1.‘QUADROPHENIA’ - THE ALBUM NARRATIVE: HEAR MY HISTORY
The album’s overture, ‘I Am The Sea’, establishes a retrospective structure: Jimmy’s story begins at the end, on a rock in the middle of a stormy sea. ‘The Real Me’ supplies a swiftly sketched exposition of the hero’s uncomprehending surroundings, at home, at the psychiatrist, even with the local vicar. The instrumental title track is followed by a domestic interlude, ‘Cut My Hair’, with Jimmy recalling the row with his parents that led to his leaving home. In the course of the song we hear a news broadcast discussing the previous week’s Brighton riots between the Mods and Rockers, an event Jimmy had attended and where he felt connected to his fellow drugged-up rioters. ‘The Punk And The Godfather’ tells of Jimmy going to a rock concert and then queuing up backstage to see his heroes. When one of them emerges and tells him to ‘Fuck off’ Jimmy realises music is not the answer to his problems. ‘I’m One’, a record Townshend saw as deeply autobiographical, pinpoints Jimmy’s position on the chain of cool: he may not be good at anything but at least he is a Mod – he is one of the gang. In ‘The Dirty Jobs’ Jimmy finds work as a dustman, but his left-wing views are not appreciated by his workmates and so he moves on. ‘Helpless Dancer’ exemplifies Jimmy’s inbuilt aggression, a conscience that bites deeply and a frustration with the world that makes him bitter. ‘Is It In My Head’ expands on this, adding self-doubt: is Jimmy’s excessively pessimistic outlook to blame for his problems? The end to the first disc is the (ritornello) summative and climactic ‘I’ve Had Enough’: Jimmy snaps when he sees a girl he likes with his best friend; in abject self-pity he smashes up his prized scooter and decides to return to Brighton, the scene of his best times.
The second disc begins with ‘5.15’, Jimmy’s journey down to Brighton, sandwiched between two city gents. Having consumed a huge number of purple hearts, the journey has a number of mood swings as Jimmy, ‘out of my brain on a train’, thinks about the seamier side of life as a teenager. ‘Sea And Sand’ finds him back in Brighton and brighter, reminiscing on fights at home and recalling his night on the beach with his ex. There follows a swing back to the desperate and nihilistic mood of ‘Drowned’ – where we hear the coots flying. Here one finds the influence of Meher Baba: a love song with God’s love being the ocean and our selves the drops of water that make it up. Drowning in that ocean means the drop becomes an ocean itself – the cosmic union earlier striven for in ‘Lifehouse’. In ‘Bell Boy’ he meets the Ace Face he had previously admired, now a bellhop at the very hotel the Mods tore up. Outraged at this seeming betrayal, ‘Doctor Jimmy’ conveys his increasingly wild, self-damaging nature. ‘The Rock’ sees him getting in a boat, sailing out to sea and sitting on the rock. Waiting for the waves to knock him off he reviews his life: ‘he ends up with the sum total of frustrated toughness, romanticism, religion, daredevil-desperation, but a starting point for anybody.’ The concluding ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ is similar to ‘Drowned’ in meaning, another reference to Meher Baba’s comment that rain was a blessing from God. It is another plea to drown, only this time in the rain. Townshend saw this as signifying a surrender to the inevitable, the knowledge that life will continue to throw up the same disappointment, ‘but he’s moved up a level. He’s weak still, but there’s a strength in that weakness. He’s in danger of maturing.’
As in ‘Tommy’, the album’s ending is open: will he have the resolve, and the luck, to reach dry land, or will he drown at the moment of divine realisation? It seems this does not really matter, since by choosing life he is alive, and alive in the here and now.
2. QUADROPHENIA - THE FILM NARRATIVE (TAKEN FROM 1997 PRESS BOOK): I’M DRESSED RIGHT FOR A STREET FIGHT
London. 1964. The city’s youth are divided into two factions: Mods, who are sharply dressed and obsessed with the hard driving music of the day and Rockers, who wear leather jackets and like old style rock’n’roll. The Mods and Rockers both ride around on cycles looking for excuses to rumble with each other.
Jimmy’s whole life is being a Mod. His parents think he is not normal. And that is all right with him: ‘I want to be different. You gotta be somebody or you might as well jump in the sea and drown.’ Jimmy spends much time looking into the canal. At home Jimmy only finds peace in his room with photos on the wall of nude girls and rock groups, and clippings of Mod/Rocker riots in Brighton. But he would rather be out riding his cycle with his Mod gang, especially his good friends Dave and Chalky.
Kevin, an old friend of Jimmy’s, returns from the army. He is no Rocker but dresses like a Rocker and Jimmy will not be seen in public with him. When the Mods pursue a Rocker after Chalky is harassed by a Rocker gang he turns out to be Jimmy’s friend. He is beaten to a pulp before Jimmy can say anything. Jimmy goes home disgusted.
Jimmy becomes interested in a pretty blonde named Steph who befriends him because he has pills. He is jealous that she is with an older guy, Pete, who takes her to Brighton over the Bank Holiday. But once they arrive in Brighton she dumps Pete and comes over to Jimmy. That night they go to a mad bash in a large dance hall. Steph leaves Jimmy to dance with Ace Face, the coolest Mod. When Jimmy dives off a balcony into the crowd, to show off, he is kicked out. He spends the night looking at the ocean.
