From the Vaults: Modcast #62 -True Believer

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 all the way back to the cool cool days of January 2007. I've opened up the vaults and dusted off a classic modcast that I think you'll enjoy. Again.

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Welcome to Mr. Suave's Mod Mod World. The modcast has tons of cool sounds coming your way this week from Scottish bands to American bands to Finnish bands organized by Americans and everying thing in between like The Lambrettas, The Svengalis, The Tunes, The Thanes, The Goldbergs and much more. So, put on your headphones and crank up the volume because it's time to mod out.

• The Mod Fun -- Hope It's Today
  
• The Concretes -- Oh Boy
  
• The Tunes - Valerie
  
• Two Hours Traffic -- Stuck for the Summer
  
• The Goldbergs -- True Believer
  
• Ok Go -- What To Do
  
• Dukes Jetty -- No Reason
  
• The Zips -- I'm In Love
  
• The Svengalis -- Love Letters for Delinquents
  
• The Thanes -- That's the Story of Your Life
  
• The Lambrettas -- Runaround

Questions? Comments? Requests? Let me know if there's something you'd like to hear and I'll try and spin it up on a future episode of the modcast. E-mail me at rob@mistersuave.com.

Bonus Videos

The Thanes -- I've Seen Darker Nights




The Concretes -- You Can't Hurry Love

Mod-A-Day: The Style Council

"Yet behind the ultra-Mod imagery, Weller's horizons as a songwriter and musician continued to expand. Since the last days of his former group, Paul had strived to create a modern, sophisticated blend of jazz, funk, soul and pop. Teaming up with some of the UK's finest young jazz and funk players, he was now able to realise those ideas." -- From the accompanying book to the ultimate 5-disc TSC box set: The Complete Adventures of The Style Council
Click here for more excerpts from the booklet.

The Style Council were one of the most influential forerunners of the modish acid jazz scene that exploded in the early 90s. The band's sound was a long way from Paul Weller's punk angst on display with The Jam in 1977. And it was a sound apart from Weller's later 90s revival as the godfather of britpop. The early incarnation of the band was probably Weller at his most mod, and most prolific. 

TSC's combination of soul, jazz, and pop was enhanced by Weller's biting lyrics and social commentary. At the same time, his lyrics were punched up by music that was at times wistful, at times sharp, and always rhythmic and vibrant. Early TSC was more playful and energetic, but as the band, and Weller in particular, matured the music mellowed like a fine wine, without losing any of it's potency. TSC put all the elements of acid jazz together in their own unique way. The earliest albums had a decidedly soulful flavor, mixed with the synthesized pop sound of the mid-80s, all of which later was enhanced by jazz and classical elements. 

Mick Talbot, once-upon-a-time mod scenester with a resume that boasted tours of duty with mod revivalists Merton Parkas, horny soul outfit The Bureau, and soul brothers Dexy's Midnight Runners, complimented Weller's guitar playing with a soulful style of playing that was Motown crashing Blue Note head-on. Behind that was the driving force of Steve White's absolutely inspired drumming. White, a jazz drummer, auditioned at 17 and Weller hired him straight away. And alongside all of that, sharing vocal duties with Weller himself was the divine Dee C. Lee, for a shortwhile Paul's wife. 

Put all that together and you had one of the best, and undoubtedly underrated (at least in the US), bands of the 1980s. In the beginning The Style Council were more than just a band they were the modernist ideal, a collective of individuals whose own personal styles were continental and international, and all the time had that certain lounge feel that was slick and sophisticated, somehow so cool as to almost be unreachable for us average blokes.  

By the late 80s the band's sound had morphed into a soulful blend of organs and synthesizers, accompanied by strings and horns, with less and less guitar. In '88 Steve White left to pursue other projects, and in '89 Weller veered away from the well traveled paths of his past and produced a rave album of house music and dance tracks that his record company declined to release. The album finally made it to the streets on The Complete Adventures box set. Parts of it hard to listen to, sounding too much like Madonna with a bit more soul and piano. Other songs hint at the coming acid jazz sound mixing boogaloo with soul and funk.  

The song here is "A Man of Great Promise", which appeared on the second TSC album released in the US as Internationalists. It was written as a tribute to a friend of Weller's who died of a heroin overdose. The song is surprisingly upbeat and bouncy considering the lyrics, featuring bongos and a sort of latin vibe but with the superb arrangement and production that typified this whole era of the band.

