“Are You a Mod Male or a Mad Man?” asks the USA's Southeast Missourian

More views on the Mod scene from around the world - this time we bring you an article from the USA that has just appeared in the Southeast Missourian: -

“Hello Cape Girardeau, Missouri and beyond.

We just can't seem to get enough of the Mod style, short for Modernists. The early '60s style originated in Britain as the style of the common people and was the style of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. It's not a '60s song but I can't resist, "Every Girl's Crazy 'Bout a Sharp Dressed Man".

Most consensus of Mod style feel "Mad Men" is the Mod style, and it is. I see the Mod style as the Madison Avenue style like Don Draper, sleek and neat, and the British style like Paul McCartney, sometimes referred to as the Mop Top style. The Mod style is also Steve McQueen, he wasn't born in Missouri but I'm proud to say, he grew up in Missouri.

If you need casual jeans, make sure they are super skinny, Drainpipe jeans and just touching the top of your brogues, Chelsea, or Chukka boots. Think long and lean. Otherwise, forget jeans and wear trousers, black or suit trousers with slim cut legs and button-up collared shirts. Shirt Jacs were great and the polo style knit shirts. Turtleneck sweaters were a must.

Color is important for your shirts. You need bold colors, color blocking, op art, stripes; three-button sleeve knit shirts and the English flag shirts. Don't forget your knit skinny tie or bold skinny tie on dresser shirts. Maybe you would prefer a patterned button up oxford cloth shirt.

The Harrington zip jacket, a tweed coat with an Alpaca collar, or a Nehru jacket (a jacket without a collar or lapel). Hats were fun, swagger hats, newsboy caps or English hats, or pinwale cotton corduroy hats.

For the Madison Avenue Mod style, you need your white shirts and French cuffs with cuff links were the style to wear. Ties were skinny but not knit or bold art. Suits and sports shirts should have three buttons and narrow lapels - that's important and so is a pocket square. Sweaters like the polo and turtleneck but especially the cardigan are an important wardrobe staple. You can even add a mohair sweater, pullover, coat sweater or cardigan and then again, there's cashmere and camel hair. My husband is glued to Don Draper's cardigans, he wants them all but you couldn't give him a pair of those necessary pointed shoes. That's okay, you need those pointed shoes or a smooth toe well-shinned black oxford with your suits and sports coats, but they did have loafers for the sweaters, and not penny loafers.

Trench coats were big, solid and miniature plaid, poplin and cashmere. And those great hats. Make sure your swagger hat had a center crease and a nice band.

If you're going for British look, grow your hair out a little longer. I know you've got this handled, the Mop Top look. If you're into McQueen style not short or not long, just a little ruffled. We've all got the Madison Avenue Don Draper hairstyle down. Take your choice but Mod is everywhere with reproductions from Brooks Brothers custom, to Banana Republic, to true vintage you can find in your community.

Don't get ahead of yourself in this style of the early '60s, we're not talking Jaguar's, we're talking Vespa's.

Have fun. Be classic, be you, wear vintage.”

"James Brown biopic gets go ahead" the BBC reports

The life and music career of soul singer James Brown is to be brought to the big screen in a biopic produced by Mick Jagger.

The film will be directed by Tate Taylor, known for his Oscar-winning adaptation of The Help in 2011.

Brown will be played by US actor Chadwick Boseman who portrayed the history-making baseball player Jackie Robinson in the upcoming film 42.

Taylor said of 'the Godfather of Soul': "Those are big shoes to fill."

According to Hollywood trade magazine The Wrap, Boseman will portray Brown over a period of several decades, from his impoverished youth in Georgia to becoming one of the founding fathers of funk music and most important figures in 20th Century pop music.

The Brown biopic has been in development for years, with various actors and directors attached. The as-yet titled film is due to begin shooting in the US this year.

The Wrap reported Taylor may reunite Viola Davis, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and Nelsan Ellis - three of the stars of The Help - on the project.

