Meet ‘Rod The Sod’
Rod came along to the 80s Mod Revival Party held at the museum on 15th May, 2010. Here he recalls his memories of the scene in 80s, including an eventful scooter run to Palm Beach, that attracted the interest of the local police, “all these kids running around in suits and ties and girls in mini-skirts – this is not riot potential – it’s a fashion riot really”. Rod was also a regular at the Sussex Hotel, a local venue that supported young mods and the live music scene.
Siobhán Ellis, President of the Lambretta Club of Australia
We caught up with Siobhán Ellis, President of the Lambretta Club of Australia, during the scooter ‘show ‘n’ shine’ event, held as part of the 80s Mod revival weekend at the museum.
Part 1: Siobhán shows off her vintage 1964 ‘winter model’ Lambretta, made in Spain, and recalls the time she rode it along the Nullarbor Plain to raise money for cancer research!
Part 2: Being a mod
Siobhán was definitely a mod in the 80s, and here she recalls buying her first Lambretta and going on scooter runs. She was incredibly active in the scene, running a fan magazine and working as a dj.
Part 3:The classic scooter club – “the journey is part of the event”
Do you know the difference between a classic scooter and a modern scooter? Siobhán explains why an automatic ‘twist and go’ scooter just isn’t the same as vintage.
Jim at the scooter show ‘n’ shine
Jim came along with his little red scooter, to the ‘show n shine’, that was part of the 80s Mod Revival weekend at the museum. He shares his memories of playing mod music with bands like The Key, The Go and The Interceptors and explains how sharp the mod scene was, compared to the other fashions at the time, “at that time in Australia in the early 80s, growing up was about getting a mullet, getting a pair of stubbies, getting some thongs and putting some zinc on your nose!”
Nick Montfort from MIT at the Retro Gaming Weekend
Nick Montfort is Associate Professor of Digital Media, Writing and Humanistic Studies from MIT University. He kindly extended his stay here in Australia to attend the Sydney Global Game Jam weekend and speak at the opening night about 80s retro gaming. In the vox pops that follow, Nick and Seb Chan discuss text adventures, the independent gaming scene and that rad cover art from the 80s.
Bajo & Hex from ABC TV’s ‘Good Game’ at the Retro Gaming Opening night
Bajo remembers the Atari and games like Ms Pacman, Frogger & Super Mario. Hex recalls the joy of text-based role playing in the 80s.
John talks about collecting classic 80s arcade games
John is collector of classic arcade equipment and lover of original machinery. He has a background in electronics and worked in the gaming industry in the 80s. He kindly lent the museum his ‘Dragon’s Lair’ and ‘Gyruss’ arcade games. We think they were the real stars of our retro gaming opening night!
Steve Wang on 80s game development
Steve Wang came along to the opening of our retro gaming weekend and gave a fantastic talk about 80s game development. He kindly agreed to a few vox pops with us about his memories of 80s gameplay and development.
Part 1: Steve remembers his favourite games arcade and C64 games (Elite and Dropzone get a mention) and nominates ‘Skate Or Die’ for best soundtrack.
Part 2: Steve shares what he loves about the ‘Skate Or Die’ game soundtrack…and notes how it exceeded the limitations of what the C64 machine was designed to do.
Part 3: In this video, Steve recalls the games he worked on in the 80s including an America’s Cup simulation and a bunch of role playing games for Electronic Arts publishing.
Watch this space for more videos from the retro gaming weekend!
Vasili Kaliman
Art gallery owner and pop culture junkie Vasili Kaliman remembers the gigs & music that he collected in the 80s.
See more vox pops and visitor memories over in the exhibition’s YouTube channel!
Glynis Jones, curator of fashion
See more vox pops and visitor memories over in the exhibition’s YouTube channel!
Bronwen George, Trigger Toland Williams (Exhibition Design)
See more vox pops and visitor memories over in the exhibition’s YouTube channel!