Mod/beat legends The Creation are back together for a gig - at London's 100 Club.
The date for your diary is 24th July 2008, running from 7:30pm until 11pm, with DJ support from Gary Crowley and Dave Edwards.
Tickets are a fairly hefty £20 and available from the link below. Or find out more at the 100 Club website.
Order tickets for the gig online
From the shop that gave us Ace Records comes a compilation of their favourite vintage rock, blues and soul numbers.
Rock On began life in 1971 as a stall in Portobello Road Market run by Ted Carroll. It eventually opened a second stall in Soho, before a third emporium - an actual shop this time - was launched in Camden in 1975. There it served over the years hundreds of thousands of customers, providing quality used records from the time of the birth of rock'n'roll. Carroll, who still works at Ace Records, felt it was time to compile an album that truly served the music and memory of Rock On (he even took tracklisting suggestions from former customers).
The compilation, also entitled Rock On, is available now from Amazon for £9.98 here. The tracklisting is below.
1. AMOS MILBURN - Chicken Shack Boogie
2. BILLY LEE RILEY - Red Hot
3. SLIM HARPO - Shake Your Hips
4. CHARLIE FEATHERS - Bottle To The Baby
5. VINCE TAYLOR - Brand New Cadillac
6. RAY SHARPE - Linda Lu
7. ROKY ERICKSON - Two Headed Dog
8. JOE WEAVER / DON JUANS - Baby, I Love You So
9. WAYLON JENNINGS - Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
10. THE IKETTES - Camel Walk
11.
DR FEELGOOD - Back In The Night
12. DYKE & BLAZERS - So Sharp
13. THE FLAMIN' GROOVES - Slow Death
14. DON COVAY - It's Better To Have (And Don't Need)
15. FATS DOMINO - Honest Papas Love Their Mamas Better
16. JERRY BYRNE - Lights Out
17. JOE TEX - You Little Baby Faced Thing
18. AUSTIN PITRE & EVANGELINE PLAYBOYS - Flumes D'Enfer
19. THE BELFAST GYPSIES - Gloria's Dream
20. PETER HOLSAPPLE - Big Black Truck
21. HUEY PIANO SMITH - Don't You Just Know It
22. THE SHANGRI-LAS - Give Him A Great Big Kiss
23. LINK DAVIS - Slipping And Sliding Sometimes
24. PEANUTS WILSON - Cast Iron Arm
25. RON HOLDEN - My Babe
26. KOKO TAYLOR - What Came First - The Egg Or The Hen?
27. MERCY BABY (DEE) - Marked Deck
28. LINK WRAY - I'm So Glad, I'm So Proud
There's been a glut of UK female singers since the success of Amy Winehouse, and the best of the follow-up bunch seems to be Bristol-born Beth Rowley.
A graduate of Brighton's Institute of Modern Music, the 26 year-old fell under the tutelage of former Young Disciples vocalist Carleen Anderson. Her voice is unmistakably warm, rich, and soulful, betraying her childhood gospel/church roots and the many years experience she built up as a backing singer. The music she writes shows a variety of mid-to-late 60s influences: McCartney-penned Beatles songs, Motown and Atlantic soul, and the folk of Carole King and Emmy-Lou Harris. In 2007 she came to the attention of Universal's jazz imprint Blue Thumb, who sent her into the studio to record Little Dreamer, an album of original tracks alongside gospel standards like 'Nobody's Fault But Mine' and a rendition of Willie Nelson's 'Angels Flying Too Close to the Ground'. "I'm so obsessed with blues and soul", she says, "Whenever I sing, I close my eyes and think of Al Green".
The video for recent single 'Oh My Life' is below. Hear Beth on Myspace here. Beth's debut album 'Little Dreamer' is out on Monday the 19th, and can be purchased from Amazon here.
EMI Records are to release a Beach Boys singles box set covering their Capitol Records period.
U.S. Singles Collection: The Capitol Years 1962 - 1965 features eight previously unreleased mixes of singles amongst the 66 tracks across 16 discs. All the discs feature the original single artwork and will be packaged as individual digipacks, with the original and A and B sides, along with additional mixes and live recordings. All the tracks will also be made available to buy as downloads from June 16. The physical box set is something of a treat: it is packaged in a special 'telescoping box', and includes a 48-page hardcover picture book.
It is available to pre-order from Play.com at the wallet-worrying price of £74.99 here.
