"I'd say that Mod was mentally a very homosexual thing, though not in any physical sense. I was too hung up on myself to be interested in anyone else" - Mark Feld aka Marc Bolan
"I was completely knocked out by my own image, by the idea of Mark Feld" - Feld / Bolan
"... they danced by themselves, lost in narcissistic dreams and, wherever there was a mirror, they formed queues. Often, they would wear make-up - eye-liner and mascara - but that didn't mean they were queer, or not necessarily; it was just a symbol of strangeness..." - Nik Cohn.
From Today There Are No Gentlemen (1971)
Oddly, Marc and crew look very much like gentlemen in this photo for the Town spread.
Oh yea we're the London boys
Do you remember
Going to Petticoat Lane
With all the conceptions
Moving in your brain
Oh yea we're the London boys
Don't you remember that we're just the London boys
Oh yea we're the London boys
Mighty mean mod king
Dressed like fame
London to Brighton
And then back again
Changing life's patterns
To get to the top
And when you get up there
You don't know if you're there or what
Bright lights, Soho, Wardour street
You hope you make friends with the guys that you meet
Somebody shows you round
Now you've met the London boys
Things seem good again, someone cares about you
Oh, the first time that you tried a pill
You feel a little queasy, decidedly ill
You're gonna be sick, but you mustn't lose faith
To let yourself down would be a big disgrace
With the London boys, with the London boys
You're only seventeen, but you think you've grown
In the month you've been away from your parents' home
You take the pills too much
You don't give a damn about that jobs you've got
So long as you're with the London boys
A London boy, oh a London boy
Your flashy clothes are your pride and joy
A London boy, a London boy
You're crying out loud that you're a London boy
You think you've had a lot of fun
But you ain't got nothing, you're on the run
It's too late now, cause you're out there boy
You've got it made with the rest of the toys
Now you wish you'd never left your home
You've got what you wanted but you're on your own
With the London boys
Now you've met the London boys
66 in 73 - Bowie revisiting his mod 'n Marquee days on Pin Ups.
Ghastly turgid rendition
"Shipes... things before my eyes"