The Style Council -- A Man of Great Promise

Mod-A-Day: Sleeper

I'm a sucker for a pretty girl. I can't resist 'em, especially if they're fronting a band. So, along comes Sleeper, the first female fronted Britpop band to hit it big. Yup, even before Elastica technically there was Sleeper, even if only by a matter of months. No matter, it was hard for Sleeper to compete with the marketing and publicity juggernaut that was Elastica, hampered as they were with the Elastica's public onslaught, not to mention their own label's inability to truly capitalize on their potential . Sleeper's front woman, Louise Wener herself wrote about this at length in a memorable way.

It's fair to assume, as I did then, that an organisation dedicated to the purpose of selling records might exhibit some skills relevant to that purpose. The shock from which you never quite recover is discovering that record companies have no skills at all. They stumble around repeating the same three tricks over and over again. Everything moves forward on the basis of blind luck and muddled thinking. Perhaps in an effort to distract me from this fact, an executive from our record label escorted me directly from the record signing to the stall of a sour-smelling urinal and offered me my first line of cocaine. It made no difference. I already knew that I'd made a mistake.

Of course, all of that makes it sound like no one ever heard them, which is far from the case ... at least in the UK. Sleeper had three UK top 10 albums, and a string of charting singles that were also included in movie soundtracks such as "Trainspotting." But the big lights of Britpop fame were pretty well dominated by the boy bands, and by Elastica - fronted by Justine Frischmann. Apparently, and sadly, there was only room in the Britpop pantheon for one woman to stand out. There's a lot to say that it should have been Wener.

No matter, Sleeper produced some fantastic music. While many point to their sophmore release "It Girl" as their high-water mark, I disagree and say that by far their best stuff is on their debut full-length player "Smart". The songs are sharp. The chords all reverberate with a purposeful resonance that was at odds with the tail end of the grunge era, and helped to plot a road map for later bands to follow. Early songs like "Twisted", "Inbetweener" and the lyrically brilliant "Swallow" were the shining lights of the Britpop path for the rest of the decade. And later songs like "What Do I Do Now?" and "Sale of the Century" moved the genre along in a pop avenue, but still with the power pop foundation that always underlay the best of the Britpop outlings.

The song here, "Bedhead", happens to be my favorite. It's got all the drive and tension that Sleeper was so easily able to capture in sound. The guitars march along proudly in time with the drums, and Wener's vocals almost float across the top of the music. At least until it comes to those points where she exclamate's the music to a perfect point. It's a beautiful bit of punk, via Britpop. And one that any good mod should stand up and salute upon hearing. [updated 2021]

Sleeper - Bedhead (Peel Session, 25th October 1994) Sleeper Interview Part 2

Mod-A-Day: The Moment

The first phase of the mod revival died out in 1981/82 as the music media turned the public's attention away from mod and ska, and towards the rising tide of new romantic bands in the UK. While the mod scene moved along into a more soulful direction, there were still a few revival type bands to come -- and they would usher in another, smaller, mod revival in the mid-80s. Along with Squire (a holdover from the first phase), and the Prisoners, The Moment led the pack musically. They were the full package. A power pop core, infused with rhythm and soul, and a sixties sensibility that fueled their sound and their style.

At the turn of the century the band managed to turn out a best of disk compiling most all of their recordings. It's a must have for any mod's catalog. Front man Adrian Holder has gone on to produce some noteworthy solo material, and bandmate Steve Rinaldi has two fantastic albums on Tangerine Records as Rinaldi Sings.

This is the band's second single, "One, Two They Fly", released in 1985 (the same year they appeared on Eddie Piller's legendary Countdown Compilation.) The song fuses hard driving power pop with soulful horns, to turn out what I think is the band's best arrangement.

The Moment -- One, Two They Fly

Mod-A-Day: The Pills

Boston power pop outfit The Pills have produced a trio of powerful albums, their last and best in 2004. The band's sound ranges from a sort of garagey version of britpop ala Elastica, to rocking power pop with crashing Who like fury. There are obvious nods throughout their discography to everybody from The Kinks to The Buzzcocks. Overall though their music just oozes the rock and roll ethos: loud, hard, and fast. This track, "Slam Book" is no exception coming on strong like The Hives, but at the same reminiscent of Supergrass.