US Singles Collection tracklisting:
CD Single 1
'Surfin’ Safari', '409', '409' (Live)
CD Single 2
'Ten Little Indians', 'County Fair', 'Punchline'(Instrumental)
CD Single 3
'Surfin' USA', 'Shut Down', 'Surfin' USA'(Stereo mix), 'Shut Down' (Stereo mix)
CD Single 4
'Surfer Girl', 'Little Deuce Coupe', 'Surfer Girl'(Stereo mix), 'Little Deuce Coupe'(Stereo mix)
CD Single 5
'Be True To Your School', 'In My Room'(Mono), 'Be True To Your School'(Stereo), 'In My Room' (Stereo)
CD Single 6
'Little Saint Nick', 'The Lord's Prayer', 'Little Saint Nick'(Stereo), 'The Lord's Prayer' (Stereo)
CD Single 7
'Fun, Fun, Fun', 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love?', 'Fun, Fun, Fun'(Stereo), 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love?'(Mono)
CD Single 8
'I Get Around', 'Don't Worry Baby', 'I Get Around'(Stereo), 'Don't Worry Baby'(Stereo)
CD Single 9
'When I Grow Up To Be A Man', 'She Knows Me Too Well', 'When I Grow Up To Be A Man'(Stereo), 'She Knows Me Too Well' (Stereo)
CD Single 10
'Wendy', 'Don't Back Down', 'Little Honda' (Mono), 'Hushabye', 'Wendy' (Stereo)
'Don’t Back Down' (Stereo), 'Little Honda' (Stereo), 'Hushabye' (Stereo)
CD Single 11
'Dance, Dance, Dance', 'The Warmth Of The Sun', 'Dance, Dance, Dance' (Stereo), 'The Warmth Of The Sun'(Stereo)
CD Single 12
'The Man With All The Toys', 'Blue Christmas', 'The Man With All The Toys' (Stereo), 'Blue Christmas' (Stereo)
CD Single 13
'Do You Wanna Dance?', 'Please Let Me Wonder', 'Do You Wanna Dance?' (Stereo)
'Please Let Me Wonder' (Stereo)
CD Single 14
'Help Me, Rhonda', 'Kiss Me, Baby', 'Help Me, Rhonda'(Mono backing track), 'Kiss Me, Baby' (Stereo)
CD Single 15
'California Girls', 'Let Him Run Wild', 'California Girls' (Stereo), 'Let Him Run Wild' (Stereo)
CD Single 16 (Bonus Single)
'All Dressed Up For School', 'I'm So Young', 'Graduation Day'
We're trying to clear out a backlog of music reviews right now (amongst other things), with two new reviews just online.
First up, the Le Beat Bespoke 3 compilation - or the album of the even if you prefer (although its actually rare 1960s garage/psych tracks rather than track taken from that particular event.
Secondly, the expanded and reissued Stoned Woman by Mother Earth, which no has six additional tracks and new liner notes. If you like the sound of it, don't forget you can still win one from us by clicking here.
Finally, if music is your bag, you can get news, reviews and snippets every single day from our 'across the board' music site - Electric Roulette.
Ex-Small Face Ian McLagan is going back on the road in the UK and Ireland, promoting his latest album under the Bump Band name.
The album is called Never Say Never and it's released on 7th July 2008 on the Proper Records label. It's described as 'beautiful and emotionally raw' and features all new material. The tour will play at several small venues - so ideal to get things signed and a photo or two I guess.
If you want the full schedule, read on over the page.
German beatsters Monkeeman has a new album out on the market - the first release in the UK. Not only that, the band are playing in UK - at the excellent International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool.
If time and money is precious, you can check out the band at the MySpace site via the link below. Or if you like to spend your money on clobber, the band have arranged for a free EP to be given away with every clothing order with DNA Groove.
Which sounds like great value to me.
Monkeeman MySpace site
The latest installment of Detour Records' mod band compilation is set for release shortly.
Takin' A Detour Volume 4 is an 18 track CD featuring contemporary, mod-related bands from around the world, with each act contributing two tracks. This volume sees appearances from freakbeaters The East End (Russia), '79 revivalists The Itch (UK), power-poppers The Cokes (Japan), punk-pop group The Nailclippers (also Japan), '60s poppers Camera (USA), The Fadeaways (Japan), psych-rockers The Parascopes (Austria), mod rock from the awfully-named The Unremarkables (UK), and finally indie-mod hybrid Weird Scene (UK). A wide-range of styles are represented here, which helps show the mod/scooter scenes' strength in diversity.
Takin' A Detour Volume 4 is released on the 9th of June and can be purchased from the Detour website here. You can email Dizzy from the label here.
If Mojo and Uncut don't cut it, you'll be pleased to know that the latest issue of Shindig! magazine has hit the shelves.
The May/June issue features Andy Partridge and Dave Gregory talking about the Dukes Of The Stratosphear (with the albums about to be reissued), a look at San Francisco in 1966, a feature on American power pop band Blue Ash plus a critical look at the reformations of both The Sonics and The Zombies amongst other news, review and features.
You can get a subscription online at the website or you can now pick it up in WH Smiths in the UK or Barnes & Noble in the US.
Shindig! magazine website
YouTube continues to dig up some great musical treasures of the past - including this one of the Spencer Davis Group.
The track is a rough 'n' ready live version of I'm A Man, taken from a Finnish TV show. Great stuff...
