What is Mod? Mr. Suave's Mod, Mod World is the web's original modcast celebrating mod music, and mod-influenced music from past eras including soul, ska, garage, sixties R&B, power pop, punk, britpop, acid jazz, lounge, easy listening and more.
This week it's the ladies turn at Suave HQ. I realized that it's been a while since I did a show feturing just the ladies, so here it is. In going through my catalog I realized that while I have a lot of great female bands and singers, the ratio of male to female singers is about 30:1. Still, I did find some good stuff, so don't worry there's lots of X chromosomes coming your way. There are soul singers, garage rockers and guitar mavens. Got bands from the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Finland, and even Seattle just to name a few. Sort of an international estrogenfest you might say. There's some old, some young, some new, some famous, some obscure. Lots of fishes in the sea, as they say. So, cast your line and reel in some fresh ones on this week's modcast.
What a week. Icy cold storm kept me holed up in suave headquarters most of the week, only to emergy to the news that Etta James had died. Jamesetta, that was her real first name which she later reversed for her stage name, grew up hard, lived hard, worked hard, and sang hard. She had a voice that was large and in charge. Didn't seem like much of a show without something from the legendary Ms. James. So, it's got that going for it.
Most of the week though was spent sipping hot beverages like hot chocolate with coffee liquueur and amaretto just to keep warm. And of course I had thse beautiful songs to heat me up. So, listen up and I guarantee you'll get hot. Of course, as usual, you get what you pay for.
Etta James -- Something's Got A Hold On Me (1962)
The Accidents -- Trigger Happy (1980/1996) The Haywains -- Desperately Seeking Something (1993) The Soup Dragons -- Slow Things Down (1986) The Pepper Pots -- Time To Live (2009) JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound -- Everything Will Be Fine (2011) Secret Affair -- Don't Look Down (Demo) (1981/2003)
The Red Squares -- You Can Be My Baby (1966)
The Beat Chics -- Now I Know (1964)
Strawberry Alarm Clock -- Hummin' Happy (1967) The Standells -- Rari (1966) The Len Price 3 -- Julia Jones (2007) The Postelles -- 123 Stop (2011) The Rascals -- Suspicious Wit (2008) The Robustos -- My Heart & Soul (2005)
JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound -- I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Welcome to Mr. Suave’s Mod Mod World. This is a special episode of the modcast, the second in a series I call Mod Essentials. The first one, Mod Essentials: In The Beginning premiered last summer and featured my take on the most essential mod tracks of the 1960s. As you can imagine it was hardly definitive. And this one likely won’t be either . This is Mod Essentials II: The Revival. You will see that while there are some fantastic songs here, there are a number of key artists missing like The Crooks, Squire, The Amber Squad, Long Tall Shorty, The Cigarettes and lots more.
From 1977 to 1981 mod was reborn in the UK, which sparked mod revivals around the world. For a few glorious years the energy and angst of punk was wed to the rhythm of soul, the pulse of power pop, and the fashions of the sixties. The Who released Quadropheniaat the height of the revival creating even more interest in all things mod. Inevitably the mod scene became overexposed, it went mainstream briefly, and that more than anything else killed it and drove the remaining mods back to their soul clubs to await the movements next revival -- still more than a decade away.
Here then are the songs that I think epitomize the wide range of sounds in the mod revival. So, what are your essential mod revival tracks? I'm dying to find out from people what they see as the quintessential mod revival sound. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of my list here, what you would have added, or what you would have scrapped. Don't be shy.
The Jam – In The City
Secret Affair – Days of Change
Small Hours – Hangin’ In The Balance
Teenbeats – I Can’t Control Myself
Purple Hearts – Can’t Help Thinking About Me
The Chords – Something’s Missing The Lambrettas – Go Steady
Beggar – Don’t Throw Your Life Away Speedball – No Survivors
The Adverts – Bored Teenagers
Merton Parkas – Put Me In The Picture The Jam – Precious (12” dance mix)
Mod documentary clip featuring interview with Secret Affair's Ian Page, and Secret Affair performing TimeFor Action
Welcome to 2012, sure to be a better year than 2011 (the Mayan calendar fiasco not withstanding). Even though it is 2012 the focus of this modcast is actually 2011. It is time for my annual "best of" show where like all the other music critics out there I am going to give you a piece of my mind, specifically the piece that lists out what I thought were the best releases of the past 12 months. I'm highlighting some power pop, some indie pop, some soul, some garage rock, all of which rose to the top of the heap of last years new music. Enjoy!
