Stone Roses front-man Ian Brown during his scootering days. Credit: Unknown.

The music news continues this week with the news that scooter culture favorites, The Stone Roses have done what many (including the band) said would never happen – they’ve reformed as the original line-up.

Front-man Ian Brown (pictured above during his scooterist days) and guitarist John Squire famously came to blows following band mismanagement, dissatisfaction, and drug abuse (… so the usual band story) and vowed they’d never work together again. Reports suggest that the two met six months ago face-to-face at fellow band-mate Mani’s mother’s funeral and used the opportunity to bury the hatchet having not been in the same room together for over ten years. Mani of course has had a successful career in the meantime as a band member in Bobby Gillespie’s Primal Scream.

Initially, the band will play for the first time live in seventeen shows by way of two shows at 75,000-capacity Heaton Park, in Manchester, on Friday June 29 and Saturday June 30, 2012 which is no doubt a show that will sell out in seconds. Following the gig, providing the band doesn’t self-implode, they’ll be following up with additional dates. Ian claims that they’re, “ready to shake up the world” and are planning a world tour so let’s cross our fingers and hope they make it here to New York City.

For those of you prepared to make the trip to the UK for their debut re-appearance, tickets go on sale at the UK Ticketmaster site this Friday, October 21, at 9.30am GMT (Yes, that’s 4.30am East Coast time.)

What next, The Smiths reunited?

You can watch a short section of the band’s press conference here:

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The cover of the upcoming Quadrophenia box set.

The Who have announced that their classic scooter culture album, Quadrophenia is finally getting the deluxe back-catalog treatment and Vespa is joining forces with the band to celebrate.

Vespa will be making a unique, one-off scoot to celebrate the release of the Director’s Cut box set of the album.  The box set, slated for release mid-November, also includes several previously unreleased demos by Pete Townshend including songs that didn’t make the cut for the original album, an eight-track DVD, a hardcover book and various notes, photographs, memorabilia and exclusive content.

The scooter will based on a PX125, complete with “mod-ed” parts such as white-wall tires, chrome bits and multiple mirrors.  The scooter will be given away on The Who’s facebook page.  Good luck!

Also of interest, in the run up to the release, Pete Townshend has begun to open up the archives on the band around the time of the album and subsequent film. You can get a taste of some of the great behind-the-scenes material over at the image gallery at the UK’s Independent newspaper website.

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We’ve had an incredible year at NYCS and wanted to thank you for joining us in our second year on the web. We’ve had incredible responses and requests from all our readers, dealers, and supporters alike. Please keep them coming in 2011.

With the holidays upon us, it’s once again time to take a look back on some of the scooter news highlights of the year. While it’s been a down-turned economy with the sad loss of some valued and storied scooter dealers and importers nationwide, we’re pleased to say that NYC scooterists have survived the year relatively unscathed with lots of great news and support from local retailers, organizations and clubs.

January

Vespa P-Series, Bajaj, Stella Gear Oil Change
We started out the year with a post that while it might not have been the most exciting piece of content in the world of scootering,  one that certainly proved to be popular among readers – a step-by-step article on a routine piece of maintenance: changing the gear oil on your scooter.

Adding fresh gear oil with a condiment bottle in January.

February

Stella Four-Stroke Video Footage
We got news of Chicago’s Genuine Scooter Company plans to introduce a four-stroke version of their popular Vespa P-series clone, the Stella back in the closing months of 2009. Unfortunately, while the new Stella hit a painful series of upsets making it into the country for a failed Spring then Summer 2010 release, we did get our first video view of the new beast thanks to the lucky folks at Edinburgh’s Vivo Scooters who reviewed the European LML badged version of the scooter.

NYCS Merch Table
You asked for it. You got it. February also saw the introduction of official New York Scootering apparel and doo-dads. Head on over to our online store if you’re still looking for that one-of-a-kind last minute holiday gift.

Gangsters
February was a historic month in NYC. We saw the return of seminal British ska band, and long-term scooterist favorites, The Specials make their return to the Big Apple for the first time in eons as part of their thirtieth anniversary tour.

March

Happy Birthday
March saw the first anniversary of our site. In the same spirit of this article, we used the anniversary to take a look back on some of our biggest scoops of 2009. Roll on second birthday…

German Vespas
One of my personal favorites of the past year. A hauntingly beautiful short film of Vespas spotted on the streets of Germany thanks to Vimeo member Style43. If you haven’t yet checked out the film, we encouraged you to take five minutes out of your day to watch it. It’ll help keep the winter blues at bay as the frost creeps in here in NYC.

April

The King Of Punk Is Dead
We started the month with sad news of the loss of punk impresario Malcom McLaren. Malcolm, one-time manager of the Sex Pistols and outspoken counter culture figure passed away at age 64 from mesothelioma.

The NYPD got serious in April.

Parking Crackdown
Scooter and motorcycle parking is a perennial subject matter here at NYCS and the local scooter community at large. April saw a concerted effort by the NYPD to crackdown on local scooterists playing loose with the law in terms of parking. This is a more-or-less annual revenue earning event for the local fuzz, so we’ll keep you up to date on rumors in 2011 as they come in.

May

Vespa P-Series Hydraulic Disc Brake Installation
With the Spring weather picking up (but still plenty of rain) we had a chance to get our hands dirty with a modification to a drum-brake fitted 1985 Vespa PX150. Like our gear change article at the beginning of the year the piece proved popular with readers so keep your eyes open for similar articles in 2011.

New York Scooter Club 2010 Block Party
At this point THE annual event that should be on every city scooterist’s calendar, New York Scooter Club had another fantastic, and well attended year. Once again, we were there and we have the pictures to prove it.

Customer's scoots at Scooters Originali in May.

NYCS’s trip to Scooters Originali
Before we said goodbye to May we said hello to Jersey. A long-awaited trip out to Scooters Originali in Orange, NJ introduced us to two new (and essential) friends, Gene and Andrea the fantastic folks behind the most important vintage scooter shop on the east coast. Get out there and support them in 2011. Like all scooter dealers and mechanics, in the US this is a niche business and they need your business after a tough couple of years. The local scooter community would be nothing without folks like Originali.

June

Looking back on June it was a quiet news month. Sure there are articles we could drag up and re-print here, but you know what? It was quiet because we were too busy getting out on two wheels and enjoying the weather and we hope you were too.

July

Local Vesparati Killed By SUV
Speaking of getting out and riding, sadly July brought us the sobering news that getting out there can be a dangerous experience. Beloved local mom and fellow British ex-pat Aileen McKay-Dalton was hit and killed in Fort Greene while riding her Vespa LX150. Ride safe folks and wear the right safety gear.

August

NYCS Visits Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand
I was one lucky bastard getting a chance to head out to SE Asia in August, but I didn’t put work behind me. No – it wasn’t all Mai-Thais, it was a chance to check in on local scooter culture and sniff out the trail on bodged scooter imports. Plenty of great pictures and interesting findings to check out if you never had a chance to follow along with the trip.

SE Asian riders love their bling. A Vespa spotted in the back streets of Bangkok in August.

WNYC Interviews Local Scooterists
Local scooterists got a chance to air their grievances outside of the traditional Festivus holidays by chatting with WNYC. As always parking became a heated point of discussion.

Fresh Meat
We rounded out a busy August by welcoming aboard Scott who joined the NYCS team to bring a newbie’s point-of-view to the trials and tribulations of not just owning and riding a scooter in New York City, but a vintage one at that – a beautiful 1962 Vespa VNB.

September

A Day Among OddScoots
Scott brought out the big-guns for one of his first articles with us documenting his first major trip on his VNB up to Westchester to report back on a fantastic private collection of historical scooter oddities.

Jet!
After a long local hunt for the right set of wheels, September welcomed a new addition to the NYCS family – a 1975 Serveta Jet 200. The bike has provided us an opportunity to bring a Lambretta perspective to our reports in the last half of the year following a prior year that had biased Piaggio’s Vespa.

NYCS Reports From Paris
We got a little international in 2010. Hot on the heels of reporting on the scooter scene in SE Asia, September and October gave us the opportunity to head to Paris and phone in our reports from a fantastic scooter loving country where local riders get to PARK ON THE DAMN SIDEWALK.

October

Stella Four-Stroke Review
While the four-stroke Stella sadly never made it to NYC in 2010 we look forward to welcoming it better late than never in the early part of next year. October continued the trend of periodic updates on the new scooter thanks to the first in-depth US review thanks to the folks at Motorcycle-USA.com

November

The Vespa PX Is Back
Rumors of the return of the venerable two-stroke Vespa PX have been around so long many riders may have assumed it never left. While it won’t unfortunately be coming to the US in 2011 due to our stringent emissions laws, the rumors did turn out to be true in a manner of speaking. Annual two-wheeler show EICMA in Milan gave us a glimpse of the subtle changes being introduced in the PX for its reintroduction to the rest of the world in 2011.

The 2011 Vespa PX. Still going after thirty-three years.

Well that’s it for news in 2010 folks following an admittedly traditional slow scooter news month this December. Happy Holidays everyone! Here’s to a happy, news-worthy, and safe scootering year to your all in 2011!

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We were in attendance for last year’s first soul festival at The Bell House and can tell you that it was a fantastic weekend. Great acts, great atmosphere. With a sold out venue both nights last year and disappointed folks turned away at the door, it’s no wonder that the folks at Dig Deeper have put together a 2010 line-up.

This year’s festival is coming up in a couple of weeks and tickets are thankfully still available. Once again the venue is Gowanus’ The Bell House on Friday October 8th and Saturday October 9th. The music kicks off at 8pm on both nights with Shakey’s Record Fair providing some rare vinyl hunting on Saturday during the day.

Once again, the festival is MC’d by the fantastic baby-faced Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the acts back by his band on Friday night. You won’t believe the voice this white boy can kick out. Brooklyn’s own The Sweet Divines back the headliners on Saturday night.

This year’s line up is another who’s who of soul legends:

Barbara Lynn, Vernon Garrett and Don Gardner take the stage on Friday night with Betty Harris, Harvey Scales and Renaldo Domino taking to the stage on Saturday to round out the festival.

For more details on the event, visit the festival’s Facebook event page.

Click here for tickets for Friday night, and here for Saturday night. Naturally we recommend you make both nights with the weekend pass. At $20 a night the cover price is phenomenal value for a great night of legends.

Friday Night Headliners

Barbara Lynn – You’ll Lose a Good Thing

Vernon Garrett – If I could Turn Back The Hands of Time

Don Gardner – My Baby Likes to Boogaloo

Saturday Night Headliners

Betty Harris – Cry To Me

Harvey Scales – Get Down

Renaldo Domino – Don’t Go Away

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Malcolm McLaren, ex Sex Pistols manager, promoter and all-round punk impresario is dead. McClaren died yesterday at age 64 from mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer.

McClaren’s impact on the world of punk rock is undeniable, and while he was at moments equally loved and loathed, he was an incredible creative force. As a founder of the British punk movement, he was and will always be a part of scooter culture.

I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. McClaren briefly at an event in New York City last year to celebrate the launch of a series of his short films as a video installation in Times Square. I feel honored to have done so.

The New York Times has published an obituary here.

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New York’s Fred Perry store on Wooster Street in Soho is now stocking limited edition versions of their clothing line to celebrate The Specials’ 30th anniversary reunion tour. The clothing has been available in the UK for some time, but has only just made it stateside just in time for The Specials’ upcoming NYC gig.

But there’s more. The store is currently offering a chance to win two pairs of tickets to the show on April 20th at Terminal 5. Visit the store in person and speak to a Fred Perry representative to learn more or click here to enter online. The competition ends April 15th.

While you’re at FredPerry.com, there’s still also a chance to enter to win a limited edition Perry themed Vespa LXV125. This competition is open until May 18th.

Good luck, and hopefully we’ll see you at the show.

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Initially the purpose of the site was to track my progress to getting back on to two wheels in the US after a number of years of absence since riding scooters as a teenager in the UK. But the ambitions of the site quickly outgrew its inception.

In the past twelve months the site has grown from strength to strength, gaining recognition from local scooter riders, local dealers and local organizations; brought in guest writers and interviewees; and has expanded to cover everything and anything to do with riding scooters in New York City.

To celebrate our one-year anniversary let’s take a look back on some of most significant stories of our first year month-by-month.

Taking a break during last year's Basic RiderCourse

March 2009
In March we covered my experiences taking Motorcycle Safety School’s three-day Basic RiderCourse on their range and in their classroom in the Bronx. The course is considered the perfect way for beginners to get comfortable on two-wheels with expert instruction; and walk away with a DMV test-waiver at the end of the course.

Parking NYC style.

April 2009
April brought us two milestones. First was the introduction of the Deals on Wheels section of the site, and in particular our first “Today on CraigsList” helping local scooterists find diamonds in the rough. Our very first posting was for a 2001 Vespa ET4.

Second, one of our most successful stories ever, our look at the do’s and don’ts of parking on the streets of NYC. The story looked into keeping your scoot safe from harm, and your pocket safe from tickets.

May 2009
May was filled with sorrow and joy. On the joy side, after multiple bureaucratic delays (which have since been removed entirely) my test-waiver finally arrived following my completion of the Basic RiderCourse allowing me to finally get on the road legally.

In the sorrow category, May was the month we bid farewell to Nick and the crew at Brooklynbretta, a local dealer who though in existence for a relatively short time made a hugely positive impact on the local scooter scene. We still miss you Nick.

Revellers at the NY Scooter Club Block Party '09.

June 2009
In June we covered our friends, the NY Scooter Club, as they celebrated their annual bash, the NYC Block Party including ride-outs to Coney Island and Flushing Park Meadows. It was fantastic to see so many great scoots on display and meet so many great folks. The NY Scooter Club have recently announced the date for this year’s bash, the 5th annual Block Party taking place a little earlier on May 14th and 15th and you can be sure we’ll be sharing plenty of news on this date as we get it.

July 2009
Like you, in July, we spent less time sitting in front of our laptops and more time out riding, so while the local news slowed, we still managed to get some great stories; this time from our neighbors in Boston and Philadelphia. Both cities revamped local scooter laws with Philly commencing its installation of official motorcycle and scooter parking and Boston cracking down on 50cc owners who had previously avoided license plate and parking restrictions.

