Reggae Injection Christmas Party

If you are looking for a way of filling the gap between Christmas and New Year, you could check out the Reggae Injection Christmas Party. If you happen to be in the London area anyway.

DJs Teddy Garcia and special guest Reggae Revolt will be spinning ska, rocksteady, skinhead reggae, glam and conga. And as an added bonus, the beer is at pub prices. Full details are:

Reggae Injection Christmas Party
Friday 28th December, 7pm until 1am
The Herbert Chapman
274 Holloway Road
London, N7 6NE
Admission: Free

Find out more at the club MySpace page

Vespa vintage-style scooter helmets

Piaggio has a new range of retro accessories available for Vespa owners, including these rather fetching vintage-style scooter helmets.

Three designs are available, a Union Jack, a 'mod' target and a target design in the colours of the Italian flag (as pictured here). However, these open-face helmets do benefit from modern construction, using lightweight ABS material that keep the weight down to under 1kg and with a shape that fits easily into a (modern) scooter storage compartment.

The helmets are available from Piaggio dealers in sizes extra-small through to extra-large, retailing at £59.99. Goggles are also available to go with them, priced at £19.99.

Find out more at the Piaggio website

Corazzo retro-styled scooter jackets

Stylish and safe jackets for motorbike and scooter riders are few and far between - but there's a choice of smart designs on the Corazzo website, including the retro-styled 5.0, Bomber and Shop jackets.

Fred Perry starts half price sale

Like many other retailers, Fred Perry is kicking off its Christmas sale early - with most of the discounts already available online and in its stores.

The discounts are said to be up to 50 per cent, although most seem nearer a third - with most of the existing stock getting a hefty chunk off the price tags. And as well as clothes, there's also a markdown of accessories, including this rather smart retro green and cream holdall, with both handles and straps, vintage laurel motif and two large pockets.

You can bag this now for £28.

Find out more at the Fred Perry website

Quadrophenia Convention in Brighton

If you happen to love Quadrophenia, you might want to attend the Quadrophenia Convention in Brighton.

It's a two-day event in Brighton, running from April 5th to April 6th 2008, with appearances from the likes of Phil Daniels (Jimmy) Mark Wingett (Dave) Phil Davis(Chalky) Toyah Willcox (Monkey) Gary Shail (Spider) Garry Cooper (Peter) and Trevor Laird (Ferdy). No sign of Sting I see.

There's a range of events, talks and of course, a movie showing. You can even have a meal with the cast or a brew - but at a price. See the website for full details. Tickets are from £15.

Find out more at the Quadrophenia website

Twiggy eco shopping bag at M&S

2007 has been the year of the eco shopping bag - and this Twiggy eco shopping bag from Marks and Spencer is up there with the best of them.

UK readers will probably know that Twiggy has become the face of M&S - but thankfully the bag features her classic 60s mug rather than a modern likeness (not that she hasn't aged well), drawn by fashion illustrator David Downton.

Made from organic cotton, you can buy one instore or online for a bargain £2.50.

Order online at the Marks and Spencer website

Via Retro To Go

10 questions with DNA Groove's Claudio

The first of our 10 questions with... series is now online - and the first person to be interviewed (in a long time) by Modculture is Claudio De Rossi, founder of mod-friendly clothing label DNA Groove.

You can check out Claudio's interview in the interview section of the site, which also houses some of our older interviews, including the likes of Ian McLagan, Steve Ellis and Eddie Piller to name just three.

Expect a couple of new interviews with a range of people every week. And if you have any suggestions for people to interview, you know where we are.

Read the interview with DNA Groove's Claudio

6Ts Xmas Party

Hopefully you can see the details above, but if you can't, the 6Ts Xmas Party is being held on Thursday 20th December at the 100 Club, 100 Oxford Street in central London. By all accounts a rawkous and drunken affair - so a great way to get your Christmas break well and truly underway.

No membership needed, the night runs from 9pm until 2am.

Find out more at the 6Ts website

10 questions with...

In an attempt to keep Modculture moving along with fresh content, we are starting a series of weekly interviews - and you could be one of them.

10 questions with... is exactly what it says - 10 questions with a range of people, from people on the mod scene past and present, to musicians, designers, clothing retailers, artists, DJs - in fact, just about anyone with a relevance with mod past, present or future.

