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Scooterboys: The Lost Tribe
Scooterboys are the lost tribe of British youth culture. Unrecognised, uncelebrated and unwanted; misunderstood by a general public who mistook us for Mods. We weren’t Mods though. By the 1980s myself and tens of thousands of scooter riders collectively rejected that label. Instead, we took the roadmap of British youth disaffection and carved a new bypass. This route took us beyond the UK’s faded seaside resorts, allowing us to spread our creed across the continents. Tuned and customised Vespa and Lambretta scooters gave us freedom to roam; transport to live for the weekend. Shared experiences of riots, local hostility and police harassment built strong fraternal bonds that endure to this day. Despite decades of two-wheeled rebellion our threat level was never high enough to put us on the national security radar. This low profile has its benefits. We aren’t doomed to follow the same cycle as Mods. First feared, then pilloried, accepted and finally adopted as part of UK’s rich culture. As British as a vindaloo. The cult of Scooterboy has escaped death-by-public-acceptance, simply by remaining too underground. Too difficult to distinguish from what came before. And that’s just perfect. You’ll never see Scooterboys parodied in TV insurance adverts or low budget fly-on-the-walls. The poorly-rendered caricature is always some cliché Mod on a ‘Christmas Tree’ scooter. If you rode to rallies in the 80s and 90s then this book will mirror your experiences. If you’ve never had a scooter then it offers a rare glimpse of life inside the lost tribe of two-stroke terrorists.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published June 27, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 4, 2019
A beautifully illustrated history of the last fifty years of Scootering written by someone who was always in the thick of it. Worth a look just for the photographs but also an accurate account of life as a 'Scooterboy.'
August 9, 2020
The Lost Tribe by Martin ‘Sticky’ Round was released in April 2019 and is not to be confused with the earlier book Scooter Boys by Gareth Brown.
The book starts with an intro by Mani of the Stone Roses recalling some of his memories and sharing some of the crazy, disgusting antics of the teenage scooter boys.
Martin’s own words tell the differentiation between scooterists and mods, something that riles any self-respecting scooter boy or scooter girl. Yes, mods rode scooters but the visual difference couldn’t be more apparent. It is given quite a lot of emphasis. Like any tribe, we wanted to be different but still wanted a sense of belonging, hence scooter clubs.
The book goes into detail about the troubles and many riding misdemeanors, but the reports are evened out with the camaraderie and good humour that could be found amongst the scooter boys and girls. Understandably, a lot is written about the customisation of the scooterist’s pride and joy.
There is a good mix of text and surprisingly good quality photos, especially bearing in mind that technology was not up to much back then. Very few of us had cameras, let alone camera phones.
This book is great for those who lived that lifestyle, a parallel tribe or for collectors of books that focus on nostalgia. I devoured it in a couple of hours then dipped back in for a more leisurely read.
Scooterboys – The Lost Tribe stoked many thoughts back to the good times of the 80s that many of us look back on with fondness and a sense of freedom. It is part of a series of youth cult coffee table books, along with others previously released about mods and skinheads.
Available as a hardback book.
The book starts with an intro by Mani of the Stone Roses recalling some of his memories and sharing some of the crazy, disgusting antics of the teenage scooter boys.
Martin’s own words tell the differentiation between scooterists and mods, something that riles any self-respecting scooter boy or scooter girl. Yes, mods rode scooters but the visual difference couldn’t be more apparent. It is given quite a lot of emphasis. Like any tribe, we wanted to be different but still wanted a sense of belonging, hence scooter clubs.
The book goes into detail about the troubles and many riding misdemeanors, but the reports are evened out with the camaraderie and good humour that could be found amongst the scooter boys and girls. Understandably, a lot is written about the customisation of the scooterist’s pride and joy.
There is a good mix of text and surprisingly good quality photos, especially bearing in mind that technology was not up to much back then. Very few of us had cameras, let alone camera phones.
This book is great for those who lived that lifestyle, a parallel tribe or for collectors of books that focus on nostalgia. I devoured it in a couple of hours then dipped back in for a more leisurely read.
Scooterboys – The Lost Tribe stoked many thoughts back to the good times of the 80s that many of us look back on with fondness and a sense of freedom. It is part of a series of youth cult coffee table books, along with others previously released about mods and skinheads.
Available as a hardback book.
April 26, 2021
A fantastic book that portrays the life of a scooterboy/scootergirl in the 80s/90s of Britain. Round does a great job of writing about the ins and outs of the lifestyle, the fashion, and of course the scooters. The book is also intertwined with personal stories of his time in the scene and is loaded with pictures to give you a better look at what made one a scooterist. I definitely recommend this for anyone who's interested in a two wheeled, British based subculture that doesn't involve the pressed suits and mirrors of the Mods, or the leather jacket and clip-on bars of the Rockers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews