Modcast Christmas Boat Party - Sunday 10th December

Not long now to the MODCAST XMAS BOAT – ANNUAL FESTIVE PARTY DOWN THE THAMES..

Buy Boat Ticket here: http://skiddle.com/e/36727941

We start the day with Roastie and warm up drinkies at The White Hart at midday and then off to Festival Pier where we board the board the Pride of London for 2pm departure Top hoots and brilliant music from fun with our fab DJs up and down the Thames . 2 floors and an outside deck.

Join us!! Shenanigans 100% guaranteed..

Book White Hart table here (mention. Modcast): https://www.thewhitehartwaterloo.co.uk/
TIX here: http://skiddle.com/e/36727941

** R&B * Northern Soul *Jazz * Ska * Funk * Revival * Roots Reggae * Psyche And Garage * Crossover * 60s Beat * Mod *
Eddie Piller Darren Rock Paul Anderson
Wendy May Myia Marina Dean Thatcher Steve Rowland 

Mod Xmas Ball in Blackpool on Saturday 9th December to feature The Chords UK, Squire and The Killermeters

 

OUT NOW - The Mark Three's 16-Song 'Paisley Paradise' CD Album

 

OUT NOW: The Mark Three’s ‘Paisley Paradise’ 16-song CD album has arrived and is being shipped.

To avoid disappointment, secure your copy at Mark’s Bandcamp page at: -

https://marklegallez.bandcamp.com/album/paisley-paradise

Detour Records release The Mourning After's 'Do Your Thaang (The Weemeenit Sessions)' on CD

 

Detour Records are stoked to bring you this album which includes the first ever recordings by the band. My love for this band dates back to when I first heard their debut single on the 'Merry Go-Round' label back in 1993. It was an instant appeal as it was full-on, in your face, Organ assault with some mighty crypt-kicking vocals to match.

Then in 1994 we had the pleasure of working with the band and releasing their second single 'Doin' Me In' followed by another three singles over the next few years. Back in 1996 we also enticed the band down to London to support Detour Records flag ship bearers 'The Clique' at the Garage in Islington. Also on the bill that night were 'The Acrylic Tones' who had travelled down from Newcastle-upon-tyne to play and to promote their debut album. All three bands were the top selling acts on Detour Records and the future looked bright. A brilliant night was had and it has stuck in my mind because it was also the night we moved house!

So on that note, I'll pass you over to the main man from the band who will give you the history on these recordings...

After Captain Sensible came to see The Mourning After at The White Horse, Hampstead he was suitably impressed to ask the band to record an LP for his Deltic record label.

In May 1991 they entered Weemeenit Studios, Barnet with Steve Broughton (Edgar Broughton Band) and the Captain at the helm. The following day they left the studio with the recording’s you hold in your hands. The idea was to take these original rough mixes away, have a listen, then get back together for a final mix and choose the 12 tracks for the LP.

Unfortunately due to circumstances out of both the band’s and Captain Sensible’s hand’s this never happened. The master tape was recovered a couple of years later and vocal, backing vocal and guitar tracks were wiped to free up space for overdubs and a release of the LP on Mystic Beat Records (withdrawn ...but that’s another story).

So here are those original rough mixes with live vocals, guitars and extra backing vocals (including a couple with the Captain) for the first time featuring different versions of some tunes that were later re-recorded and released.

Chris Blackburn / September 2023

FEATURES

Waitin’ On You

On My Mind

Rain On Me

Ain’t Like You

Doin’ Me In

Pauline

You’re Gonna Pay

What’s Goin’ Down

She’s Gonna Get It

Ain’t Gettin’ Away

Never Listen (To A Word I Say)

She’ll Be Gone

Creepin’ Out Tonight

Do Your Thaang

'Shake! Sixties Brit Mod Nuggets' - Double LP on Cherry Red

 

An essential mix of 34 mod favourites and rarities from 1964-1967.

Modernists loved the latest R&B, blues and soul sounds coming from US cities such as Chicago, Memphis and Detroit and when British groups started playing their own interpretations in clubs and dancehalls they gained their own mod followings, their music remaining popular on the mod scene today.

Side 1 of this bespoke collection spotlights the British R&B scene and features a founding father of British blues Alexis Korner with the rare ‘Taboo Man’ alongside ace mod tracks from The Bo Street Runners, The Others, Mickey Finn and The Blue Men (featuring a youthful Jimmy Page on harmonica) and more.

Side 2 starts with British R&B groups developing their own sound by turning up their guitars, employing distortion, feedback and fuzz pedals to take the music in a new direction. Highlights include the Joe Meek produced ‘Crawdaddy Simone’ by The Syndicats (described as proto punk because of its ferocity), The In Crowd’s snarling ‘Things She Says’ and The Artwoods’ fuzz drenched mod favourite ‘I Take What I Want’ featuring future Deep Purple organist Jon Lord on organ. Denny Laine (later of Wings) sings with The Moody Blues calming things down with some soulful beat.

