TK4
Well-known member
Here is the history -
Rockers were born out of the sixties, their traditional clothing is a black leather motorcycle jacket with studs, badges, sometimes artwork and usually a 59 badge!
They were never part of the patch or 1% MC’s and never dressed in that style, that is a completely different culture from Rockers
The term ‘Rockers’ was first used by UK newspapers in 1964, as a consequence of the now famous seaside clashes on the bank holiday weekends that year between two teenage youth cults.
The two teenage youth cults being:
A)Ton Up Boys – teenagers listening and dancing to rock n’ roll, riding motorcycles, and typically wearing black leather jackets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fulDzcCKDRk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghA7tIBVBwU
B)Modernists – teenagers listening and dancing to the latest music from USA (R&B, not rock n’ roll), riding scooters, and typically wearing a parka over the latest fashionable clothes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVHT5fLrX2k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4KnnlgwzOA
The UK press reporting the seaside clashes in 1964 shortened ‘modernists’ to Mods, and the term stuck
The same UK press reporting the seaside clashes in 1964, chose not to use the term ‘Ton Up Boys’ or the term ‘Cafe Racers’ etc. They realised that this teenage youth cult listened to rock n’ roll and the UK press then coined the term ‘Rockers’, and the term stuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN7EIpqrPw8
The two teenage cults had been as if christened ‘Mods’ and ‘Rockers’ by the UK press in 1964, these two terms have stuck to this day
See the links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP49gHCorho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_0QQSTrvRk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLQgeulqLb8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F_tFH_cjQ8
Noting that in 2022 it will be the 60th anniversary Diamond Jubilee of the 59 Club becoming a motorcycle club in 1962, you may also be interested to note that 2022 is the 120th anniversary of the first Triumph motorcycle and that the late Father Bill always rode a Triumph!
Further noting that 59 Club in both word and logo is registered Trade Mark and copyright property of the 59 Club, a registered church charity
www.the59club.co.uk
The attached was produced by the Club in 2009
Background
The 59 Club was originally founded as a youth club in 1959 by Father John Oates at The Eton Mission, St. Mary of Eton Church, Hackney, London. Together with a myriad of rock n roll stars, to include such as Cliff Richard (then Britain’s Elvis), the late HRH Princess Margaret RIP officially opened the Club and was the Royal Patron through to her passing
It was following visits by his colleague the late Father Bill Shergold, on his motorcycle, to the then notorious Ace Cafe, and meeting with the “Ton Up Kids”, that in 1962 a service and blessing of the bikes was held at the church. This set the 59 Club, a registered church charity, on the road to becoming a legend
Immediately after this church service in 1962 the “Daily Express” newspaper published the Giles cartoon shown here
Seemingly overnight, from the moment in 1962 of this church service (and this cartoon!), thousands of young teenage motorcyclists joined the 59 Club and, to the sound of rock n’ roll, it became a motorcycle club which from 1964 was to be ever identified and associated with the Rockers!
The post WW2 social circumstance that gave rise to the establishing of the 59 Club, young teenagers trying to find identity, purpose, and their place in society, and not having a “safe” place to meet with their peers, is as relevant, and perhaps as contentious, today as it was in 1959 – the challenge has not changed
With special anniversary services since held in central London at St Martins in the Fields in 2009, and at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2019, both packed occasions with bikes on display and which were as a part of the respective years annual Ace Cafe Reunion, today the 59 Club is led by Father Sergiy Diduk, the motorcycle riding vicar of All Saints Church, Hanworth, a church that was established post WW2 by the late Father Bill Shergold, its first vicar, and who subsequently moved to The Eton Mission, St. Mary of Eton Church, Hackney and the 59 Club and, almost sixty years on from 1962, you may be interested to note that today, building on its history and heritage of community and common values, the 59 Club is developing plans with a view to assisting and ensuring a long and successful future for the Club into the 21st century and beyond, and has started forward planning for the forthcoming 60th anniversary Diamond Jubilee as a motorcycle club in 2022!