I guess I am just like everybody else. End of year lists of songs and albums are a mainstay of the muscial intertubes. Here then is a reprise of my shows highlighting some of the best mod friendly tunes in 2009 and 2010. And lest you think I'm shirking last year completely, I'm not. I've got a best of 2011 show coming up next week and then it will be back to mixing up some old, some new, and everything in between. Until then remember back to when these tunes were still fresh.
Welcome to Mr. Suave's Mod Mod world, 2009 is in the history books, and 2010 is upon. But I'm giving 2009 one last gasp before moving. The first decade of the 21st century is history, but this last year saw great music produced. I've got eleven treats for you to close out the last year from power pop to soul to indie rock. And it's all mod friendly.
This past year I had the Mod-A-Day project, where I posted a different band everyday covering everything from mod to punk, ska, lounge, garage rock, indie pop and more. The idea was to familiarize people with mod friendly music.
When I first got into the mod scene as teenager I was easily influenced by other older scenesters who convinced me that if it was sixties, or soul, or part of the mod revival than it was crap. Unfortunately, taking that to heart, I really missed out on a lot of great music that I could have enjoyed. Fortunately, over the years I've caught up on much of that. In an effort to help keep such from happening to others I decided I would post a band a day. One main idea was to highlight groups that didn't get much attention over the years. So, I enjoyed highlighting a lot of great southern California mod bands I grew up with like The Targets, Three O'Clock, The Question and Chardon Square. Some of it was to remind people of great soul music from the past like PP Arnold, The Flirtations, or Eddie Floyd. Some of it was to remember some of the great mod and ska acts of yesteryear like Secret Affair, Madness, The Style Councilor The Who. At times I updated you all about more recent and contemporary mod bands like The Len Price 3, The Insomniacs, The Odd Numbers and The Bishops. And sometimes I went a bit further afield and posted items about new wave bands, lounge acts, rock combos, twee groups, and power poppers likeBirdie, The Carrots, Oingo Boingo, Social Distortion, Sweet, Combustible Edison, The Quick, and Love Jones.
It was fun, and I'm proud to say I managed a post every single day last year. I'm not giving up totally, but you won't be finding daily posts this year, though I'll still probably do a few a week. Hopefully with more and varied material from cocktail notes to interviews with bands and artists. As usual there will always be a mod . You will still get weekly modcasts. Those will keep on coming, don't you worry.
Go enjoy this week's modcast and I'll see you later in the week.
It's time to ring in the new year in the mod world. Closed out 2010 last night partying at my usual haunt here in Jet City, and today it's time to ring in the new year with a whole modcast showcasing my favorite albums from this past year, which was a pretty damn good one as far as music goes.
2010 brought us a lot of cool music from the ultra mod sounds of The Moons, The Men, The Ace and The Modesty to the pogoing power pop of Betty & The Werewolves, The Candy Hearts and Caroline & The Treats, all while garage rock fans got new stuff from Tres Bien, Mondo Topless and The Booze. It was quite a good year for soul and funk with new albums from Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Kings Go Forth, The Diplomats of Solid Sound, Healer Selecta, Eli Paperboy Reed, The Apples, The Bahama Soul Club, Gabin, and Chris Joss. The Hot Rats checked in with one of the best covers albums I've ever heard even as Soulive turned in a soulful Beatles tribute, and a few old timers dropped some pretty good bombs on us like Devo, Ocean Color Scene, Paul Weller and The Vibrators.
As is usually the case when you put together these year end lists of the best albums there are inevitably some great records that don't make the cut. Case in point, all the great stuff I just listed above didn't even make this modcast. So you know that what is here is damn good, the best of the best, the cream of the crop. In my humble opinion.
Happy new year and here's hopin' that 2011 is as great as 2010 was.
Well, it is Christmas time even if it doesn't really seem like it around Suave HQ. Usually I'm fully into the Christmas spirit by this time of the season, but this year just hasn't done it for me. As will be evidenced by the somewhat ho-ho-humbug attitude of this year's annual Christmas modcast extravaganza. Back to share his despair is Ken from The Shingles. I issued a challenge for him to find better Christmas tracks than I could in several categories including power pop, soul, exotica, jazz and so on. The resulting picks make for a very eclectic show. Hopefully that will be enjoyable for an after dinner moment of relaxation.