Side 3 focuses on UK soul music – Rod ‘the mod’ Stewart backed by The Brian Auger Trinity takes on Sam Cooke’s ‘Shake’, the godfather of ska Laurel Aitken proves he’s also a natural soul man with his floor filling version of The Mar-Keys’ ‘Last Night’ and the amazing Barry St. John sings the funky ‘Gotta Brand New Man’. Popular club acts Lucas & The Mike Cotton Sound and Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede would regularly bring the house down at mod clubs and also feature.

Side 4 includes mod club dancefloor smashes from The Spencer Davis Group andThe Union (featuring Elmer Gantry) appear on vinyl for the first time.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. The Bo Street Runners – Bo Street Runner (Single Version)
2. The Others – Oh Yeah
3. David John and The Mood – Bring It To Jerome
4. Mickey Finn and The Blue Men – I Still Want You
5. Ronnie Jones and The Night-Timers – I Need Your Loving
6. The Second Thoughts – Seventh Son
7. James Royal – Work Song
8. Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated – Taboo Man
9. The Trendbender Band – Unchain My Heart

SIDE 2
1. The Syndicats – Crawdaddy Simone
2. The In Crowd – Things She Says
3. The Boys Blue – You Got What I Want
4. The Rocking Vicars – It’s Alright
5. The Artwoods – I Take What I Want
6. The Favourite Sons – That Driving Beat
7. The Moody Blues – And My Baby’s Gone
8. The Stormsville Shakers – Number One
9. The Union – See Saw

SIDE 3
1. Rod Stewart – Shake
2. Laurel Aitken and The Soul Men – Last Night
3. Barry St John – Gotta Brand New Man
4. The Soul Brothers – Good Lovin’ Never Hurt
5. Lucas & The Mike Cotton Sound – Ain’t Love Good, Ain’t Love Proud
6. J.J. Jackson – But It’s Alright
7. Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede – Something For Nothing
8. Wynder K Frog – Turn On Your Lovelight

SIDE 4
1. The Spencer Davis Group – Looking Back
2. Double Feature – Baby Get Your Head Screwed On
3. Scots Of St. James – Tic Toc
4. The Attraction – She’s A Girl
5. John’s Children – But She’s Mine
6. The Drag Set – Day And Night
7. Rupert’s People – Hold On
8. The Action – Look At The View

Modstock Easter 2024 - Events Programme

 

MODSTOCK PROGRAMME

Thursday – Pre-Event
6T’s 100 Club Party
West Hampstead Special, pay on the door arrive early.

Friday afternoon:
Detail Magazine live. Q&A on Fashion, Books, Music and Clubbing with special guests. 1-5pm/£15 (not part of the weekend ticket)

Friday – MODSTOCK BALL
with Mod Legends
P.P ARNOLD +
KENNEY JONES +
FAY HALLAM +
8pm-11pm
2 club rooms with International DJ’s.
11pm-3am
£27.50

Saturday Daytime:
ALLDAYER FREE ENTRY all ages with

THE APEMEN +
THE MOLOTOV’s live +
Scooter Run, Market & DJ’s. From 12 Noon with food & bar open all day.

Saturday Evening – CROSSFIRE
(3 rooms of musical magic) For one night only, the popular London club night returns to 229 with an ace DJ line-up. 8pm-3am/£15

Ballroom:
The history of NORTHERN SOUL in the main ballroom featuring Rare Soul from iconic venues The Twisted Wheel, The Torch, Wigan Casino, Stafford & the 100 Club.

Boogaloo in room 2:
With the hottest R&B, Club Soul, Blues, Ska & Boogaloo

Beat Basement:
BIG BOSS MAN & THE CRYSTAL TEARDROP live. Go wild with the finest Freakbeat, Garage & Psych 45’s from Dr Robert and international guests.

Sunday – THAMES RIVERBOAT PARTY
With International DJs. 2-6pm/£25 (£29 with farewell after party)
Meet at Festival Pier 1.30pm on the South Bank next the Royal Festival Hall.

MODSTOCK AFTER PARTY
at legendary Mod venue The Phoenix, Oxford Circus. 8pm-2am/£10 (Very Limited Tickets)

'Anymore for Anymore: The Ronnie Lane Story' (Omnibus Press)

 

Ronnie Lane’s story is that of a working-class kid who started his musical career busking a ukulele at the age of eight. As a young man he signed with legendary manager Don Arden, who paid him in paisley shirts. He then enjoyed a phenomenal 17 consecutive Top 40 singles, womanising and LSD, and fell under the spell of a mystic before joining forces with Rod Stewart. Ronnie was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, moved to America, went broke and died far too young.

