'Sussed' Fanzine - Issue 3 Out Now!!!

'In The Crowd' - 100 Unseen Pictures Of The Jam out 16th May

On May 16th Marshall Cavendish & Delicious Junction publish 'In the Crowd' – a new book by celebrated photographer Derek D'Souza.

The book features 176 pages in full colour, with over 100 unseen images of The Jam.

Looking back over the shots, Weller said "These pix bring back so many memories. It's nice to see these pix in print after all these years!"

Pre-order 'In The Crowd' now at www.amazon.co.uk or reserve a strictly limited numbered edition by contacting jon.abnett@phoenixphotosetting.co.uk

Derek D'Souza will be signing copies of the book at Pretty Green's Carnaby Street Store on Saturday 18th May, between 11am and 1pm.

Brett 'Buddy' Ascott to drum for The Moment in 2013

Legendary Mod drummer (and top Spurs fan), Buddy Ascott, is to play drums with The Moment in 2013.

So far Buddy has ruled the drum stool for The Chords, The Rage (I still have a pair of his broken sticks from the Lincoln Mod Rally in 1985 where The Threads supported them), Pope and Mod super-group Speakeasy, as well as being drummer in the 'house' band for the Mod Aid 20 single.

On top of that, he is a really nice guy too - looking forward to seeing Buddy with The Moment in 2013!!!!!!!

David Bowie 1965! 7" EP – did anyone pick this up on Record Store Day?

Did anyone manage to pick up this excellent 7" EP on Record Store Day (20th April)?

 

Unfortunately this EP, along with The Strypes and Paul Weller 7" releases, were not available in the nearest handful of participating stores to me - which kind of defeats the point of the day and undermines the support that they are trying to attract/retain!!!

 

The David Bowie 1965! EP is a 4-track 7” which collects together both of the singles Bowie released in 1965, with The Manish Boys and The Lower Third respectively.

If the release seems at all familiar, that may be because it’s been available since 2007 as a digital release. The EP was also released in the same 4-track vinyl format in 1979.

David Bowie 1965! EP 7” Record Store Day exclusive

7” black vinyl (World excluding US & Canada)

A

1. The Manish Boys – I Pity The Fool

2. The Manish Boys – Take My Tip

AA

1. Davy Jones & The Lower Third – You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving

2. Davy Jones & The Lower Third – Baby Loves That Way

The Moment 7" 'Goodbye Tuesday' available to pre-order now!!!

News has just reached the Modernist Society Blog from the Heavy Soul HQ that the new 7" single from The Moment, 'Goodbye Tuesday', is available to pre-order now from www.heavysoul45s.co.uk ahead of its official May release.

It is advisable to pre-order quickly (as I have already done) as this is a limited edition pressing and once they have gone, they're gone, and you'll have missed out.

The Moment are also featured in a special 'Classic Mod Band' supplement that comes free with the new edition of the Heavy Soul Fanzine and includes an exclusive new interview with main man, Adrian Holder.

Secret Affair release new single, ‘All The Rage’ c/w ‘Black Cat’ (I-Spy)

The new Secret Affair single’ ‘All The Rage’, is taken from their fourth studio album, ‘Soho Dreams’, and is available on iTunes now.  

The instrumental, ‘Black Cat’, originally recorded by Brian Auger is the B-side to the new single and features Andy Fairclough on Hammond, Stephen Wilcock on Saxophone, Russ Baxter on Drums, Ed Pearson on Bass and Steve Rinaldi on Trombone.

'Ronnie Londons' this Saturday 27th April in Nottingham

The Pow Wow Club returns tonight for an Allnighter at Bidds Club, Stoke-on-Trent

‘Live at Hull 1970’ (Polydor) – The Who - CD Review

A recent release by The Who on Polydor is their ‘Live at Hull’ double album recorded on 15^th February 1970. Originally intended for release back in 1970, the master tapes revealed that the mobile studio unit hadn’t picked up the bass guitar on the first 6-songs, leading to their gig of their previous evening in Leeds being used for the now legendary ‘Live at Leeds’ LP.

With the original tapes of the Hull gig re-examined, baked to prevent oxidisation, and the music transferred to a digital format, the album went through a restoration process that included, effectively, the cut and paste of the bass guitar from the Leeds show to make the Hull recordings complete. And on playback, the Hull show was found to be very impressive indeed.

Back in 1970, after extensively touring ‘Tommy’ around the world, The Who were as tight as a drum and as good a ‘live’ attraction as you were likely to see back then. So what do we get with this new release? The Who in all of their pomp and glory of that time, ripping through their regular set opener, ‘Heaven and Hell’, before launching into debut single, ‘I Can’t Explain’. The usual set of the time was followed in ‘Fortune Teller’, ‘Tattoo’, ‘Young Man Blues’ (somewhat heavier than Mose Allison did it!), ‘Substitute’, ‘Happy Jack’, ‘I’m A Boy’, ‘A Quick One While He’s Away’, ‘Summertime Blues’, ‘Shakin’ All Over’ and an almost 16 minute version of ‘My Generation’.  