While you're relaxing you might want to enjoy one of our Christmas cocktails. Mine is the Christmas cooler whille Ken favored a hotter drink.
Christmas Cooler 2 parts gin (Hendricks works nicely adding a bit of cool sweetness)
1 part peppermint schnapps
Add to ice in a hi-ball glass, top it off with 7-Up.
Volcano House Hot Buttered Rum (the recipe for which comes courtesy of Rumdood.com)
1.5 oz Rum
.75 oz Sugar
.75 oz Lemon Juice
.25 oz Maraschino
Hot Black Tea
Butter
Place juice, sugar, maraschino, and rum into a pre-heated mug. Add hot tea. Stir and then float the butter. Garnish with lemon peel and cloves.
Enjoy the drinks. Enjoy the show. I'll be back next year with a look back at the best albums of 2011.
Osaka Popstar - The Christmas That Almost Wasn't
Farrah - Santa Don't Go
Solomon Burke - Presents For Christmas
James Brown - Go Power At Christmas Time
Trade Winds - New York's A Lonely Town
Claudine Longet - I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You
Combustible Edison - Christmastime Is Here
Arthur Lyman - Mary's Boy Child
Chet Baker - Winter Wonderland
Kenny Burrell - My Favorite Things
Jamie Cullum - Next Year, Baby
Mel Torme - It Happened In Sun Valley
Darlene Love - Christmas Time For The Jews
Rigby - #Christmas Time
The Jetz - Father Christmas
The Risk - There Ain't No Sanity Clause
Christmas is just around the corner, soon to be followed by New Years. I can hardly wait to get out of 2011 and into 2012. Anyhow, here are a couple of mod rockin' Christmas shows from years bygone.
Modcast #184: Mr. Suave's Mod Rockin' Christmas (2010)
Merry Christmas from Suave HQ. Five days and counting until Christmas, and Mr. Suave's 3rd Annual Swingin' Christmas Extravaganza coming up on Christmas Eve.
In the meantime you'll just have to content yourself with this little show right here. These are not your grandfather's Christmas songs, from Jimmy Severe and His Blue Christmas Boys to The Eels and The Cuban Mistletoe Crisis this hodgepodge of slightly different but cool yule sounds. And there's a few new tracks as well, most notably from Fitz & The Tantrums and The Diplomats of Solid Sound.
If you're looking to have a more punk rawk type Christmas be sure to check out Jimmy Severe's Punk Rock Advent Calendar. Originals and classics, all done in a great '79 punk style.
Jimmy Severe & His Blue Christmas Boys -- Christmas Dream (2009) The Diplomats Of Solid Sound -- Let It Snow (2010) Fitz & The Tantrums -- Santa Stole My Lady (2010)
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings -- Ain't No Chimney's In The Projects (2008)
Pointed Sticks -- Power Pop Santa (2008)
The Riptides -- I Can't Have A Merry Christmas (2009)
The Eels -- Christmas Is Going To The Dogs (2000)
Swag -- Everyday Is Christmas (2000) Parallax Project -- All I Want For Christmas (Is A Chance) (2008) Julian Casablancas -- I Wish It Was Christmas Today (2009)
The Cuban Misteltoe Crisis -- It's Christmas Time At The Airport Bar (2010)
It's time for the annual Christmas Modcast. This year's show is a cozy little combination of songs that go well with hot chocolate and peppermint schnapse. I've got a few seasonal surprises for you this year from The Shambles, The Wondermints, The Yobs, Girl Trouble and more. I'm sure you've all got a bunch of online shopping to do and I've got loads of Christmas cocktails to shake up, so on with the show.
The Chubbies -- There's Nothing I Want More For Christmas
The Andersons -- A Million Dollars For Christmas
Got questions? Want to bitch about something? There are a few options, leave a comment, or search for Rob Suave on Facebook. Or, you can kick it old school and send me an e-mail to rob@mistersuave.com.download
Welcome to the mod world, where this week the powerchords really are running wild. Lots of power pop from the mod revival/Britpunk era of the late 70s and early 80s, as well as a few other cool tracks.
I was lucky enough to have a chance to interview my old friend Dean Hoth, who is the lead singer of power pop trio The Eddies. We talked not just about what the band is up to, but more importantly to discuss a new Christmas compilation that is the perfect gift for any and all power pop loving mods out there. Powerchords, Harmonies and Mistletoe, which was just releaased last month by Twist Records and the first pressing has already been sold out. Now hear from Dean about how the album came together, what other mod comps are currently being developed and even hear a few of the songs from the CD.