Drawing on extensive research and interviews with friends and family, Caroline and David Stafford unearth the truth and talent of the man behind the music.

‘Affectionate and ultimately affecting.' Shindig

'A supremely readable biography.... the Staffords tell their story with accuracy and significant wit and it's shot through with larger-than-life characters' Classic Rock, 8/10

'Essential reading for anyone interested in the life and work of one of the true originals of British 60's music' Louder Than War

Review

'A spirited and heartfelt account of Ronnie’s amazing life and music’ --Charlie Hart, Slim Chance

'This book captures the man and his incredible musical and personal journey in a celebratory way, but also handles his terribly sad ending sensitively. I raise a glass to both the book and to Plonk and say thank you for both' --Mark Baxter, author of Scorcha!

'Caroline and David Stafford display the same dry wit and careful research that informed their previous excellent biographies. A thoughtful study of how Ronnie coped both with fame and encroaching illness, which doesn't shy away from his contradictions, but is written with genuine fondness, a sentiment apparently shared by many who knew him.' --Spectator

About the Author

David and Caroline Stafford are London-based writers who have released a number of biographies with Omnibus Press, including 'Cupid Stunts: The Life and Radio Times of Kenny Everett' (2014) and 'Maybe I'm Doing it Wrong - The Life and Music of Randy Newman' (2016). Their book on Lionel Bart, 'Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be', was a Radio 4 Book of the Week.

'King Mod: Peter Meaden, The Who, and the Making of a Subculture' - Hardcover Published on 23rd November

 

In 1975 author Steve Turner interviewed Peter Meaden - the man who discovered The Who. A small part of the interview was published in NME during1979, a year after Meaden's death, and was instrumental in the first major revival of mod culture in the UK. 

Quotable lines in the interview include 'Mod living is an aphorism for clean living under difficult circumstances' - which now regularly make it onto T-shirts, posters and mugs as well as being used as book and compilation album titles. The full interview has never been published before and what makes it so captivating is not just what Meaden says, but the way he says it. He was like a saxophone player blowing words into the ether. High on medication of some kind he followed word associations to the bitter end - and in doing so unlocked fresh parts of his imagination. 

That interview is the core of King Mod - and has been extensively footnoted to expand on all the key references - and its wrapped around by two other sections that help complete the picture and provide historical context. The first introduces the history of mod and the background to the interview and the second is a potted biography - drawn from extensive interviews with family, friends and colleagues (over 40 of them) as well as medical records, school reports, newspaper accounts, letters and other archive material. 

There is no individual in the mod firmament who attracts more interest than Peter Meaden - who is seen to embody the spirit, passion and purity of the movement - and this book hopefully captures the essence of the King Mod.

'Pushin’ Too Hard American Garage Punk 1964-1967' - 3 CD Box Set to be released on 19 January by Cherry Red

 

• ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’ is a 94-track celebration of 1960s garage punk, a retrospectively named genre first compiled on Lenny Kaye’s seminal 1972 collection ‘Nuggets’.

• This is raw, exciting music with tons of attitude – fuzz guitars, swirling organs, wailing harmonicas, thumping drums and tough vocals are plentiful.

In the mid 1960s, teenage rock ‘n’ roll groups proliferated throughout the USA, often inspired by ‘British Invasion’ bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds as well as US styles including surf, blues and folk rock. Most towns and cities had local scenes revolving around dance parties, clubs and ‘battle of the bands’ contests and many of the bands here were regional royalty but never broke nationally.

Key bands featured include The Seeds, The Sonics, The Standells, The Shadows Of Knight, The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Love, The Electric Prunes, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, We The People and ? & The Mysterians.

There are national US Billboard Hot 100 hits from Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs – ‘Wooly Bully’ (#2), The Strangeloves – ‘I Want Candy’ (#11), The Castaways – ‘Liar, Liar’ (#12), The Beau Brummels – ‘Just A Little’ (#15), The McCoys – ‘Fever’ (#7), The Bobby Fuller Four – ‘I Fought The Law’ (#9), Paul Revere & The Raiders – ‘Just Like Me’ (#11), The Barbarians – ‘Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl’ (#55), Love – ‘My Little Red Book’ (#54) , The Knickerbockers – ‘One Track Mind’ (#46) and The Seeds – ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’ (#36) presented here in a longer unedited version.