But that’s not all – CD 2 features a 20-song ‘Tommy’ set meaning that you really do get value for money with this release.

Although somewhat heavy in places for some of the purists on the scene (you have to remember, this was 1970 and a long way on (musically) from 1965), this is a fabulous bonus for fans of The Who who’d always wondered what the originally intended Hull release was like, and a great companion to the ‘Live at Leeds’ album that we’ve known for all these years.

Review of ‘Boogie Chillen – Early Mods’ First-Choice Vinyl’ (Fantastic Voyage) – 3-CD Compilation Album

This well produced 3-CD collection has been compiled by original early sixties Mod, Robert Nicholls, based upon the sounds he heard in dance halls and clubs  and collected in the 1960 to 1963 period. In fact, all of the recordings here date from the years 1952 to 1962.

In the extensive 20-page illustrated booklet that accompanies this release, Robert talks us through going to the Under 21 Night at The Royal in 1960 and 1961 to hear some “good R&B” along with the other ‘Individualists’ and early Mods, and quotes some early recollections of the Lyceum in Aldwych from early Mod DJ Jeff Dexter. Indeed it is the Lyceum ballroom where Robert says he first saw Mods in significant numbers in autumn 1961.

Each CD has its own focus and title – CD 1 is ‘Boogie Chillen’ and is predominantly Blues and R&B focused, featuring the likes of John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Slim Harpo, Clyde McPhatter, Howlin Wolf, Cannonball Adderley etc. with the occasional surprise inclusion (here, it’s Johnny & The Hurricanes’ ‘Red River Rock’ and  Neil Sedaka’s ‘One Way Ticket’).

Disc 2 is entitled, ‘Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go’ and encompasses the progression towards Soul via Rosco Gordon’s ‘Just A Little Bit’, James Brown, Ray Charles, Jimmy Reed’s ‘Big Boss Man’, Bobby Bland, Ike & Tina Turner and The Impressions etc.

When we get to the third CD, we are in ‘Land of 1,000 Dances’ mode with Don & Bob’s ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’, Bobby Parker’s ‘Watch Your step’, Chuck Jackson’s ‘I Keep Forgettin’, Ritchie Barrett’s ‘Some Other Guy’ and Jimmy Smith’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ amongst others.

Overall, this is a very interesting musical documentation of the early London Mod scene from the view of one of its early participants. You will probably be familiar with much, if not all, of the material collected together on these three discs, but it has to be remembered how difficult it was to hear, let alone buy, these records back in 1961/62. And that is what makes this collection of songs and booklet so interesting to those of us who weren’t there in the early sixties but who want to get a better idea of what it was really like.

‘Jake Bugg’ (Mercury) by Jake Bugg - Album Review

After playing Jake Bugg’s eponymously titled album to death over the past few weeks, it is only fair that I finally get around to writing my review of it. So here goes…

Jake Bugg is a very talented 18-year old singer/songwriter from Nottingham who has recently recorded a slot on the ‘Live at Abbey Road’ TV series and played some high profile gigs over in New York. His style takes in a Britpop feel with distinct echoes of Bob Dylan in his voice that he uses to great effect as he sings about his life growing up in the East Midlands.

You’re probably all familiar with the first track on here; his ‘Lightning Bolt’ single has been a popular tune on the radio for some time now. A gritty and pacey number, ‘Lightning Bolt’ is a great opener to this album.

Jake’s humour comes out on the next number, ‘Two Fingers’, where he sings of going back to the Clifton area of Nottingham to see his old friends whilst at the same time ‘avoiding the Feds’. This is another Jake Bugg A-side.

The singles continue back-to-back with another cracking song, ‘Taste It’, which really starts to give the impression that this is a ‘Greatest Hits’ album – no mean feat for the 18-year olds debut long player.

Next up is my own personal favourite of this 14-song set of originals, ‘Seen It All’, about going to a party having taken a few pills to then discover that most of the other part goers are packing knives and the mounting tension boils over.

The mood turns more acoustic with the delicate but beautiful, ‘Simple As This’, and the style remains similar for yet another single, ‘Country Song’.

This impressive debut album continues to impress throughout with ‘Note To Self’ being my highlight of the remaining songs.

Jake Bugg is clearly a very gifted singer, musician and songwriter and I will be interested to see how far he can take it. And whilst we have the young talent of Jake Bugg, along with The Strypes of course, then the music scene promises to stay vibrant for some time to come.