Don't be shy - if you want to put yourself forward, please do so, we would love to hear from you. Or if you have a suggestion for someone we should interview, please tell us. Or finally, if you actually want to do the interview (which is as easy as compiling 10 questions in an email), again drop us a line - and the person you want to interview. Chances are we'll be able to get hold of them.

And watch out for the first interviews online later this week. More detailed interviews are to follow when the site re-design is completed.

Drop us a line about the interviews

Retro TV W/C 7th December 2007

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 7th December to Thursday 13th December.

Highlight of the week

The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink? - Wednesday 12th December BBC 1. 10.45pm
Chronicling the history of the band, from the psychedelic 1960s through to their reunion appearance at Live 8 in 2005. Originally led by Syd Barrett, who died in 2006, they experimented with sound and pioneered the concept album, while creating ever more visually ambitious stage shows, with Roger Waters the key songwriter for their massive selling compilations of the 1970s, followed by two globally successful albums in the 1980s with David Gilmour at the helm. Featuring archive footage and original interviews.

The Urban Parka

A new company under the name of Armadillo Scooter Wear has attempted to update the old parka, replacing it with the Urban Parka.

Available for men and women (the women's one is pictured here), the Urban Parka is designed for scooter riding and adverse conditions, featuring armour in the shoulders and elbows if you come off, a waterproof/breathable fabric and specific pockets for a mobile, MP3 player and headphone loops.

You can pick one up in the khaki or black, with both costing a lot more than the old army surplus - at £175.

Find out more at the Armadillo Scooter Wear website

The Who at Wolfgang's Vault

Ever been to Wolfgang's Vault? It's an online archive of live shows that are free to stream on your PC. And the latest addition is The Who at The Spectrum, Philadelphia in 1973.

This was the Quadrophenia tour, so there's a number of live tracks from that album, as well as a few old favourites too. And if you don't fancy that, there's plenty more Who live shows, as well as an endless list of other acts from various decades - although the majority are 'name' acts so don't go looking for anything really obscure.

It's free to register, once you've done that, you can listen to what you like.

Find out more at the Wolfgang's Vault website

Atlantic Soul 1959-1975 CD boxset

Rhino Handmade is celebrating the 60th anniversary of Atlantic Records with a series of 4-CD boxsets devoted to the label's different musical styles, including this new Atlantic Soul 1959-1975 CD boxset.

Opening with Ray Charles' Come Rain Or Come Shine and closing at the dawn of the disco era with The Trammps' Hooked For Life, the 82-track collection takes in R&B, soul, funk, gospel, Philly and much more besides, including the likes of Brother Ray, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Solomon Burke, The Coasters, Sam & Dave and Wilson Pickett through to less mainstream acts like Judy Clay, Baby Washington, and the Soul Brothers Six.

Compiled by R&B expert Billy Vera (himself an Atlantic artist), it all comes in a sepia-toned 12'' x 12'' box that includes a booklet filled with extensive liner notes and rare photos. And it's limited to just 3,000 copies, all numbered. If you want one, you can pre-order from Rhino for a price of $79.98 (around £40).

Find out more at the Rhino Handmade website

Via Electric Roulette

Mod movie Young Birds Fly reviewed

Over at Cinedelica, there's a review now online for the US modern-day mod movie Young Birds Fly, courtesy of UK reviewer Maxine Hayward.

Young Birds Fly is the debut feature of American director Leonardo Flores. Indeed the film has been financed, researched directed and edited by Flores himself. It's the tale of Jill, a quiet American girl who grows as a person within the US mod scene - and eventually, her disappointment with it.

The film is showing at independent cinemas, but as yet, there's no confirmation of a DVD release. We'll let you know if we hear anything. In the meantime, check out the review of the movie via the link below.

Young Birds Fly reviewed

Five must-buy mod books

Confused by the ever-growing number of mod-themed books on the shelves of your local bookshop? Help is at hand.

Our latest feature on the site is five must-buy mod books. Obviously this is down to personal taste and I'm sure at least one of the list (if not more) will probably be strongly disagreed with. But I have tried to be balanced, choosing a range of books that covers the spectrum - 1960s, 1980s, fact, fiction and academic.

Check out the article via the link below - and if you think there's an obvious omission, leave a comment below. Our feature archive is also available here.

Read the five must-buy mod books article