DJ Josh Link.

August 2009
August brought the sad news that local DJ Josh Link was killed after his vintage Vespa failed him on the Williamsburg Bridge. While Josh’s death was sadly not the only scooter related death of the year, it brought us all closer to the reality of riding our idiosyncratic machines among the cabs, buses, SUVs and trucks of the Big Apple.

On a happier music related note, later in the month saw the Brooklyn Soul Festival that unearthed forgotten soul legends and brought them to our city. Fingers crossed for Brooklyn Soul Festival 2010.

Some of the insightful Gear Up! Project data.

September 2009
September was a busy month here at NYCS Towers and among all the scooter related news we began to place a lot of emphasis of scooter maintenance and repair articles.

In particular, a new addition to the family in the form of a 1985 Vespa PX150e began a series of restoration, or if you prefer rebuild, posts over the following months as I slowly brought the scoot back to its former glory.

September also saw our interview with safety advocate Kate Rhodes, founder of the Gear Up! Project which has been founded to draw scooterists’ (and motorcyclist’s) attention to the importance of wearing the right safety gear for the road.

October 2009
October saw fashion label, ScooterGirls sweep the first prize award during LA’s Fashion Week. The woman’s wear that goes a long way to ensure fashion doesn’t have to suffer at the hands of safety has since go on to a strong showing at the Dealer Expo in Indianapolis earlier this year and should begin appearing on local dealer’s shelves soon. We’ll keep you posted.

The month also saw a local Middle School teacher bring vintage Vespa restoration into the classroom as a teaching aid. We were there to scoop some behind the scenes photographs from NY Times coverage.

Finally, October was the month that we here at NYCS threw our two cents into the ongoing heated debate over restored vintage scooters emanating from Asia and their reputation as dangerous bodge-jobs: The NYCS Viet-bodge 101.

4 strokes under the hood.

November 2009
As the weather began drawing the 2009 riding season to a close, we were treated to some exciting news in readiness for the 2010 season as LML unveiled its 4-stroke iteration of the Vespa P-clone, the Star 4. Since we caught the story, Genuine have confirmed and begun prepping their 2010 Stella manifestations of the Star 4 for shipment and they are expected to arrive at local dealers in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for our first local sightings and review.

December 2009
In the continuation of scooter news out of India, the final month of 2009 saw Bajaj announce its withdrawal from the scooter business, bringing an important piece of scooter heritage to a close. The move came in part due to increased competition from its rival, and manufacturer of the Stella, LML.

January 2010
In January, local scooter parking advocates from the New York Motorcycle and Scooter Task Force made local headlines as they drew attention to NYC’s poorly thought-out Muni-Meter Zones as they pertain to two-wheeled parking. And while the parking debate continues on without definitive action, it’s always good to bring more attention to the issue. We’ll keep you up to date in 2010 as the discussion continues.

Photograph courtesy of Carbon Negative.

February 2010
Finally, last month saw the Williamsburg branch of Vespa SoHo reinvent itself as Carbon Negative, continuing to sell and maintain scooters but expanding their reach to covering the two-wheeled categories less gas, no gas, 100% human. We look forward to bringing you more news from Carbon Negative as we enter spring.

So that’s it folks. It’s been quite a year. We look forward to seeing you out on the streets of New York, New York State, Long Island and New Jersey as the rain and snow subside and the sunshine arrives. Don’t forget that we’re expanding the team and looking for your input in the 2010 editorial calendar.

Thanks for your support over the past year, and we look forward to you jumping in with more of your insightful comments in the year ahead.

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The Specials at a recent gig on their 30th anniversary tour.

We’ll keep this short. Their April 21st show sold out in a matter of minutes. They’ve added Tuesday April 20th as a second date at the same venue, Terminal 5. Tickets went on sale at 12 noon today.

Run, don’t walk, to the Ticketmaster page now and book your chance to see the legends on their 30th anniversary tour.

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By Pete Townsend’s own admission – since the loss of Moonie, John “The Ox” Entwistle and the retirement of ex-Face, Small Face, Kenney Jones – the existing line up of session players backing Roger and Pete comprise, “The greatest Who cover band ever.”

That said, if you anywhere near a TV on Sunday, you’ll have a chance to see the Modfathers live during The Super Bowl on CBS.

With a little luck, Pete might ride his Vespa S to the show…

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Long time scooter-rally favorites and grand-daddys of misery-music, Echo & The Bunnymen are set to play NYC’s Mercury Lounge as part of their US tour supporting their forthcoming album, “The Fountain.”

You can hear Think I Need It To, the first single release off their new album at their official site.

Tickets for the small venue are sure to sell out. Ticketmaster puts them on sale on tomorrow.

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