REPLACING YOUR VES SPA STTOPLIGHT SWITCH
ROLLS-ROYCE OF SCOOTERS
THE TWN CONTESSA
Martin’s
MODEL D RACER
Hen’s teeth would be easier to find
SUPREME MOTORS & THE TWIN HEADLAMP VESPA SS180
JB DEALER SPECIAL No.3 A FIRE-BREATHING SPANISH WINTER MODEL
SPEEDWAY OF ACTON INTRO TO A SCOOTERIST LEGEND
BLAST FROM THE PAST
The 1965 Vespa Economy Trial
April/May 2017 Issue 114
SCOOTERAMA! – A FELICITOUS FANFARE OF FACTS, FEEDBACK & FACES
n e h w k Bac we had hair DO YOU HAVE A NOSTALGIC STORY TO TELL, OR AN OLD PICTURE ✎ Classic Scooterist, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9
TO SHARE?
6LZ ✉ mauspencer@classicscooterist.com ☎ 01507 529408
MARGATE HERE WE COME!
TBT en route to Margate scooter rally – late Eighties or early Nineties I think? Brano
GOING BACK IN TIME
These pictures were taken back in the Seventies/Eighties. Keith Goddard
WHERE''S VNO 91E?
WHITLEY BAY (DRIFTERS)
You may be interested in the attached two photos from Whitley Bay (Drifters) Scooter Club 1966 and 1965. The 1965 picture was taken at Tynemouth where our club headquarters were; and the 1966 picture was taken on a club run to Beadnell, Northumberland. Steve Wright
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This is a picture of Kenny McCarthy’s Vespa 180 (my cousin). I am on the back and was aged about 10 years – so the picture must be circa 1972. Please forgive the socks and sandals! I would love to trace the scooter – I wonder where it is now? Kevin Collett
DO YOU HAVE AN OLD PICTURE TO SHARE? If so, email Mau at mauspencer@classicscooterist.com or send it to him at: Classic Scooterist (BWWHH), PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
BLACKPOOL OKEH
These pictures of the Blackpool Okeh were taken in the Lake District in 1974. Phil Mumby
This bin wagon was part off the Lambretta Preservation Society’s collection.
NOW & THEN
Here’s a photo of me back in 1983 with my Vespa 100 Sport, alongside a more recent pictures of me at the ‘Out of Time Mod Night’ – thankfully still with my hair! Andy Money
Here’s a picture from Scarborough in 1982 and features a twin carb Lambretta Chopper (did twin carbs work)? I wonder where these two old-timers are now? Kev e Walsh
YAR RM MOUTH
This picture was taken in the car park at the 1982 Great Yarmouth scooter rally. Martin Bullard
DISC 85 DI
What a charming bunch of men we were at DISC 85. Charlie Watson
LIL DEUCE SCOOT
Possibly one of the earliest photos of Lil Deuce scoot. It was taken by myself just before the sidepanels had the signwriting added. Cobby
‘DARLO’ SCOOTER RALLY Here’s a few old pictures taken at the Darlo scooter rally during the Eighties. Andrew Ward
MAUSPENCER@CLASSICSCOOTERIST.COM
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SCOOTERAMA!
H Have records will travel
J MUSOICFIDLE PR
How many DJs do you know who would travel to a music gig on their trusty 2-Tone Vespa PX with a huge box of rare vinyl records strapped on the back? Step forward DJ and scooterist Mark Howard, who when he’s not spinning tunes at one of the many well-known south coast venues like the Brighton Ska Train, can be found in his garage tinkering with his scooters, or recording his internet radio show. It would be fair to describe Mark as a little more than your average scooterist DJ, as he’s not only passionate about the music, but about the whole scooter lifestyle. But he didn’t get into music because of the scooter lifestyle – in fact it was the other way around. Music was part of Mark’s life from a very early age. When he was only five years old he got drawn into the whole process of how the oldfashioned record player worked and the way it dropped down individual records and then played them; this and the telltale scratching sound of the needles on vinyl just fascinated him. In his mind, it was just such a wonderful sound and he listened to all the rock ‘n’ roll tunes of that time – Buddy Holly, The Shadows, and many more. He never lost those first
memories and his love of vinyl continues to this day. “I always preferred vinyl and never really got into CDs,” said Mark. “I think it was 1995 before I bought my first CD player. I like the way the internet works and how you can download things – but CDs never really worked for me.” Mark’s dad also had a great influence on him. He was a jazz musician and one day, he sat Mark down in front of the telly and showed him a Bob Marley video, telling him: “That’s how you play the bass guitar, sunshine!” At school when he was aged 12, various orchestral instruments were handed out in the music class. Mark had wanted to play the clarinet because he thought it might lead to him playing the saxophone, which he really wanted to do. But he happened to be the tallest boy in his class, so he ended up with the double bass. While that may not have been his first choice, it was eventually to lead him into the world of music, because playing
“The thing I love about live radio or riding scooters is that anything can happen – live life on the edge”
The trusty Lambretta workhorse out on the road
Mark Howard with his PX and a case full of rare vinyl records the double bass led into him learning to play the bass guitar. The Mod revival came along in the early 80s, but Mark was still a bit too young to get into the scene; he can recall scooters being around at the time, but because he couldn’t ride one, it didn’t rally spark any interest – and at that point in his life, he was playing in a band anyway, so he was otherwise occupied, especially as the music they played was more orientated towards groups like the Rolling Stones, or Jimi Hendrix; he was also influenced by seeing films such as the Blues Brothers – all of it seemed so much better than the Mod revivalist bands. In the early 1990s Mark was still passionate about vinyl and had plenty of spare cash in his pockets; this was at a time when everyone was getting rid Back in the day
of their vinyl record collections and moving over to CDs, so it was quite easy for him to pick up records like original Stax singles for a quid, enabling him to build up a reasonable vinyl record collection. To put things into perspective Mark has around 35 James Brown albums, but only one Mod revival album, Snap by The Jam. It’s worth mentioning at this point that one of Mark’s personal issues is the fact that many collectable records now change hands for much more money than the original artist ever made from the record. “I don’t want to go too far into the politics of it,” says Mark, “but consider that the lead singer of The Kingstonians was seriously ill and died in poverty in a shack while his records were changing hands for 700 quid. It’s so sad, but I haven’t got the answer to that situation, it’s just market forces.”
THE SCOOTER CONNECTION
So how did Mark eventually get into scooters? “Having been into reggae and soul, I gradually began to edge my way more towards Northern Soul and into ‘scooter sounds’ as it were. I’d met my wife in my early 20s – she’d been a Mod up north. Around this time, I’d had my car nicked and she turned around and said: “If you’re such a soul boy, why haven’t you got a scooter?” So I went to look at a scooter; I’d never ridden one before, but by the time I’d ridden
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