Modcast #103: Back in the Saddle Again

Here in the states the Labor Day weekend signifies the end of summer; the final three-day holiday that will be spent working around the house; the last of summer vacations; and a return to work-a-day and school schedules. That means me gettin' back to regularly producing the modcast.

Putting the show together proved to be harder than usual. I had a roster of songs to play but wasn't feeling it. I tossed 'em out and put together a completely new show. It was an excellent decision, and resulted in an excellent set of songs as I'm sure you'll agree. This week's show is packed with great music - as usual. You'll get a taste of new sounds from The Anydays and Andre Williams, as well as some older stuff from the Shambles, Yard Trauma, and more.

Questions? Requests? E-mail me at rob@mistersauve.com. Mod on.

• Smash – I beg you on my knees
• Kwyet Kings – Radiated by your charm
• The Shambles – Fire
• Yard Trauma – Sanity
• Andy Lewis – Soul Chancer
• The Kittens – Ain’t No Mor Room
• Andre Williams – I Don’t Need Mary (Juana)
• The Anydays – Rollercoaster
• The Tangerines – Rock N Roll Girl
• The Dovers – I Could Be Happy
• The Brakes – Hold Me In The River

The Anydays -- I Feel Free


Andy Lewis -- Tell Me Once Again You Love Me



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Modcast #102: Mods Look Ready

Welcome to the modcast. Gotta little bit of soul, a little bit of pop, and a whole lot of rock and roll. Mods look ready, ready to hear some great music from mods like Graham Day, Fay Hallam, Paul Bevoir and more. What are you waitin' for ... listen now.

Are you in a mod band? Were you in a band a way back when? Spread the love and send me some MP3s and I'll work them into a future show. You can e-mail me at rob@mistersuave.com.

Mod on, kids, mod on.

Berry Tweed & The Chasers -- 7 Days is too Long

Paul Bevoir -- Too Late Now

Sheetah & les Weissmuller -- Pire que le Silence

The Royal Suite -- Lovebiter

The Claim -- Armstrong's Revenge

Graham Day & The Gaolers -- South Avenue

Fay Hallam Trinity -- Always the Sky

Most Wanted Men -- Sweet Bird of Youth

The Jackpot -- Underneath the College Clock

Dirty Pretty Things -- Tired of England

The Zebras -- You Look Ready

Graham Day & the Gaolers -- Too Few Things


Dirty Pretty Things - Tired of England


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What is mod?

Mod Essentials: In The Beginning

Welcome to Mr. Suave's Mod Mod World. I'm back from vacation and have compiled a special episode of the modcast. This the first in a series called Mod Essentials -- fittingly this one is In The Beginning.

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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.

J.J. Jackson -- But Its Alright
The Miracles -- Tears of a Clown
Edwin Starr -- 25 Miles
Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames -- Money (That's What I Want)
The Who -- I Can't Explain
The Creation -- Biff Bang Pow
Small Faces -- Wham Bam Thank You M'am
The Kinks -- Set Me Free
The Monkees -- I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone
The Zombies -- She's Not There
The Easybeats -- Friday on my Mind
Strawberry Alarm Clock -- Incense & Peppermints


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.


The Small Faces -- Rollin' Over


Edwin Starr -- 25 Miles

Mr. Suave's 100th Mod Mod Modcast!

Welcome to the 100th modcast of Mr. Suave's Mod Mod World. This is a special episode of the modcast with some of the best stuff I've ever shared with you all. In honor of busting out 100 modcasts over the last two years I'm celebrating with an ice cold martini (or three) and as usual, some fantastic music. I've got lots of cool stuff on this show including The Men, Manfred Mann, The Jam and The Jetset. But, if you're like me and you love The Style Council, and you dig Burt Bacharach and James Taylor Quartet, then I guarantee you will love hearing the brand new title track from Rinaldi Sings' new album Bingo (available Aug. 4 from Tangerine Records). And, if you head on over to the modcast homepage at mistersuave.com you will get two fabulous bonus videos, one from Rinaldi Sings, a rare track you won't see anywhere else of The Funseekers live at the Mods Mayday '89 show. (If you're interested in more Funseekers check out their 4-part movie at Youtube "A Northwoods Holiday") Okay, got questions? Wanna just give me a shout out, well then you can e-mail me at rob@mistersuave.com, and if you're more of the web 2.0 type then you can check out Mr. Suave on Facebook or Myspace and friend up with me. Now: a heads up for you all. I'm going to have another very special modcast next week, Mod Essentials: In the Beginning. Recently a friend asked me what mod is and if I could put together a short playlist of the most quintessential, foundational, mod songs. And you know, I was blown away by how hard it was. 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, again it's pretty subjective. When I first got interested in mod music, I think I would define it as those were the songs that made me a mod early on, the songs that I simply loved that were already considered mod songs. Later as I discovered all sorts of new music, I would say that it was songs that when I heard them they make me think mod, they make me think of the mod sound and what it means to be a mod. Anyhow, the question got me to thinking: I bet there a lot of people who'd be interested in hearing what I think are the most essential mod songs. 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. Next week 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. Finally, I want to thank all my listeners for the past two years and 100 modcasts. Especially, a big thank you to Ken from The Shingles, as well as shout outs to other supporters who help make this show rock and roll -- like Dean from The Eddies, Steve Rinaldi of Rinaldi Sings, Mike Tholefsen, and the lovely Mrs. Suave -- can't wait for you to get home because Baby You've Got It. Mod on!