Ordinary Boys -- Run This Town (2011)
Mr. Suave's Reviews You Can Use: Power Chords, Harmonies and Mistletoe (an interview with Dean Hoth of The Eddies)
Little Murders -- Christmas (All Over The World)
Yeh Yeh -- To All Who Cant Attend
The Shambles -- Warm This Winter
The Decibels -- Angles We Have Heard On High
Last Stand -- Just A Number (1981)
The new Romans -- Loving Touch (1980)
The Mods -- If You Got To Go (1980)
The Rivvits -- The Girl Next Door (1978)
Tweed -- I Need You (1979)
999 -- Fun Thing (1980)
Acid House Kings -- Windshield (2011)
Sambassadeur -- Days (2010)
Pelle Carlberg -- I Love You, You Imbicile (2007)
Jimmy Cliff -- Ruby Soho (2011)
The Title Tracks have produced a nice bit of sixties power pop, seventies punk, eighties mod revival, and nineties indie pop. Those are the common threads that run throughout this release. One of the finer power pop records released this year. If this doesn't make a lot of best of lists after Christmas I'll be surprised.
Welcome to Mr. Suave's mod mod world. If eclectic is your thing then you're in for a treat. From the psychadelic garage rock of Trolley to the very swirly power pop from the aptly named Swirl 360 to the Protones a 90s act that channels 70s power pop pretty damn well, then this week's show is a grabbag of goodies. It's kinda like busting open a mod pinata and suddenly there's all this candy for your ears.
Once more into the vault my friends, once more into the vault. Step back in time, to a time when the modcast was young and fresh. Take a giant step outside your current listening constraints and journey with me back to a not so distant past, all the way back to 2008. I've opened up the vaults and dusted off a couple of classic modcasts that I think you'll enjoy. Again.
Recently a friend --we'll call him Minnesota Mark -- asked me what mod is. More than that, he asked if I could put together a short playlist of the best mod songs. And you know, I was blown away by how difficult a task that turned out to be. I found that you can't narrow down to a dozen or so the most quintessential mod songs. Not to mention it's a totally subjective thing. What I think of as quintessential mod songs will be much different than another mod's picks. And what is quintessential anyhow? Again it's pretty subjective. I think I would define the quintessential mod songs as the songs that made me a mod early on -- mostly these were the songs that I simply loved that were already considered mod songs. As I thought about it though, I realized that quintessential mod songs are also those that when I hear them they make me think mod, they make me think of the mod sound and what it means to be a mod. They need not be original quote unquote mod songs.
Anyhow, Minnesota Mark's question got me to thinking: I bet there are a lot of people who'd be interested in hearing what I think are the most quintessential mod songs. At least I hope so. So, I'm going to do a periodic series of modcasts picking the dozen or so most essential mod sounds -- each time corresponding with a specific genre unique to mods, or a specific mod era. For this modcast I'm starting where you should start, at the beginning, in the sixties. Thank you to Mark for asking the question of what a mod is and what mod music sounds like and getting this ball rolling. For the early mods it really all started rolling with the soul sound. I could go back to the jazz roots of mod -- the modernists, but this modcast is only supposed be a thirty minute affair and we're already going to blow that out of the water. So, let's jump up to the modernists' next gen children; the first 'mods' as it were and their love affair with all things soulful. all things bluesy, all things dancable. This podcast just barely skims the surface of what the sixties mod sound was like, but at least it's a start.
So, what are your essential sixties mod songs? I'm dying to find out from people what they see as the quintessential mod sound. E-mail me at rob@mistersuave.com and let me know.
This week it's the ladies turn at Suave HQ. I realized that it's been a while since I did a show feturing just the ladies, so here it is. In going through my catalog I realized that while I have a lot of great female bands and singers, the ratio of male to female singers is about 30:1. Still, I did find some good stuff, so don't worry there's lots of X chromosomes coming your way. There are soul singers, garage rockers and guitar mavens. Got bands from the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Finland, and even Seattle just to name a few. Sort of an international estrogenfest you might say. There's some old, some young, some new, some famous, some obscure. Lots of fishes in the sea, as they say. So, cast your line and reel in some fresh ones on this week's modcast.
Welcome to the mod world, where this week the powerchords really are running wild. Lots of power pop from the mod revival/Britpunk era of the late 70s and early 80s, as well as a few other cool tracks.