Jagger will also be portrayed in the film by an actor, along with his bandmate Keith Richards and US musician Little Richard.

A relative newcomer to the Hollywood scene, 31-year-old Boseman gained recognition in the US earlier this year for his role in 42 which told the story of Robinson, the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the 1940s.

The film is due to be released in the UK on 13 September.

'Heavy Soul!' Fanzine Issue 19 to be a British R&B Special!!!

Issue 19 of the excellent 'Heavy Soul!' Fanzine will be a British R&B Special.

The new issue includes an interview with The Who's first drummer, Doug Sandom, Towerbrown, The 45s, The Attention, Moddingham organiser Ian Grinham, The Jaybirds and articles on The Beat Merchants, Mark Leeman 5, Graham Bond Organisation and loads more news, views and reviews.

Keep an eye on the Heavy Soul website for pre-order details but expect this issue to be available in early September.

A TV show inspired Oasis's Champagne Supernova: The secrets of the hit-makers

Noel Gallagher

Biggest hit: Don’t Look Back In Anger (Oasis), March 1996 – No 1; 24 weeks in chart 

Biggest Album: Definitely Maybe, September 1994 – No 1; 177 weeks in chart

I once said that I wrote songs ‘for the man who buys the Daily Mail and 20 Bensons every day’. And I meant that at the time. I’d consider myself to be just an average man in the street who’s been blessed with a talent to write songs. I don’t write songs for the Observer or The Guardian, or for the NME or Mojo. I’m not bothered about pushing the envelope. I wanted everyone to like Oasis, not just some people in Oxford, a few people in Hull and a couple of people in Glasgow.

I learned long ago not to go looking for songs. If it comes, it comes; if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m not standing on the runway waiting for the aliens to appear going, ‘Come on.’ It just never happens, does it?

I only listen to music from, or derived from, the 1960s. I’m not interested in jazz or hip-hop or whatever’s going round at the minute; indie rubbish. I don’t listen to avant-garde landscapes and think, ‘I could do that.’ I’m not a fan of Brian Eno. It’s Ray Davies, John Lennon and Pete Townshend for me.

All that Definitely Maybe, Morning Glory, Be Here Now stuff was written while I was still on the dole. I had the chords, the arrangements, the melodies; just bits of lyrics to fill in. You start off writing songs, you’re not sure who’s going to hear them. Then when I tried to write the next batch, I was like, ‘We’ve 20 million fans.’ Then your records become eagerly anticipated and you start going, ‘Umm, I might go to the pub today.’

If you wrote Digsy’s Dinner (from Definitely Maybe) now, The Guardian or the music papers would destroy you. It’s a song about going to someone’s house for lasagne – you only write songs like that when you’re free of inhibitions.

It’s not natural for me to say to my missus, ‘I’m going to the country to write an album.’ That was Be Here Now. I had all the music but not the words. We were starting in two weeks, so I went to some Caribbean island and I thought I’d do it all in two weeks. I listen to those words now and I just cringe. I was heavily into drugs at that point and I just didn’t give a damn.

All the songs I like, they’re not written by songwriters pulling scabs off themselves. I’m not interested in all of John Lennon’s stuff about his mother, because it doesn’t mean anything to me. How can Mother mean anything to anybody apart from John Lennon? It can’t, because he’s singing it about his mother, not mine. The abusive father I had belongs to me. And I wouldn’t want to share any of that or to put it into a song.

‘Slowly walking down the hall’ (from Champagne Supernova) is from either Chigley or Trumpton. Which is the one with the train?

Paul Weller

Biggest hit: Going Underground (The Jam), March 1980 – No 1; nine weeks in chart

Biggest Album: Stanley Road, May 1995 – No 1; 87 weeks in chart

People always ask me how I write. No idea. It’s just something in me. It’s the most insurmountable thing until you’re doing it and then it seems just like walking or breathing.