The Pills -- Slam Book

Mod-A-Day: The Icicles

If you like your power pop with a touch of twee, and a big huge dose of sugary goodness than The Icicles are for you. The estrogen loaded band (the only testosterone is bangin' the drums, appropriaely enough) has hooks aplenty, and that hasn't gone unnoticed. Most people will know them from the inclusion of their songs in nation-wide ad campaigns first for Motorola, and then later for Target. But their albums are packed full of even more great tunes.

This track is from their second LP Arrivals & Departures which features a number of fairly good indie pop songs, and a few truly stand up and shout about it great power pop numbers, not the least of which is this track, Snappy. It's got a sort of sixties west coast pop vibe to it, with psychadelic riffs, swirling organ, and sharp, well, snappy lyrics.

The Icicles -- Snappy

Mod-A-Day: Henry Mancini

When it comes to true lounge music there is one man whose music and manner are legendary. Henry Mancini was the quintessential swinger with his dapper clothes, his perfect style, his suave manner, and his swinging songs. While the likes of Martin Denny and Les Baxter are heralded by exotica loungeaphiles, and the novice lounger may settle for some Rat Pack stylings, both are inevitably aficionados of Mancini. His music and chic sophistication speaks to everyone alike and makes him both accessible and worthy of worship.

Henry Mancini's Italian immigrant father was a sometime musician himself who introduced Henry to music and pushed him to follow what was so obviously his calling. A composition he wrote for Benny Goodman paid off when Goodman encouraged him to attend New York's prestigious Julliard School of Music. But, WWII got in the way. Fortunately. Henry, more a lover than a fighter, managed to land an audition with the country's musical commander in chief, Glenn Miller and spent the rest of the war playing in an Air Force band. After the war Mancini ended up in the Glenn Miller Orchestra, conducted by Tex Benneke.

From there, Mancini followed his heart to Hollywood where he could finally realize his dream of scoring movies. His earliest works included numerous sci-fi and B-films like Tarantula, It Came From Outer Space and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Unacknowledged success composing for such films paid off when Mancini was asked to arrange the score for The Glenn Miller Story, and later The Benny Goodman Story. Both are excellent soundtracks that showcase Mancini's early swinging style.
The Academy Award nomination he received for his efforts made Mancini a household name. And by then every household had a TV and so it fit that Mancini begin to write the best TV themes ever composed. His first was for Blake Edwards' Peter Gunn, and soon after he scored Edwards' Mr. Lucky as well.

For all his TV scoring, Mancini's most famous works came more from movies than television. The Pink Panther is one of the the most memorable of the films Mancini scored, and the title track fit the film's star, Peter Sellers, perfectly.

However, the music he penned for 1961's Breakfast At Tiffany's is indeed classic in every sense, and produced what is his most famous song "Moon River". Few songs have the pure genius that Moon River does, and few soundtracks catch the feel of its movie any better than this one. It's got a bit of everything, like the chic cool of "Something For Cat", the lush "Sally's Tomato", the crime caper jazz of The Big Heist, the big swing sound of "The Big Blow Out", and my favorite the super suave "Latin Golightly."

When you want to sit and just listen to good lounge music, you can't go wrong with anything by the maestro. Cheers to Mancini.

Henry Mancini & His Orchestra -- Latin Golightly

Modcast #121: The Beat is Back

Welcome to Mr. Suave's Mod Mod World. I do love 1975 -- that would be the title track on the new album from modsters Fay Hallam Trinity, featuring the pure gold soul vocals of Ms. Fay Hallam, the mod diva from Makin' Time and the Prime Movers. Got more new mod songs for you including some tweeful soul (or maybe it's soulful twee) from Pow Wow; heavy soul from Stone Foundation; cool sixties sounding garage pop from The Higher State; and straight ahead pure power pop from Choo Choo. Last but not least I've got a demo track from Green Day, off of their forthcoming album "21st Century Breakdown". What more could you ask for? Let me know in the comments.

• Fay Hallam Trinity -- 1975
  
• Andy Lewis (feat: Claire Nicolson) -- In the Land of You and Me
  
• Cloudberry Jam -- I Sit A While Considering
  
• Stone Foundation -- Crossing The Great Divide
  
• Pow Wow -- So Weird
  
• Brideshead -- Life Without A Thrill
  
• Everything But The Girl -- Another Bridge
  
• The First Steps -- The Beat is Back
  
• The Higher State -- Automatic Motion
  
• Choo Choo -- Your Heart Is Breaking Down
  
• Green Day -- 21st Century Breakdown

Cloudberry Jam -- Easy



The Higher State -- You Can Forget About That