Herr wenn du irrenahus sehen willst, Nick hat den bar italia scooter club geschlossen mit folgendem statement:
Herewith is my official document formally closing the club.
Kickstart Rideout to Greenwich Old Royal Naval College in 2012. Brighton Bank Holiday rideouts. LeMans Classic display team 2012. Brighton Rock remake and premiere. Baracuta anniversary party. London Fashion Week. The list of events that the Bar Italia Scooter Club have either organised or taken part in since my tenure as 'El Presidente' has been notable on the scooter and Mod scenes alike over the last ten years. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a number of celebrities, raise money for worthwhile charities and ride countless miles across the South East region in the interest of representing the small but punchy Central London based club.
All ego aside - there has always been a bit of a kudos around the club. Or read: mystery. I’ve regularly spoken to people who, not knowing my level of involvement, have told me that they’re concerned that ‘that Bar Italia lot’ are full of posey mod types. Adversely, as it happens, the actual Mods think it’s going to be ‘full of oily scooterists who miss the point’. Needless to say that the club has run a tightrope of image since it’s official launch way back in 2002. I’ve found it rather amusing I must say but have always tried to impress that the club is as welcoming and open minded as possible. After all, the ethos of Modernism has always been about acceptance of all cultures and concepts from around the world. Jazz from america and UK, italian scooters and clothes (and coffee!), french cinema and casual wear, jamaican music…the list of elements is endless. I still find it fascinating to this day how ultimately a group of working class kids from disparate parts of London started to bring together so many international elements that was so forward thinking that it may well have influenced the establishment of the European Union itself. However I digress.
I mentioned 2002. Let’s have a flashback. Bar Italia, since being opened post war by a family of italian immigrants, was the all night welcomer of Soho and when the teenager boom in the later fifties took hold, the place was a perfect hangout for the quintessential cappuccino kids to share their stories and points of view. Fast forward to the late 90s and early naughties, and the incarnation of Mod at the time was alive and kicking in numbers. The initial team who were involved in making the scooter club official should be recognised for their achievements and determination to push things forward. Not many people know this, but in order for the club to go ahead, a meeting was required with the head of the family who owned the bar where a proposition had to be presented. Let’s remember that the Bar Italia Scooter Club, at the time, was the only club to be coupled with a business name. Pretty controversial you have to agree. Thank you Giles, Eddie, Mark and Al who forged the club out of a mutual respect and goodwill with the family.
Things have changed since 2007 when I took over the club. A shift in perception if you will. I find myself in 2017 looking back at the achievements of the club and what it represented then and now. I’ve always tried to keep things relevant to the Mod scene where possible, you know? Particularly linking this to London. Let’s not forget that the inspirational music, fashion and attitude all hark from places like the Scene Club, the Flamingo, Roaring Twenties etc, all of which existed over 50 years ago. That’s a lifetime ago for some of you reading this. And life should be a learning and progressive process, should it not? Modernism was about pushing the envelope and forward thinking. Ironically, it’s also the view of the development companies sweeping the U.K. So it stands that the independent character and soul of Soho and Greater London is being torn apart, being replaced with a homogenous vanilla of high street shops repeated every half mile. Coupled with the unrelenting rise in rents for Westminster council, and small businesses are being crippled. But Bar Italia, the grade 2 listed coffee shop that still punches above its weight, remains in the heart of the the most cosmopolitan city of the world.
I started writing this with a view to outline the achievements of the Bar Italia Scooter Club. Somewhere here, I moved on to history, social context and the current state of the world and various outlooks of it. You could argue that this is a pointless digression. But is it really? What points am I making above? For those who aren’t now frantically re-reading the entire article, skip to the next sentence. The scooter club is meant to promote acceptance of all creeds, colours and cultures. Making and taking the best from around the world and shaping this into something that a wider audience can enjoy. Forward thinking. Meeting at a headquarters based in an italian families' cafe in the heard of the most cosmopolitan city in the western world.
Unfortunately, the club has not been this for some time. The values and outlook have been contorted or forgotten in the same way that the commandments created by the animals on George Orwell's farm were lost over time and simmered down to ambiguous sound bytes by those who wanted to rewrite history.
I remember that the scooter scene is essentially a venn diagram made up of a number of overlapping remnants of a pastiche of subcultures, all with a lowest common denominator. (Comedy) mods, (comedy) skinheads, casuals, scooter boys, rastas, enthusiasts, nerds, rockers (wtf), 2 tone freaks and obsessive tuners. All of these and more make up the scooter scene in the UK and indeed across the world. I say there is room for everyone. What I don’t say is 'only if you see things in my way, or you oppose me’. And that’s the issue here. The US vs THEM mentality that seems to have re-emerged over the last few years and the continued aggressive pursuit of conversion that some people persist with. As is the ironic notion that 'making britain great again' while draping oneself in union flag emblazoned clothing (made in china) and riding italian shopping trolleys. I cannot accept this as the real world or something that the scooter club stands for. Surely it’s all a joke?! Why are there ‘sides’ to take? There are no ‘sides’ in my view. One Blood. But it’s rife. There is no escape. Suffice to say that the Bar Italia Scooter Club ran officially from 2002- 2017 and promoted everything that I have mentioned above. I still stand for these values. See you on the roads.
The End.
PS- St George was mostly likely Turkish, Jesus was middle eastern and mushrooms share 97% DNA with humans. Speaking of which, remember humans are simply ghosts, trapped in a shell of skin and bone, trapped on a rock hurtling through the universe together. Now think about your sense of superiority again?
Tj meinte nur Bell Boy or Bell End.