You get lazier the older you get. The days of waking and thinking, ‘I’ve got to write this down’ are over – I can’t be bothered. I think, ‘I’ll wait till the morning and it’ll come back.’ Or not.

I’ve always plundered the Beatles songbook. Even after all these years, there are chord changes which come direct from the Fabs.

Some are autobiographical, but very few. I don’t live an interesting enough life to write about it all the time.

I don’t care about those records that just talk about themselves. That whole singer-songwriter thing from the 1970s – give it a break, cheer up, d’you know what I mean?

I’m still in love with trying to condense a grand idea into a three-and-a-half-minute pop song. It’s special when you pull it off. It’s a product of me growing up in the 1960s. When you think of all the twists and changes in Good Vibrations in just over three minutes, it’s incredible.

Ray Davies

Biggest hit: Sunny Afternoon (The Kinks), June 1966 – No 1; 13 weeks in chart 

Biggest Album: Kinks, October 1964 – No 3; 25 weeks in chart

I still wake up and wonder what I’m going to do when I grow up. Why am I a songwriter? That’s the way it ended up. I used to describe song-writing – when I was writing Waterloo Sunset – as like whittling down a stone and smoothing the rough edges.

I remember writing the intro to Sunny Afternoon. I’d bought a white upright piano. I hadn’t written for a time. I’d been ill. I was living in a very 1960s-decorated house. It had orange walls and green furniture. My one-year-old daughter was crawling on the floor and I wrote the opening riff. I remember it vividly. I was wearing a polo-neck sweater.

All the times when I’ve had big success it’s been when I’m ill or miserable or we’re stuck. When You Really Got Me got to No 1, we were stuck on a train that broke down on the way back from Torquay the press were waiting to meet us. We all got flu, freezing cold in this carriage.

I will always aspire to write the great three-minute song. I’ve not written it yet. You Really Got Me, All Day And All Of The Night and Tired Of Waiting For You came close. I just know there’s more juice in the tank.

The Strypes on road to US stardom with Harley ad

IRISH band The Strypes are motoring their way to success across the Atlantic after landing the soundtrack for the new Harley-Davidson ad campaign.

The Cavan rockers were picked to be the sound of the world-famous motorcycle's new line of products.

The Strypes covered the Beatles' classic ‘Come Together’ for the minute-long ad.

The boys can be heard belting out their version as a sleek new Harley powers along the open road.

It will provide a shot in the arm to their career as they gear up for the release of their debut album, Snapshot. Due out on September 6, the album was produced by Chris Thomas, who has worked with The Beatles, Pink Floyd and U2.

The R'n'B four-piece – Ross Farrelly, Josh McClorey, Pete O'Hanlon and Evan Walsh – have been compared to the Rolling Stones.

They have been together since 2008, but it was 2012 when the lads' career really took off. They were signed by Rocket Management, owned by Elton John, before moving to Mercury Records. Music legends Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Dave Grohl, and Miles Kane are all fans.

After wowing Glastonbury earlier this summer, the Strypes will next be seen in Dublin when they headline at The Academy on September 19. Tickets are €25 and still on sale via Ticketmaster.

Listen to The Selecter’s Ska Take on Doris Day’s ‘Secret Love’

Doris Day didn’t used to have much in common with English ska, but the Selecter has changed all that: The 2 Tone revival band’s new album “String Theory” includes a cover of Day’s “Secret Love,” which premieres today on Speakeasy.

Day first sang the song in the 1953 movie “Calamity Jane,” and the tune won an Oscar for best original song. The Selecter teases out a different meaning from the lyrics about confessing a crush — though they’re not the first to find subtext in the tune.

“It’s a great gay icon song,” singer Pauline Black told Speakeasy. “We’ve just kind of taken that and updated it and done it in an old-school ska way. It’s probably the song anyone would think the Selecter is least likely to do.”

