Mod-A-Day: The Chords

The Chords were one of the more sucessful of the mod revival bands on the early 80s. Following in the footsteps of The Jam it was inevitable that they'd have a similar sound incorporating the power pop of the sixties along with heavy doses of soul and R&B. They nevertheless carved out a sound and following of their own. Like other mod revival acts they were combining sixties sounds with seventies attitudes. But, where The Jam's soul numbers sounded more or less like soul, The Chords managed to make their soul sound like punk. Case in point, just listen to either their frantic cover of Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood", which features more shouting than singing, or their wild and wooly take on "Hold On I'm Coming". Along with Secret Affair and The Purple Hearts, The Chords carried the mod banner into the 80s, and managed to get a top 30 album with their debut LP So Far Away. Regardless of that, in many ways The Chords share as much or more in common with The Buzzcocks, The Undertones and even The Damned than they did with any of the mod acts of the day.


The Chords -- Hold On I'm Coming


The Chords -- Maybe Tomorrow