When scooter news breaks, we put it under a tarp in the garage.
I’m not going to start another flame war with a musician and his fans, so I’ll let you make your own judgement about Chroma’s “The Scooter Song.”
From CD Baby:
“The Scooter Song” (track 3) is one of the most popular songs by Chroma. At live shows, those familiar with the song do the Scooter dance while shouting “Scooter” during the refrain.
All I’m gonna say… it’s no “Why Don’t You Start.” Swoon!
Thanks for the link, Mad Man Maddox!
The 2012 2012 Mods vs. Rockers rally was Father’s Day Weekend, we made it out to the Mayday SC Friday night party at Late Bar, but once again we couldn’t make it to the main event on Saturday, so Jordan sent loads of great photos. Thanks, Jordan!
Continue reading “Chicago Mods vs Rockers 2012 Photos”
It’s a day late for a Vednesday Vespa Video, but it can’t wait until next week: Our old pal Laurel Parker, who many years ago directed (starring some 2SB familiar faces) has just released a new music video for “You Can’t Leave Now” by Roy Ellis (of Simaryp fame) with the Spanish ska band Transilvanians. Great tune, much more handsome extras than “Our Town,” and, yes, she snuck a few scooters in right at the last second. Bravo!
Too bad our DOT-approved flip-flops t-shirts are sold out. Thanks for the link, Big Rye.
This one goes out to our friends in Minneapolis.
Via Stefan/ScootRally.com, seemingly the ‘new BBS.’
Speaking of great scooter images, as we were a couple days ago, if you’re Facebook-inclined, definitely check out Scooter Stoke, they’ve been posting a couple simply amazing scooter pictures or scans every day. I don’t know who they are or where they come from, or where they’re finding this great stuff, but I hope they don’t stop. If they’re reading this and would like a 2strokebuzz contributor login, it’s all theirs.
If you love photography and motorcycles, you already love BikeExif, today they’ve posted an interview with Miguel Galluzzi, designer of the Ducati Monster and head of Piaggio’s new Advanced Design Center in Pasadena, CA. Perhaps we’ll find insight into the future of the Vespa?
(Thanks Eric/Scooterism!)
After 16 years of scootering and 2strokebuzz, it’s easy to forget what attracted me to the machines and people that make up this dumb subbacultcha. If the first third of this video doesn’t make you want to stay up all night prepping your bike for a 5am, 250-mile rideout with some friends, there’s something wrong with you.
To our newish friend Bo and our oldish friend Bart, who shared the link on the facebooks, thanks for the reminder!
If you’re like me, you hate the idea of the city of Las Vegas on principle, but it’s worth the trip every few years to remind yourself, “anywhere is incredibly fun, with enough scooterists.” I skipped the rally this year, but our pal Jordan from the Mayday SC was there with the mob of British and U.S. scooterists, and brought back a bunch of great photos. Thanks, Jordan!
Continue reading “Vegas High Rollers Gallery 2012”
Jen points out that Heritage Helmets now offers Trojan Records helmets to go along with their Consortium-approved Lambretta helmets. They even offer one with both Trojan and Lambretta logos, which is kind of surreal. Beautiful stuff, but, once again, they totally forgot the part that covers your chin and face. If you can afford an extra helmet for parades and photo shoots, pony up!
SIP Scooter Shop shared a video on their Facebook page today. It is a National Geographic program clip about the Piaggio factory in Pontedera. The video has a few shots of vintage machines in their museum. But one of the views that appealed to me was the factory building tucked in the Tuscan hills shown in the background of the test ride shots. I don’t know if the buildings are the same, but it was reminiscent of those old aerial photos of the factory from the 1950s. Other parts show the processes involved in the building of their larger engines (What are they doing tossing crankshaft halves into big vats of rocks?!) and the assembly of the MP3 hybrid scooter. Not a 2-stroke in sight. I wonder where they build those? I focus on the visual aspects of the video because it’s all in Italian, a language I do not understand. If anyone wants to translate any remarkable points of what looks to be a standard factory tour for the kind of shows that used to make the Discovery Channel great before they jumped the shark, feel free to post below.
David Letterman gave Regis Philbin a red Vespa LX as a retirement gift last night, and it didn’t go so well. What a Domer. Continue reading “Arrivederci, Regis”
Jeb (of FIDO fame) spotted an interesting badge on the electric car shown at 4:28 in this video collage of electric vehicle photos from EICMA…
Our first Britney Spears-inspired headline heralds the (maybe? sorta?) return of famed Lambretta maker Innocenti in a story that hasn’t garnered any media coverage, but once we blow it out of proportion here, it may send a few Austrian IP attorneys into a tizzy.
Jeb (of FIDO fame) spotted an interesting badge on the electric car shown at 4:28 in this video collage of electric vehicle photos from EICMA:
Continue reading “Not So Innocenti…”
From the Lambretta Motorcycles Facebook page, here is a video that even the exclusive vintage Lambretta lover could enjoy. Maybe a common enemy can be the tie that binds? Doubtful.
A few years back, Lambretta Clothing teamed up with The Who to reissue some of the band’s Mod-est attire, including the famous parka from the cover of Quadrophenia, pre-stenciled for your convenience. Apparently Lambretta marketing contracts aren’t worth much these days, so with a new Quadrophenia CD/DVD “Directors Cut” box set coming out, they’ve switched alliances to Vespa. Mancunian twit Liam Gallagher will display a new PX125-based Quadrophenia scooter, film memorabilia, and Who-insipired fashions–including (again) the Quadroparka–at his Pretty Green clothing store on (where else?) Carnaby Street.
In other news, Noel Gallagher has installed turnstiles at Easington Colliery, charging punters £5 to urinate on a lump of concrete.
Quadrophenia, aside from its obvious charms to scooterists (and I admit a compulsion to watch it occasionally), isn’t much of a film and is even less of an album, so it’s interesting to see it repackaged yet again. Confusingly, (“Director’s Cut?”) this new 6-disc set doesn’t include the film at all (the DVD is surround mixes of the album), and omits all the great music (by the Who and other R&B greats) that appeared on the original soundtrack, which was re-released in 1993 and 2000.
The album (as opposed to the soundtrack) isn’t horrible, it’s just neither the Mod music that’s the subject of the film, nor the Mod revival music that sparked its release. It’s exactly the noodly late-’70s stadium rock that Revival Mods and Punks were rebelling against at the time. It may be sacrilege (and completely against the point), but I’ve always felt, aside from a couple tracks, the film would have been better off with all music from the mod era. The book included in the box set is the most compelling component, I’d be far more interested in the backstory and Townshend’s memories than hearing demos and gimmicky 5.1 mixes. Townshend calls it “…the best album that I will ever write,” but it says a lot that the album was blocked from #1 on the charts by Pin Ups, David Bowie’s great ’60s cover album… containing two early Who songs.
Via Scooterism, of course.