Black has led the Selecter since reviving the band in 1991 after a hiatus of nearly a decade, landing tours with the likes of No Doubt in 1997 (Gwen Stefani has cited Black and the Selecter as a primary influence) and releasing the occasional album over the ensuing 20 years. Neither of the band’s most recent releases — 2011’s “Made in Britain” or this year’s “String Theory” — have come out in the U.S., which the band plans to change soon. In the meantime, they’re returning to America for the second of three planned Stateside tours this year, which included gigs at Coachella in April.

“We’re re-reminding people who we are, what we are and what we are,” Black said. 

The next leg of their Non-Stop Pressure Tour kicks off Sept. 13 in Minneapolis and wraps up Sept. 22 in Washington D.C.

“Mods scoot down to Brighton for 2013 Weekender” says The Argus

“Hundreds of sharp-suited mods revved into Brighton for an annual reunion. The popular Mod Weekender returned in a cloud of scooter smoke as trendsetters from around the country descended on the city.

Scores of mods parked their Vespas and Lambrettas outside the Volks nightclub in Madeira Drive, made famous in the film Quadrophenia. Live bands played on Saturday afternoon. Yesterday a scooter competition took place in the afternoon – then the mods saddled up for a cruise to Beachy Head and back.  

Evening events were also held at Komedia in the North Laine to celebrate mod culture.  

Last night, hundreds watched a live preview of an upcoming mod-themed musical called All or Nothing. Stars including Football Factory actor Danny Dyer and EastEnders bad boy John Altman appeared on stage in a mini-performance of the show, set to tour the country in spring next year.”

“We are the Mods: Thousands of riders gather at world's largest scooter festival on Isle of Wight” say The Daily Mail (their hyperlinks also ignorantly called it “The world’s largest moped festival”)

“Thousands of nostalgic motorists were taken back to the swinging 60s this weekend at the world's largest scooter festival on the Isle of Wight. The annual event invites scooter enthusiasts from all over the world to ride in a mass tour of the Isle, with many riders donning their finest mod gear for the occasion.

Ride Out scooter festival has been taking place every August since 1980 in Ryde, Isle of Wight. The event, which is run by the British Scooter Rally Association and The VFM Scooter Collective spans four days, during which time motorists spread out and set up camp across the Isle.

For many the party begins on the journey to Ryde, with organised convoys filling up the ferries with their stylish scooters and choppers.

Saturday afternoon saw the International Scooter Custom show with vehicle parts, clothing and accessories on offer to the thousands of revellers. A competition is also held and awards the best looking vintage scooter on the Isle a trophy.

 

The festival has been running since 1980, giving visitors a chance to revisit the swinging 60s when scooters were at their most popular. At that time the moped was considered a fashion statement in Britain, and was most popular among the Mod scene who decorated their bikes to attract more attention.

The Vespa, an Italian favourite, is still popular today among trendy city-livers who zip in and out of traffic on their colourful rides. But Lambretta seemed to be the scooter of choice at the Isle of Wight, with thousands of motorists zooming around on Sunday on the bikes which also come from Italy.

Saturday night gave occasion to party with Ryde Ice Stadium playing host to bands and DJs, with visitors dancing until four in the morning to the sounds of the 60s.  A scooter dealer's market runs all weekend giving excited visitors the chance to buy their own vintage ride. With top custom scooters costing up to £15,000, the chance for a bargain is welcomed by enthusiasts.

Though the thought of thousands of 'bikers' might put some people off, the Isle of Wight is only too happy to welcome the scooter riders every year, with the Isle's tourist guide website describing them as 'friendly and colourful'. The event does wonders for the small community's pubs and restaurants and provides an exciting show for a few days every summer.

The Strypes 2-page spread in new issue of Mojo out today!!!

'Pelican R&B' 25th Anniversary in Loughborough on Saturday 19th October

'Somethin's Kookin!' at Uddingston