Take Note presents: London Stories – The Mod

London Stories is a three-part series on the capital's club culture, looking at how it influenced London and emphasising the importance of its shared and sacred spaces, from early mod hangouts the Lyceum Ballroom and Tiles through to Crackers, Bang, Shoom and beyond.

For the first in the series, London-based writer Paul Gorman and music manager Mickey Modern will join host Bill Brewster to look at the beginnings of London club culture through the lens of one of the earliest and most influential style tribes – The Mod. Where did they come from, where did they hang out, why did they exist and what was their impact?

Paul Gorman is a London-based writer whose work has appeared in many of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines. He has published 10 books, including seminal The Look: Adventures In Rock & Pop Fashion, Nine Lives with Goldie, Straight with Boy George, Mr Freedom, about the late design entrepreneur Tommy Roberts, and monographs of the artist Derek Boshier and designer Barney Bubbles. His current projects include Legacy: The Story Of The Face magazine and Malcolm McLaren: The Biography, both out in autumn 2017. He also stages exhibitions.

Mickey is one of London's original mods and has been one of the sharpest-dressed kids on the block since he was 13. He was a regular at the Lyceum, La Discotheque, Flamingo and The Scene in the early 1960s. In the late 60s, Mickey became a singer with a series of bands (The Secret, Modern) before moving into music management, steering one of the hottest 70s R&B bands, Nine Below Zero, before working with Nik Kershaw and Imogen Heap. Mickey is also the father of Ibiza DJ goddess Nancy Noise (it runs in the family).

Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton are co-authors of the DJ bible, Last Night A DJ Saved My Life and How To DJ (Properly).