• The Funseekers -- It Ain't Necessarily So
• Rinaldi Sings -- Bingo
• The Jetset -- A Quick Apology
• Paul Bevoir -- I Wanna Go
• Manfredd Mann -- My Little Red Book
• Dexy's Midnight Runners -- There, There My Dear
• Long Tall Shorty -- What's Going On
• The Jam -- Stoned Out of My Mind
• The Dimes -- Jersey Kid
• Sambassadeur -- Subtle Changes
• The Men -- Baby, You've Got It

Bonus Videos: The Funseekers - Make You Mine (Live Mods Mayday '89) Rinaldi Sings -- Avenues and Alleyways Download This week's background music: Lalo Schifrin.

From The Vaults Modcast 31: Music for the Modern Mod

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. Step back to December of '06. I've opened up the vaults and dusted off a classic modcast that I think you'll enjoy. Again.

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This is modcast 31 and I'm finally getting around to presenting what I think are the essential tracks for the modern mod's music library. These bands represent just a bit of the latest wave of music reflecting sixties R&B, power-pop and soul influences.

• Mando Diao -- Down in the Past
  
• Kaiser Chiefs -- Na Na Na Na Naa
  
• Franz Ferdinand -- Cheating on You
  
• Maximo Park -- A19
  
• The Libertines -- What Became of the Likely Lads
  
• Ordinary Boys -- Maybe Someday
  
• The Rakes -- Strassbourg
  
• Hot Hot Heat -- You Owe Me an IOU
  
• The Futureheads -- A to B
  
• Head Automatica -- God
  
• Hard-Fi -- Stars of CCTV

Bonus Video: Mando Diao's video for "Paralyzed"



This one is a recent appearance of Head Automatica on Carson Daily's show doing the Joe Jacksonesque "Lying Through Your Teeth".



Questions? E-mail me at mailto:rob@mistersauve.com.

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Modcast #99: Time for Power Pop's Wild Weekend

Word is spreading of a very wild weekend coming up soon. The official Wild Weekend in fact, the Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival in Austin, TX on August 29th and 30th. Just to be clear I am (unfortunately) not getting a dime, nor a nickel nor a penny, nor anything else, for plugging this gig. It's just an effing fantastic lineup of power pop bands new and old. One that, if I wasn't poor, and old and lame, I would damn sure be getting my ass down to Texas for. You can get your ass over here to find out how to get tickets.

The line up is pretty spectacular with some legends of the genre coming together for the show: The Boys, The Pointed Sticks, 20/20 and Nikki Corvette to name a few. Nikki has even recorded some new material in the last year or two. The others have played some limited reunions, but these will be the first, or the most prominent, of such shows in the US for most of these guys. And it's about time.

Thankfully, to keep the dinosaurs in line, there are a few new kids on the block doing their best to give punk rock a solid power pop public send up: The Baby Shakes with their blistering girl group meets garage rock sound, the Cute Lepers (maybe my fave of the whole shebang) with their welcome back to '79 sound, and The Pleasure Kills with their Blondie rules sound. Sound good? Damn straight.

All in all this might be the best festival line up of the summer. How could I not give you a taste of that?

Get out your skinny ties, it's power pop time.

• Black & Whites -- Gonna Have Some F
  
• 20/20 -- She's an Obsession
  
• The Boys -- Weekend
  
• Pointed Sticks -- Out of Luck
  
• Nikki & The Corvettes -- Summertime Fun
  
• The Baby Shakes -- Tell Me Now
  
• The Pleasure Kills - Smash Up The Radio
  
• Avenue Rose -- Electric
  
• Cute Lepers -- It's Summertime Baby
  
• Boss Martians -- Mars is for Martians
  
• Bad Rackets -- Somebody Dropped the Baby
  
• The Ugly Beats -- Don't Girl

Bonus Videos

Cute Lepers -- Terminal Boredom


The Boys -- Terminal Love / See you later


The Ugly Beats -- Bring Her Down



Bitch, moan and whine here.

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Modcast #98: Giving You That Driving Beat

Welcome to Mr. Suave's Mod Mod World. I'm opening the show with some solid soul with style from the heartland, from the brand new release by the Diplomats of Solid Sound - for the first time featuring the Diplomettes. The new CD --which will be released July 8th-- simply sizzles with soul and wicked good R&B. I've also got another brand new track from the Modfather himself, along with some French mod sounds, and some great sixties psychadelia.

• The Diplomats of Solid Sound -- Soul Connection
  
• Stereoscope Jerk Explosion -- Bumblebee
  
• The Shapes -- Situation Man
  
• Cucumber -- Les Tics Erotique
  
• The King of Luxembourg -- Valleri
  
• The Favourite Sons -- That Driving Beat
  
• Dry Ice -- Sunny Day
  
• Hipster -- Love Me Leave Me
  
• Green -- She's an Addiction
  
• Paul Weller -- 22 Dreams
  
• Cast -- Sandstorm

Bonus Video

Stereoscope Jerk Reaction -- Bumble Bee




The Diplomats of Solid Sound featuring the Diplomettes



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