed off big time and paid the price
I can tell you Gasworks stories - such a seminal place lol . Plus John Binham and some of his legendary knob activities . A horrid man though whatever the size of his manhood
Adore the Who but this film is shit. The future cast of eastenders doing what they do worst. The beauty and seriousness of the record isn’t even attempted here. Truly dismal. And this from someone born on Goldhawk Road.
I'm a huge Who fan Luke, have every album, Quadrophenia has a lot to say for itself, but Townshend was clever that way. You are spot on about the discrepancies in this movie (a bit of a head scratch) but I do love it (even in if some of the fashion choices of the wardrobe department were questionable -not strictly all mod and I've always been a little surprised about that one considering the mods lived by their fashion bible). Fantastic soundtrack and that beautiful moment of the reveal of the Bellboy (I can still hear Moon's camp cockney accent on this track). And so the Kids are Alright. Fantastic stuff !
Me too. Huge Who fan this end. I've included a bit about my old au pair girl who was an official Who girlfriend... they came to our house- in a blacked out limo to collect her. Can you imagine? Cut My Hair is an all-time favourite.
Did they?? Now I need details Luke (who was she dating)( how fabulous!!! And I love that song too!!
It was a very long time ago. '69? I was tiny. One of them- annoyingly, my parents don't have the details. Picked up in Carnaby Street.
Me and my friends went to Boston from the suburbs to see this when I came out. We sat through it twice. One of the great thrilling moments in rock ‘n’ roll Cinema is the cut from Jimmy walking on the beach to him, riding his scooter in London, and “The Real Me” starts playing. I haven’t seen it since. I should probably watch it again.
I absolutely agree, the sequence when The Real Me kicks in is incredible!
Roger Daltrey does not get enough credit as a great singer, very powerful, able to stand up to the other three big personalities in the band.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZePzzHSwrIM&pp=ygUiUXVhZHJvcGhlbmlhIG9wZW5pbmcgc2NlbmUgcmVhbCBtZQ%3D%3D
I absolutely agree, Daltry was an incredible talent and also the only one who was disciplined enough to be in the studio on time and relatively sober!
re: wardrobe anachronism, I did notice that Steph's (Leslie Ash) hair seemed very distinctly 70s in its curls and not 60s, so I'm not surprised that other anachronisms slipped into the wardrobe - would you mind elaborating on what you noticed?
The Bellboy reveal was amazing and the final sequence had me holding my breath, just fantastic all around.
I absolutely agree Lily, Lesley Ash's hair was distinctly 70's , absolutely not what a girl who followed Mod etiquette would have styled her hair like and Toyah Wilcox colour was way over bleached. I absolutely agree about the Bellboy reveal too!!
good point, that bleach blond seemed very punk-influenced to me, not a colour a girl in the 60s would have had even if she was going platinum.
If you think of the whole movie as a sort of flashback, of imagining the events more than a decade earlier, as a dream of the Mod scene, rather than an accurate depiction, the anachronisms actually fit.
I get that. Also, watching it now all these years later, '64 and '79 kinda blur into one.
Sting was never cooler!
But hang on! WAS he?
Ah yes, Luke the tension berween his downtrodden bellboy reality and magnificent ´mod boss' persona!
But I have a problem with his Mod personality too... I mean, the man's weird. And not in a good way. That other slightly older Mod- the one in the suit who gets the birds. He's far cooler.
I had a moment of sympathy for him on that discovery - yeah he's the big man of nothing, and probably hanging on to a scene to stave off an identity crisis, but the fact of self-expression/group allegiance through music, dancing and fashion as the only bright spots in an otherwise downtrodden life are very, very relatable.
The other thing is that the Sting character's 27 years old, or so... pretty dubious. I mean, hanging around with the kids. Gives him instant, easy cred.
And that silver suit!
LOL. Hmmmmm.......
Another film we need to rewatch-clearly!
Ah, love that film! And now I have to go dig in my pile of vinyls for the album. Funny thing, when I got married I brought my records collection into my new home and hubby and I compared notes. We had 2 albums in duplicate: Quadrophenia and Pete T.'s All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.
Need to see it again, having only seen it once upon its release back in 1979, and though liking it, I don’t recall loving it.
Probably because of the presence of Gordon Sumner (its just too ridiculous to call a 73 year old by his supposed teenage nickname), who was an absolute irritant to us at the time; that’s those of us who viewed the Police as bandwaggon jumpers.
And, of course, this film also appeared to be bandwaggon jumping itself on the very short-lived post-punk Mod revival, which had at its starting point the Jam, who we loved, and then was taken up by the Secret Affair, Lambrettas, and any number of cod-mock-Modders!
But, the music is great, and Phil Daniels, too, and, of course, we all wished we were down that alley with Lesley Ash.
Yes; definitely need to re-visit, Luke.
Oh, and I lived for a decade in the 90s between the Goldhawk and Uxbridge roads, on Lime Grove, and I’ve only just now made the connection between the area and the film. Perhaps I was always too preoccupied with its connection to the Sex Pistols…ha-ha! So, thanks for joining the dots for me, Luke.
Apologies to all you High Street types out there, but when I hear the word Mods I automatically connect to the Mighty Boosh's Mod Wolves dance number: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLg2JbELs9o
When I complained about the 125 train to my girlfriend in the cinema in 1979 she thought that was such a weird comment. She did marry me and didn’t mention it in the divorce but I have always carried it as a mark of my inability to suspend reality when watching a film. Thanks to you now I know it’s not just me!!
Don't think it's weird at all. What's odd is that it could easily have been left out?
In the summer of 1981, my best friend Marco spent a couple of weeks in London pretending to study English. When he came back to Italy, his English was still appalling, but he brought back a fresh bunch of LPs, Quadrophenia among them. Gatefold cover with a booklet with lots of arty black and white photos. Smashing.
Quadrophenia is definitely my favorite Who album. Even Pete Townshend admitted in a documentary I saw recently that it was their last great record.
Reading this, I was put in mind for some reason of Absolute Beginners, a film that I think is long overdue a reassessment. Also, I'm reminded that I haven't seen Quadrophenia since its cinema release and I really ought to watch it again.
Appreciated this, Luke. I’ve never seen it but it feels like a movie I should have seen by now. Maybe this was the push I needed….
I of course mean John Bindon of dubious legend . Lots of interesting stuff in a book about Peter Grant , Led Zeppelin manager who he pissed off big time and paid the price
I can tell you Gasworks stories - such a seminal place lol . Plus John Binham and some of his legendary knob activities . A horrid man though whatever the size of his manhood
Adore the Who but this film is shit. The future cast of eastenders doing what they do worst. The beauty and seriousness of the record isn’t even attempted here. Truly dismal. And this from someone born on Goldhawk Road.