What is Mod? Mr. Suave's Mod, Mod World is one of the web's original modcasts 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. SEARCH
It's the end of the season, the pennant race is on, the fall classic is looming. So, of course I had to call up some ringers to talk baseball and music. First up is DJ Ken from The Shingles, and batting cleanup is none other than Vista Blue front man, Mike Patton. All baseball related songs of course, and a few of baseball's greatest play calls as well.
Seth Swirsky -- There's Nothing Like The Game of Baseball
Harry Simeone Songsters -- It's A Beautiful Day For A Ball Game (1961)
Vista Blue -- We're Outta The Pennant Race (2015)
Jeffrey Foskett -- Baseball Card Fever (2018)
The Ueckers -- More Than A Hobby (2013)
Liam Gallagher -- Once (2019)
Baseball's Greatest Play Calls
The Intruders -- Love Is Like A Baseball Game (1968)
Vida Blue Pt 1 -- Jimmy Bee (1974?)
The Baseball Project -- Please Don't Call Them Twinkies (2011)
Vista Blue -- Stealing Signs (2021)
You know the artists but do you remember these tracks? I've got deep cuts from the back catalogs of some of our favorite bands on this week's show. These are the songs that often get forgotten, or overshadowed by the bigger hits. We all know their hits, everyone knows their popular albums, and the true fans will know a lot of the back catalog for all the bands here, I'm sure. But I'm guessing even those diehards don't play many of these tracks very often.
Indeed, it's the end of the summer season and just in the nick of time here comes guest hosts DJ Ken and Michael Simmons to say a final farewell with their annual summer shindig.
Cheap Trick - The Summer Looks Good On You (In Another World, 2021) Jagger Holly - At The Beach Tonight (The Last Of The International Playboys, 2018) Airport 77s - All the Way (Rotation, 2021) Explorers Club - Look To The Horizon (Single, 2021) Michael Simmons - One Summer Sunday (Demo, 2021) Coral - Take Me Back To The Summertime (Coral Island, 2021) America - Ventura Highway (Homecoming, 1972) Cult Stars From Mars - Funny Face (Single, 2021) Beach Boys - Keepin' the Summer Alive (Keepin' The Summer Alive, 1980) War - Summer (Greatest Hits, 1976) Paul Weller - On Sunset (On Sunset, 2020)
If the future is so bright you gotta wear sunglasses, the music of now is so great you gotta turn up the volume. Lucky listeners out there are gonna get hipped to some very cool new music from garage pop to punk rock to soul, got it all going on right now, right here. You know it feels good to be alive.
Reviews You Can Use: Wilkerson, Big Stir Records (2021)
I wasn't sure what I expected when I pressed play on Wilkerson, but it wasn't what I got, which sort of took my breath away. It opens with Everybody Loves to Love and the first thing I think is oh my god Burt Bacharach! But that wasn't all, it bounces effortlessly into sort of light psychpop, Beatles style, and all with such ease. Then the second song comes on, and remember I'm still on my first listen at this point, and I could have leaped up and started dancing. that second song, Enough For Somebody, is an uptempo northern soul vibing pop number, shoulda been an instant classic. Fast becoming one of my favorite songs on the album after countless listens now. As if that wasn't enough you get this fantastic mix of strings to kick off the third song Endless Haze, which has still another sort of vibe, a different, easy, feeling. After that it's one bit of delightful pleasure after another, all bringing in different elements and stylistic flourishes, but sill cohesive and holding on to a basic power pop platform. This is an album you'll listen more than once, or even a dozen times, for sure.
Here comes some super soul tunes with such rounded edges that it gives it a smooth, swaggering vibe the likes of which your ears will be begging for more. This will have movin' and groovin' and slidin' and glidin' as you bump and hustle across the floor.
Power pop lovers of all stripes are probably well aware of the guests joining me on this modcast: Rex and Christina co-founders of Big Stir Records. We talk about turning a live scene into a record label and some of the new --and old-- acts they're bringing to your ears.
We're just a little past the half way mark for this year and already it's shaping up to be a great one as far as new music goes. A lot of music rumbles through my ears, and lately these are the artists who are in heavy rotation here at Suave headquarters. There are definitely some solid contenders for my annual best of list at the end of the year. These are acts I've already hyped this year, but the music is so good I decided I'd better play 'em again. Listen Now Download
Ages ago I discovered this great blog (yes blog!) called Ice Cream Man Power Pop & More. It was highlighting all the exact types of music that I loved. Eventually that morphed into the fantastic Ice Cream Man Power Pop & More Podcast and Ice Cream Man Power Pop & More Records, run by the even more fantastic, prince of power pop promotion, Wayne Lundqvist Ford. I'd be shocked --shocked I tell you-- if you could find anyone who has done more to promote independent artists playing all the great types of mod friendly music from power pop to northern soul and everything in between. His compilations featuring new and old bands are legendary for breaking new sounds as well as sometime being so vast you're riding high for weeks listening to them all.
So, I invited him to chat about new music, old music, what is good music, and more. He even kindly brought some brand new tunes to share with us all.
The Shambles -- It's A Mod Mod World (2006)
ANC4 -- Is It Me Again (2021)
Mark And The Clouds -- You Wanna Put Me Down (2021)
The RU Handies -- Raining Teardrops (2021)
The Len Price 3 -- Sucking The Life Out Of Me (2017)
The Most -- Howl (2021)
Small Faces -- Hey Girl (1967)
Velvet Starlings -- Kids In Droves (2019)
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