This is a Kickstarter project, so if you want to own a copy of Ready Steady Girls – The Other Side Of The Mod Equation, then you need to put your money where your mouth is.
That’s how it works. You pledge, others pledge and if enough people pledge it goes to the printers and you get yourself a copy of the book through the letterbox. But before you do that, you’ll want to know all about it.
The book is being overseen Mark Baxter, Jason Brummell and Ian Snowball, all of whom have work in the mod sphere already on the shelves and quite possibly, on your shelf.
It is the result of ‘two years of extensive interviews’ and ‘collecting many rare and unseen photographs’. So while the authors names are on the front cover, this is veery much the tales and images of the ‘Mod girls’ themselves. If you have a story, do get in touch with the writers, as submissions are still being sought.
Anyway, to quote the pre-publicity, here is the theme in the authors’ own words:
From its nebulous beginnings in the latter part of the 50’s the peacock male’s rise into the conscious of the nation has been well documented. The Mod movement as it became known was synonymous with style, soul, Italian scooters, amphetamines and an all encompassing twenty-four hour lifestyle. It’s pursuit of Modernism was exacting and meritocratic, and its embracing of wider non British culture was a direct challenge to the establishment within its Isle’s.
The boys however were not alone. Perhaps fitting for a movement that was so very hard to define and that existed under the radar for so many years, an even greater revolution was happening within its own ranks. The boys among their number threatened to subvert the class system, the girls challenged on a whole other level; and when the boys descended into tawdry uniformed beach fights the baton was picked up by the girls with their own unique styles and individual challenges to the societal norm.
Ready Steady Girls collects the memories of those that were part of this revolution, and continue to be, from across the globe and spanning nearly sixty years. Including contributions from MARY QUANT and Ready Steady Go dancer SANDY SARJEANT with hundreds of unseen photographs, this is a must-have for anyone interested in Modernism and a unique opportunity to hear about it from the girls on the front line.
UPDATE: The Kickstarter campaign was successful and the book will be released. It is now listed on Amazon.