Steph re-joins Jimmy the next day. They march together as the Mods parade down the streets. The Mods beat up some Rockers. A large group of Rockers retaliates on the beach and the police break up the fight. Mods charge through the streets, breaking shop windows. Paddy Wagons arrive. Ace Face, Jimmy and other Mods fight the police. Steph becomes turned on. She and Jimmy duck into an alley for a quickie. They return to the streets. Jimmy is arrested. So is Ace Face, and the two share a cigarette in the Paddy Wagon. Jimmy feels great. Steph rides back to London with Dave.
Finding pills in his room and learning of his arrest, Jimmy’s mother kicks him out of the house. When he returns at night, his father chases him away. When his boss questions him about missing work, Jimmy quits. He buys pills. But pills no longer impress Steph, who has decided to stick with Dave. After Jimmy and Dave fight, Jimmy realises he no longer fits in with his Mod friends. His world is falling apart.
He returns to empty Brighton, the scene of his greatest day. He feels miserable. He spots Ace Face. He is now a Bellboy (!) at a hotel. Jimmy is fed up. He steals a cycle. He rides along the cliff by the sea. The water looks inviting. He drives towards the cliff’s edge. The cycle crashes into the rocks below.
3. QUADROPHENIA: THE BOOK GLOSSARY - A MOD ENGLISH DICTIONARY: EVERY WORD I SAY TURNS OUT A SENTENCE
As an essentially British and exclusive youth subculture ‘that defied translation’ (Marsh 1983: 421), Mod inevitably incurs hermetically sealed textual and contextual references. This brief ‘Goldhawk glossary’ is offered to assist with more recondite terminology. Alongside cultural identity and musical styles, its focus is, tellingly, on those enduring teenage motivations: fashion, food, fighting and – let us call it ‘fondling’.
Afghan – a sheepskin or goatskin coat with the leather facing out and the fleece forming the lining. Very hippyish attire.
Aggro – aggression: a common manifestation of the Mod mood.
Bank Holiday – legal or public holiday.
Black Maria – a slang term for a police van used to transport prisoners.
Blues – small blue amphetamine pills aka French Blues.
BNP – the British National Party, a far-right political party that splintered from the National Front in 1982.
Borstal – a detention centre for young offenders (a system abolished in 1982).
Bovril – a hot and salty meat extract drink.
Brogues – a low-heeled shoe or boot with decorative perforations and serrations along its visible edging.
Carnaby Street – a shopping thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, London, famous for its independent fashion boutiques.
Co-op – a chain of UK food stores, run on co-operative business lines.
Crombie – a three-quarter length woollen overcoat.
Council estate / flat / house – public housing.
Digs – a slang term for accommodation, lodgings.
Flash – a slang term for showing off, being ostentatious, especially in attire.
Fred Perry – a short-sleeved polo-shirt bearing a laurel wreath logo, stitched into the garment’s left breast. The design was initially endorsed by the eponymous British champion tennis player (1909–95).
Gauloises – a brand of French cigarettes.
Hush Puppies – a casual brushed-suede shoe with a light crepe sole.
Immediate – a British record label (1965–90) that focused on the London rhythm and blues scene.
Labour Exchange – a UK government-run employment agency.
Lambretta – an Italian-made two-stroke engine motor scooter. Jimmy’s scooter of choice.
Liquor – see ‘Pie and Mash’.
Madchester – a music scene, centred on Manchester in the late eighties and early nineties (1989–92), that mixed alternative and psychedelic rock with dance music. ‘Mad’ references the use of MDMA aka Ecstasy.
Paddy Wagon – see ‘Black Maria’.
parka – the Mod coat of choice – notably the M51 fish-tail parka (named after its initial US army distribution), longer at the back with an integral hood.
Pie and Mash – a traditional London working-class meal, normally a minced beef pie served with mashed potato and an eel liquor sauce, aka ‘liquor’.
Ponce – a slang term for a fancy dressing, effeminate or gay man.
Pork-pie hat – the UK / Jamaican version resembles a short brimmed trilby and bears a double crown.
Skinhead – a late sixties and enduring British youth subculture, a ‘hard’ off-shoot of Mod, named for its adherents’ close-cropped or shaven heads. An affiliation quickly grew for Dr. Martens boots and Levi jeans, worn with braces (suspenders).
Smooch – an amorous kiss and cuddle.
Smoothie – an early seventies British subculture (1972–73), a further off-shoot of Skinhead / Suedehead, with longer, often shoulder-length hair and casual wear.
Snog – see ‘Smooch’.
Suedehead – an early seventies British subculture (1970–72), an initial off-shoot of Skinhead, with hair still short but long enough to be combed and a preference for more formal attire such as single-breasted suits, Crombie overcoats and brogues.
Teddy Boys – a fifties British youth subculture known for its adherence to early rock’n’roll and for its Edwardian style clothing, typically a drape jacket, thin and high-waisted ‘drainpipe’ trousers’ and crepe-soled shoes, aka ‘brothel creepers’.
Toff – a derogatory slang term for a member of the upper classes.
Trad jazz – the UK trad jazz revival, referring back to the Dixieland and Ragtime styles, was at its peak in 1960–62, between the waning of early rock’n’roll and the arrival of the Beatles.
Twitten – a dialect term for a narrow passageway. Jimmy did it here.
Two Tone – a music genre (1979–85), aka 2 Tone, created in England by fusing elements of ska and punk rock. Music style and group membership combined black and white artists.
Vespa – Italian-made two-stroke engine motor scooter. The Ace Face’s scooter of choice.