People tried to put them down... but the Mod generation of Who fans hit back

The Mods are on the march again... coming to the defence of their idols The Who when they almost lifted the roof off the old Industrial Club (now The Talk) in Norwich 50 years ago. 

Thank you for all your memories of the club in Oak Street now celebrating its diamond anniversary and it was a letter from Australia which got the former Mods mad.

Steve Moore wrote to say he and others went to watch The Who at the club in 1965 after they had just released My Generation. Drummer Keith Moon was ill so Viv Prince of The Pretty Things took over the sticks. 

“Overall they were pretty bad,” said Steve and his brother Nick wrote an angry letter to The Record Mirror. The paper ran it under the headline The Who – Painful Sounds which upset one Pete Townshend. Not a wise move! 

Now John Gerrard, of Thorpe Marriott, along with other Who fans, have recalled it was a great night. 

He thought his memory had been playing tricks on him after he read our story but he checked with other Mods who all said The Who were brilliant. 

They had just got some of the loudest Marshall Amps available and when they turned the volume up...wow. 

“The distortion and feedback were fantastic. The swearing at the audience referred to was all good banter and typical of The Who.” 

John added: “The only disappointment of the night was the fact that Keith Moon was sick, so the sound would probably have been even louder as Pete Townshend once described the first time Keith played with The Who it was like a 747 taking off behind you.” 

He said they counted themselves very fortunate in the 60s to have seen other world-famous bands in Norwich, the likes of The Kinks at Earlham Park, The Small Faces and the original Manfred Mann band with Paul Jones. Did you know his father had been manager of the Assembly House?