Rolling Stones reshape Dartford map

It seems those Dartford renegades The Rolling Stones are now firmly accepted by the establishment, as news breaks that a number of new streets in Dartford are to be named after the bands' songs.

Local councillors approved on Thursday the use of 13 Stones-related names for a new development called The Bridge. The theme was suggested by the developer, and two of the councillors came up with the actual names. Those street names in full are:

Little Red Walk
Satisfaction Street
Angie Mews
Babylon Close
Sympathy Street
Ruby Tuesday Drive
Stones Avenue
Dandelion Row
Lady Jane Walk
Cloud Close
Rainbow Close
Black Boulevard
Start Street

Police were fearful that fans might try to steal the street signs, but council leader Jeremy Kite said "I think there is more chance of people coming to have their photographs taken there. It is not just fun - it puts the place on the map and links to our heritage".

To take a look at the ambitious plans for The Bridge development click here.

Skins & Punks Exhibition in London

If you happen to be in the Carnaby Street area of London between 5th and 14th December, you might want to check out the Skins & Punks Pop-Up Exhibition.

The images on display are from the camera of Gavin Watson, natural day-to-day images shot between 1978 and 1985. According to the photographer: "Carnaby Street was probably the most important street in London for us out of town boys, we would save up and get the train down and head straight for Carnaby. In fact without Carnaby Street and shops like Sherrys, Merc and The Face , I don’t know if skinheads and mods would have lasted as long as they have. It is great for me to be back in Carnaby with this exhibition, to come full circle.”

The photos are also being gathered together in a book of the same name - and Gavin Watson will be signing copies of it at 1pm on Saturday 13th December at 3 Lowndes Court in the Newburgh Quarter of Carnaby, W1.

Find out more about the book at Amazon.co.uk

Supremes exhibition in Blackpool

If you couldn't get to London's V&A for the Story of The Supremes exhibition, you have another chance to catch it - this time in the Las Vegas of the north, Blackpool.

it sounds like the same exhibition in its entirety, with over 50 dresses on show, including several costumes designed by Hollywood designer Bob Mackie for TV appearances, as well as the gold, bronze and yellow ‘Butterfly’ gowns worn on the cover of the 1969 album Cream of the Crop and the glitzy black velvet gowns worn for Diana Ross’ 1970 farewell performance with the group.

Heavy Mod Mojo CD

Mojo magazine comes up trumps again with its latest issue that features another quality cover-mounted compilation CD.

The Heavy Mod CD contains 15 tracks from artists such as The Move, The Yardbirds, Deep Purple, The Creation, The Pretty Things, Small Faces, and Aphrodite’s Child. Mojo says it is celebrating 'the artists who took the ‘60s mod batton and carried it into a fierce, overdriven future'.

The CD comes with the latest issue, out this Tuesday (25th November). Mojo cover stars this month are those much-loved/much-hated (delete as appropriate) pseudo-mods Oasis. Also featured this month are the new Kinks boxset, Neil Young, and The Beach Boys. For more on Mojo visit their website here.

Important: Joining the forum

Sadly, the various messages abut joining the forum seem to be being missed right now, so it's time to flag up the one important change re joining the forum.

We do not allow webmail addresses for new users of the forum.

That means you cannot join with an address like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo or another other webmail address from similar companies. It's not ideal, but the current forum is being spammed to death with applications right now - the only way we can spot genuine people is via genuine addresses.

If that causes you major problems, contact us and we'll try to sort something out. If you have applied with a webmail address of late, your application will have been refused - as will all future applications from webmail and freemail.

Modculture forums

Double Breasted fanzine - issue 2

The first issue went down a storm, so it's no surprise to see issue 2 of Double Breasted fanzine.

It will be on sale from 31st October at the cost of £1 + p&p. It's a bigger issue this time, packed full of varied articles of interest to those into Mod and 60s culture. Next year there will be 3 issues, coming out March, July and November, if you're interested in subscribing to issues 2 - 5 it will be at the cover price of £1 per issue so you don't have to worry about any price increases.

Payment can be made by cash/cheque/postal order and paypal, but paypal fees will be added on. Issue 2 and back copies of Issue 1 will be on sale at October's Friday Street and at the Aftershow Party at The Admiral following Paul Weller's Glasgow gig on 14th November. Or just get in touch with the editors via the MySpace site.

Stax 67 Astoria gig: were you there?

In early 1967 the Stax/Volt Live Revue toured Europe, stopping at the Finsbury Park Astoria on March 17th. Were you there? If so Radio 2 would like your help.

As Gemma Newby explains, Radio 2 are making a series called Wish You Were There?, 'taking musicians back to a gig in history they would have loved to have been at. With stories from fans, journalists, producers and house staff who were present on that night we'll build a picture of what it would have been like to have witnessed a concert that was groundbreaking for its musical style, the success it brought Stax, the catapult of Otis Redding on the international stage, and for contributing to the breaking of social and racial boundaries'.

If you wish to share your memories of the Astoria show you can email Gemma at gemma.newby@allout.co.uk

Back in the day Otis Redding released the LP Live In Europe, which featured his Astoria performance. It has been recently reissued and expanded upon on CD as Live In London and Paris, but there is no news of an official UK release date as yet. However the album is available on import from Amazon here.

Full feeds return on Modculture

We have had problems with our feeds in the past, but all that is now hopefully sorted and we now have full feeds back on Modculture.

What does that mean Well, if you are signed up for news email, you will get the stories in their entirety (with images) sent to you on every day where new stories appear. And if you read the news via a feed reader, you'll see the full story there.

If you're not signed up to our email, you can join via the box on the right hand side of the site. And you can also subscribe easily to your favourite feed reader using the buttons also to your right.

Reminder: Joining the forum

Just a quick reminder - if you plan on joining the forum, please use a 'real' (not webmail) email address. That means your ISP, college or work address for example and not Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail etc.

We have had problems with hackers and the odd unsuitable comment, meaning we need to know who is using the forum. Apologies for the inconvenience (and for all accounts that have been refused), but it is for the greater good and does cut down on any potential problems.

If you want to join the forum, you can do right here.

We Are The Mods movie

Another year and another movie based around and featuring mods - titled We Are The Mods.

We Are the Mods is E.E. Cassidy‘s debut feature, apparently a US-based teen drama using the familiar territory of 'good girl corrupted by the bad' as well as being a tribute to 60s cult classics like Blow-Up and the early work of Jean-Luc Godard.