Under 18's Allowed at Royale Records Birmingham Alldayer until 8pm this Saturday

I know there has been a number of disappointed young Mods posting that they really wanted to attend the Royale Records Alldayer this Saturday (23rd February) but were unable to do so because of the venues 'Over 18s Only' policy.

I have just spoken to the Hare & Hounds directly, and they tell me that the over 18 policy doesn't kick-in until 8pm - thus, they say, all ages are welcome to attend this event from it's midday start until 8pm (and then over 18s only for the rest of the night). The venue expects the first 'live' act to be on stage by 12.30pm so, even if you can only stay until 8pm, you should still catch the majority of the bands (if not all) over this 8 hour period.

Fleur De Lys - ‘You’ve Got To Earn It’ Album to be Released on Acid Jazz

‘You’ve Got To Earn It’ by legendary band, Fleur De Lys, is the latest instalment in the legendary Acid Jazz Rare Mod series, and is slated for release on 18^th March. It will be available in both CD and vinyl formats and is available to pre-order now via Amazon. Their on-line product description says: -

“The first official album release from legendary British Soul/Mod /Psych heroes,  often bootlegged, the Fleurs never managed to release an album until now. Atlantic Records UK house band, they backed Sharon Tandy on her chart successes and played on hundreds of cuts anonymously, never quite obtaining the respect that they deserved. Acid Jazz Records in collaboration with the only constant member, Keith Guster, have put together this glorious album that will see the Fleur de Lys take their right place in the pantheon of 60s legends.”

'I was just sweet 17 when the original Fleur de Lys were formed in Southampton, 1964 but by March '66 I was the only original of those four to head for the bright lights of London, where I knew it was all happening. Well, a hell of a lot did happen. Through an incredible musical era, different members came and went until I was the last man standing when we had one crisis too many and drifted apart in July of 1969.

I was privileged over those 5 years of the FDL to play alongside 11 different FDL members. All great people, all great musicians, who each played a huge and inspirational part on the tracks of this album, and on many other tracks with my old friends Sharon Tandy, John Bromley, Donnie Elbert, Graham Dee, and others'

(Keith Guster, Fleur de Lys)

'Rare Mod Vol 4' (Acid Jazz) - CD Review

Eddie Piller and the team at Acid Jazz bring us volume 4 in the ‘Rare Mod’ series, and what a corker it is. Compiled by Damian Jones and Richard Searle, this CD features 16 slabs of Underground Rhythm ‘n’ Blues, Psych & Soul.

Starting with a storming version of ‘Big Bird’, this recording comes from Dog Soul; a band made up by members of The Artwoods, The Kinks and Dog Soldier and has a great horn section. Next up is the excellent ‘Tell Daddy’ by the All Night Workers, a Mod Soul outfit from West London very much in the vein of the Alan Bown Set.

The legendary Gary Farr & The T-Bones then give us ‘Together Forever’, a track recorded in late 1966 and intended to be their fourth single – unfortunately they split up and the song remained unreleased. The Unknown Mod Girl gives a great performance of Mel Torme’s ‘Coming Home Baby’ before The Mountain Men’s ‘Too Many People Around’ – the sole A-side from this band from South Wales. Syd’s Crowd, a band from 1966/67 of which very little is known, contribute ‘Times Are Good Babe’ and ‘Road Runner’ to this compilation, both of which are really good. 

One of the highlights of this collection is the inclusion of a long lost recording from The Artwoods – one of my favourite bands. ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’, the R ‘n’ B classic which was Art Wood’s favourite track, was recorded in 1964, although it is not known if it was intended as an A-side or for a radio session. Either way, it’s worth the admission price alone. The best track on the entire album, in my opinion, is the Hammond saturated ‘Hey Gyp’ from The Unknown Mod Band – that’s right, Acid Jazz really have no idea who recorded this track.

With further contributions from Row Boat, Perfumed Garden, The Wild Ones, Virgin Sleep and Tomorrow’s Children this collection is right up my street – mid to late 60s sounding Mod bands playing hard edged R ‘n’ B and Soul with a bit of a Freakbeat vibe thrown in for good measure. Well worth checking out.

The Karla Milton Collective’s new single, ‘Jack is Back’, is out on Heavy Soul Records on 11th March.

The new single from The Karla Milton Collective, released on the excellent Heavy Soul Records, will be with us on 11^th March. A great ‘live’ favourite, ‘Jack is Back’ will be available on 7" vinyl with the soulful and emotional B side, ‘Spend the Night’, or on a CD single with a bonus third track included.