Rockers were born out of the sixties, their traditional clothing is a black leather motorcycle jacket with studs, badges, sometimes artwork and usually a 59 badge!
They were never part of the patch or 1% MC’s and never dressed in that style, that is a completely different culture from Rockers
The term ‘Rockers’ was first used by UK newspapers in 1964, as a consequence of the now famous seaside clashes on the bank holiday weekends that year between two teenage youth cults.
The two teenage youth cults being:
A)Ton Up Boys – teenagers listening and dancing to rock n’ roll, riding motorcycles, and typically wearing black leather jackets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fulDzcCKDRk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghA7tIBVBwU
B)Modernists – teenagers listening and dancing to the latest music from USA (R&B, not rock n’ roll), riding scooters, and typically wearing a parka over the latest fashionable clothes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVHT5fLrX2k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4KnnlgwzOA
The UK press reporting the seaside clashes in 1964 shortened ‘modernists’ to Mods, and the term stuck
The same UK press reporting the seaside clashes in 1964, chose not to use the term ‘Ton Up Boys’ or the term ‘Cafe Racers’ etc. They realised that this teenage youth cult listened to rock n’ roll and the UK press then coined the term ‘Rockers’, and the term stuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN7EIpqrPw8
The two teenage cults had been as if christened ‘Mods’ and ‘Rockers’ by the UK press in 1964, these two terms have stuck to this day
See the links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP49gHCorho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_0QQSTrvRk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLQgeulqLb8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F_tFH_cjQ8
Noting that in 2022 it will be the 60th anniversary Diamond Jubilee of the 59 Club becoming a motorcycle club in 1962, you may also be interested to note that 2022 is the 120th anniversary of the first Triumph motorcycle and that the late Father Bill always rode a Triumph!
Further noting that 59 Club in both word and logo is registered Trade Mark and copyright property of the 59 Club, a registered church charity
www.the59club.co.uk
The attached was produced by the Club in 2009
Background
The 59 Club was originally founded as a youth club in 1959 by Father John Oates at The Eton Mission, St. Mary of Eton Church, Hackney, London. Together with a myriad of rock n roll stars, to include such as Cliff Richard (then Britain’s Elvis), the late HRH Princess Margaret RIP officially opened the Club and was the Royal Patron through to her passing
It was following visits by his colleague the late Father Bill Shergold, on his motorcycle, to the then notorious Ace Cafe, and meeting with the “Ton Up Kids”, that in 1962 a service and blessing of the bikes was held at the church. This set the 59 Club, a registered church charity, on the road to becoming a legend
Immediately after this church service in 1962 the “Daily Express” newspaper published the Giles cartoon shown here
Seemingly overnight, from the moment in 1962 of this church service (and this cartoon!), thousands of young teenage motorcyclists joined the 59 Club and, to the sound of rock n’ roll, it became a motorcycle club which from 1964 was to be ever identified and associated with the Rockers!
The post WW2 social circumstance that gave rise to the establishing of the 59 Club, young teenagers trying to find identity, purpose, and their place in society, and not having a “safe” place to meet with their peers, is as relevant, and perhaps as contentious, today as it was in 1959 – the challenge has not changed
With special anniversary services since held in central London at St Martins in the Fields in 2009, and at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2019, both packed occasions with bikes on display and which were as a part of the respective years annual Ace Cafe Reunion, today the 59 Club is led by Father Sergiy Diduk, the motorcycle riding vicar of All Saints Church, Hanworth, a church that was established post WW2 by the late Father Bill Shergold, its first vicar, and who subsequently moved to The Eton Mission, St. Mary of Eton Church, Hackney and the 59 Club and, almost sixty years on from 1962, you may be interested to note that today, building on its history and heritage of community and common values, the 59 Club is developing plans with a view to assisting and ensuring a long and successful future for the Club into the 21st century and beyond, and has started forward planning for the forthcoming 60th anniversary Diamond Jubilee as a motorcycle club in 2022!
