www.modculture.com (First reviewed on 14th August 2009)
"David Walker checks out Andrey Nikolai's book on the German mod scene of the 1980s."
It's easy to pass off the whole mod thing as either London- or UK-centric, both now and in the past. But there are (and have been) thriving scenes not just in Britain, but in Europe and indeed worldwide for many years. Dreinopf and Dosenbier by Andrey Nikolai covers one such scene, specifically the German mod scene of the 1980s in and around the Dusseldorf and Hamburg areas - 'the official mod capital' of Germany, he claims.
It's a scene I'm pretty sure Andrey wasn't part of - being born in '79 means he would have been three-years-old at the time of the revival. But he had the 'bug' from an early age (inevitably from watching Quadrophenia) and has done a great job in putting together an in-depth piece of work (around 188 A4 pages) that covers his local scene from just about every angle, really giving the impression that he was there. Except...
...it's all written in German. Of course it is, after all, Andrey is German, his subject matter is German and his core audience is German. But if you're like me and know only a handful of phrases in German, you are going to be limited with the book. It still has much to offer in other ways, but the language might well put the mockers on this being your next bedtime read.
That certainly doesn't write the book off for a general 'mod' audience though. I'm guessing Andrey knew the language could be limiting, so has rather cleverly put together a book that's as much scrapbook and photo album as it is a reader. After all, the language of the photograph is universal. So make a cuppa, site back and enjoy a pictorial journey that shows a scene growing out of punk into the early days of the parka-clad mod revivalists with Union Jacks, vintage scooters and teen exuberance. Nothing posed, just a selection of snaps taken by those who were there, augmented by the homemade flyers and fanzines of the day. It could be London, it could be Brighton or Margate - but this is Germany in the 1980s, looking every bit as cocky and dapper. Interesting to see how those looks change too as the decade goes on - from a sea of green to a slightly more Marriott-like 'dandy' look. If only I could understand those words to get a running commentary on it!
If you like the mod bands of the 80s, Dreinopf and Dosenbier offers an excellent record (if you forgive the pun) of that too, listing and featuring all the German mod bands doing the rounds then, with discographies, record sleeves, band photos and some top five and top 10s of tunes popular 'back in the day', both German and British. There's even a list of further reading and websites to finish things off (although it doesn't list this one...ho hum...).
In terms of print quality, Dreinopf and Dosenbier isn't the best. A nice glossy cover, but the pages have that cheap print feel and some of the photos have that 'printed in a fanzine' look about them. In a way that fits the book (especially for the reprints of fanzine interviews), but if you're having to shell out a premium price to get a copy, it is worth noting that isn't a patch on (say) the recent I'm One book as a coffee table volume.
So should you buy it? Well, if you have any kind of interest in the mod scene of the 80s or if you have a grasp of German, then yes, you should. There is much to enjoy here and much that will open your eyes about the scene in Germany. But if you can take or leave the revival era, it might not be for you. I enjoyed it very much, but I'm also left with the feeling that there's an awful lot more I could get out of it. Maybe it's time to restart that German night school class.