You can pre-order the single by joining the band’s mailing list at www.thekarlamiltoncollective.com or direct from the Heavy Soul web site at http://www.heavysoul45s.co.uk/heavy-soul-45s

Better still, go along to the launch party on Friday 8^th March 8th at ReCon in Malvern, see the band ‘live’ and pick up your copy of the single 3 days before the official release date - they'll even sign your copy if you like.

The Heavy Soul website describes the release thus: -

“When DC Fontana and Karla parted ways last year, many wondered what direction her classy vocals would take - well here is the answer! Along with fellow ex-DC man Steve Trigg, The Karla Milton Collective has come up with a funky, soulful almost Brian Auger / Julie Driscoll style. "Jack Is Back" has EVERYTHING. The flip "Stay The Night" is a more mellow affair - think The STYLE COUNCIL in '86!”

The New Untouchables return to Birmingham on 4th May for the Midlands Mod Alldayer

The New Untouchables say, “Birmingham is synonymous with the Mod Scene with both the Spencer Davis Group and the Move just two of the excellent bands to hail from the second city in the sixties. Throughout the eighties and nineties it was a hotbed for the Mod scene with clubs like the Outrigger and we made regular visits from the Capitol to enjoy the fun.

We return on May bank holiday to a fantastic venue in the City centre right next to retro shop Urban Village at the old Custard Factory in Digbeth.

All events take place at the fabulous www.70-eight.com which looks very sixties space age (check out the gallery), with three floors and two rooms of music and tasty sound systems. The evening event hosts DJ’s from all over the UK along with NUTS regulars Pid and Rob Bailey.

The FREE daytime event includes a market, open decks DJ session and scooter run and competition kindly sponsored by gransportscooters.com”

Venue is: 70 Eight Club: 4, Gibb Street, B9 4AA Birmingham, United Kingdom

Nine Below Zero ‘live’ Review at The Robin 2, Bilston, Nr. Wolverhampton – 9th February 2013

It’s about time that Nine Below Zero are recognised as the great British institution that they are after flying the flag for Rhythm & Blues for some 37 years. Looking at the extensive dates on the tour list on their website, you will see that they are one of the hardest working bands around, and have been throughout their time together.

There are no pretentions either; on arriving at The Robin 2 for the gig, I found main man, Dennis Greaves, behind the CD stand and talking blues philosophy to an interested fan. After all these years, the passion for R’n’B still burns as brightly as it ever did.

Hitting the stage to a hugely enthusiastic crowd, Nine Below Zero launched into a number of songs they recorded back in 1980 for the debut long player, ‘Live at the Marquee’ (which has recently been reissued). All the favourites were there, ‘Homework’, ‘I Can’t Help Myself’, ‘Can I Get A Witness’ etc.

Aside from Dennis Greaves, the band features original member, Mark Feltham, on harmonica and Brian Bethell, who played on the ‘Third Degree’ album and, along with Dennis, formed The Truth (another great, great, band whose original line-up recently got together for a handful of shows). Brendan completes the line-up on the drum stool.

A few numbers were then played from the ‘Don’t Point Your Finger’ LP from 1981, including the title track and ‘Rockin’ Robin’, followed by some tunes from more recent albums such as ‘Off The Hook’. Dennis paid tribute to Wilko Johnson, recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, much to the delight and appreciation of this Blues audience.

Back onto ‘Live at the Marquee’ and we got ‘Hootchie Cootchie Coo’ and the smouldering ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’ featuring Mr. Greaves excellent Blues guitar playing. There was a huge cheer for ‘Ridin’ On The L&N’ which was preceded by Mark’s fantastic train locomotive harmonica intro. Last song of the night was the popular ‘Pack Fair & Square’.

There was a long and loud handclap and cheers for more before NBZ came back to give us what we really wanted – ‘Eleven Plus Eleven’, a great track and remembered by many for the bands performance of this on the very first episode of ‘The Young Ones’. The night ended with a storming version of ‘Wooly Bully’ that concluded some one and three quarter hours on stage. Awesome!

A great band with yet another great performance and a timely reminder of just how popular Rhythm & Blues still is (also recently demonstrated by 16 year olds, The Strypes, recently signing a 5-album deal with Mercury worldwide). Let’s hope Dennis and the boys continue their Blues crusade for many years to come.

Paul Hooper-Keeley