Rarities from The Blue Beats, The Dirty Wurds, The Apparitions, The Bedlam Four and The Jackals are released here on CD for the first time while many other tracks have never been released in the UK before.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE
1. The Rangers – Justine
2. Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs – Wooly Bully
3. The Strangeloves – I Want Candy
4. The Barbarians – Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl
5. The Denims – I’m Your Man
6. The Castaways – Liar, Liar
7. The Remains – Why Do I Cry
8. The Beau Brummels – Just A Little
9. The Seeds Featuring Sky Saxon – Pushin’ Too Hard (Unedited Version)
10. The Leaves – Too Many People (Single Version)
11. The Front Line – Got Love (Trident Version)
12. The Brogues – I Ain’t No Miracle Worker
13. The Standells – Rari (Extended Version)
14. The Spades – You’re Gonna Miss Me
15. The Lyrics – So What!!
16. The Mad Hatters – I Need Love
17. Don & The Goodtimes – Little Sally Tease
18. The Coastliners – Alright
19. The McCoys – Fever
20. The Bobby Fuller Four – I Fought The Law (Single Version)
21. The JuJus – You Treat Me Bad
22. The Girls – My Baby
23. The Raymarks – Louise
24. The Emperor’s – I Want My Woman
25. Paul Revere & The Raiders – Just Like Me
26. Liverpool Five – Heart (Album Version)
27. The Bad Seeds – A Taste Of The Same
28. Merrell & The Exiles – She’s Gone
29. The Bees – Forget Me Girl
30. The Misunderstood – Don’t Break Me Down
31. The Seeds – Out Of The Question (Version 1, Take 1)

DISC TWO
1. The Thirteenth Floor Elevators – Tried To Hide (Single Version)
2. Love – My Little Red Book
3. The Mojo Men – She’s My Baby (Autumn Version)
4. The Electric Prunes – Ain’t It Hard
5. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Diddy Wah Diddy
6. Dirty Wurds – Mellow Down Easy
7. The Outcasts – I’m In Pittsburgh (And It’s Raining)
8. The Knickerbockers – One Track Mind
9. Rocky & The Riddlers – Flash And Crash
10. The Dimensions – Knock You Flat
11. The Unusuals – I’m Walking, Babe
12. The Shadows Of Knight – Dark Side
13. We The People – Mirror Of Your Mind
14. Sterling Damon – Rejected
15. The Soothsayers – Please, Don’t Be Mad
16. The Esquires – Judgement Day
17. The Century’s – Hard Times
18. The Sonics – You Got Your Head On Backwards
19. Link Wray & The Raymen – Hidden Charms
20. The Misunderstood – Thunder ‘N’ Lightnin’
21. Zakary Thaks – She’s Got You
22. The Squires – Going All The Way
23. The Blue Beats – Extra Girl
24. The Free-For-All – Show Me The Way
25. Chris Morgan & The Togas – There She Goes
26. The Executioners – I Want The Rain (Vocal)
27. Limey & The Yanks – Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
28. The Apparitions – She’s So Satisfyin’
29. The Hustlers – If You Try
30. The Echoes Of Carnaby Street – No Place Or Time
31. Sparkles – No Friend Of Mine
32. Velvet Illusions – Velvet Illusions

DISC THREE
1. The Standells – Barracuda
2. We The People – You Burn Me Up And Down
3. The Rationals – I Need You
4. The Other Half – Mr. Pharmacist
5. Neal Ford & The Fanatics – Shame On You
6. The Choir – It’s Cold Outside
7. The Newbeats – Top Secret
8. The Fire Escape – Love Special Delivery
9. ? & The Mysterians – Girl (You Captivate Me)
10. The Third Bardo – I’m Five Years Ahead Of My Time
11. Ken & The Forth Dimension – See If I Care
12. The Off-Beats – Tired Of Crying
13. The Mistics – Why Baby Why
14. The Headstones – Bad Day Blues
15. Roy Junior (Roy Acuff Jr.) – Victim Of Circumstances
16. The Sparkles – Hipsville 29 B.C. (I Need Help)
17. The Jackals – Love Times Eight
18. The Galaxies IV – Piccadilly Circus
19. Front Page News – Thoughts
20. Fenwyck – Mindrocker
21. The Jefferson Handerchief – I’m Allergic To Flowers
22. The Buddhas – Lost Innocence
23. The Ohio Express – Try It
24. Tidal Waves – Action! (Speaks Louder Than Words)
25. The Liberty Bell – For What You Lack
26. Thursdays Children – You Can Forget About That
27. The Jades – Come Back
28. The Checkmates – Talk To Me
29. The New Yorkers – Again
30. Georgy & The Velvet Illusions – Mini Shimmy
31. The Bedlam Four – No One Left To Love

Secret Affair & Squire head to Scotland for this weekends' 'So Cool' tour dates

 

Purple Hearts tour dates for 2023/2024