Modern Life is returning to its soulful home, bigger and better than ever on Friday 23rd May.
Shake and fingerpop to the sounds of Tamla Motown, Atlantic, freakbeat blue eyed soul, ye ye, Hammond mod, 60s britpop and Northern. Dress neat and be ready for sharp beats as DJ Grant Schofield and his team (guest DJs include Chris Arthur).
There's a live band too - Edinburgh-based five-piece combo Modus, recently signed to Hammondbeat Records. The night takes place at the Stockton Arc, running from 9pm til late, with admission £8 (£6 concessions).
Arc website
In 1968, The Supremes had something of a makover - ditching the ball gowns for 'street' styling and going for a grittier sound for the Love Child album. And you can get that look with the V&A's exclusive Love Child t-shirt.
Based on the top worn by Diana Ross on that album sleeve, the t-shirt is being made available in limited quantities by the V&A to coincide with The Story Of The Supremes exhibition being held at the museum.
You can pre-order now, with the shirts shipping from mid-May. Could be one of the t-shirts to be seen in this summer - and it retails in various sizes for just £18.
Find out more at the V&A website
Via Retro To Go
Beggars come from Reading, but we doubt be there for much longer. Only a few months after forming they had landed a record deal with Heavenly Recordings and, having already supported Babyshambles a few months back, are about to embark on a nationwide tour in May supporting Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong.
Musically Beggars mix Britrock swagger with the pop-art beat sound reminiscent of The Creation and The Who. The songs are encased in the raspy blues vocals of singer Justin Girdler, which recall Lee Mavers, or more recently the 22-20s.
Clearly they are the '60s-meets-Britpop sonic brothers of northern contemporaries The Troubadours. They have a Beatles-in-Hamburg vibe to their look (plenty of moody shots of them dressed in all-black) which should endear them to the all-important teenage girl demographic. Poster boys for UK guitar rock they may eventually become, but they aren't all arrogant bluster; as shown by their choice of covering Leonard Cohen 'The Future' in their live set (and now available as a limited edition 7" and download). The debut album has already been recorded, with Brendan Lynch producing, and will be out in the autumn.
Hear Beggars on Myspace here. Below is a taster from the debut album.
The Who - in conjunction with the Teenage Cancer Trust - is currently running a competition to win The Who's Magic Bus - and it is a real bus.
Well, it's actually an original (but customised) Volkswagen T1 panel van from 1965, signed by both Roger Daltrey (patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust), and Pete Townshend.
You have to pay £5 to enter (with proceeds going to the charity) and answer a ridiculously easy question. And as a bonus, all entrants get a free download of a previously unreleased live performance of The Who's 'Magic Bus' performed during the International Bus Meeting in Hannover in October 2007. If you are feeling lucky, the link below takes you to the band's competition page.
Following Chris Rea's reinvention as a beat artist, another '80s star, Mick Hucknall, is paying tribute to the 1960s by recording an album of Bobby Bland songs.
The Simply Red man is to begin releasing music under his own name, and to kick it off he's made 'Tribute To Bobby', a 12-track album of Bland covers set for release on May 19th. Hucknalls' tribute to the Lion of the Blues comes from Bland being one of his 'inspirations and music idols' apparently. The album is available to preview until May 1st on Hucknall's official site here. The CD release will feature a bonus DVD containing a 'making of' documentary shot in Memphis (a preview is also on his site).
And should you be moved enough to want to hear Mick perform these tracks live, here are his upcoming UK tour dates:
Bristol Colston Hall (June 29th)
Wolverhampton Civic Hall (30th)
Liverpool Summer Pops (July 1st)
Manchester Apollo (3rd)
Newcastle City Hall (4th)
Oxford New Theatre (5th)
Leicester De Montfort Hall (7th)
Ipswich Regent (8th)
London IndigO2 (9th and 10th)
Tickets for the tour are available to buy here. 'Tribute To Bobby' is available to order from Amazon here.
Never mind plugging a deck into a computer and loading up a pile of software to transfer your vintage vinyl to MP3 - the Numark TTi USB Turntable with iPod Dock makes it all redundant.
Well, if you have an iPod that is. That's because it has an iPod dock, recording your vinyl tunes straight to the miniature player. Or if you want to tinker with the audio quality, you can still hook it up to the PC (to the USB port) and load up one of the three types of software sold with the deck.
The turntable itself is belt-drive, with playback at 33 or 45 and line-level RCA outputs (with built-in phono pre-amp). Available now for £149.
A little later than intended, the winners of the New Breed R&B With Added Popcorn CDs from Kent have just been drawn - and they are the following people:
Tracey Dexter - Solihull
Jo Fisher - Edinburgh
Allan Derbyshire - Wrexham
Guy Joseph - Perpignan (France)
Nick Wain - Sheffield
All winners have been contacted and prizes will be sent out this week.
We reviewed Sounds From The Kitten Casino by Scottish mod favourites Modus back in October last year. But there was one problem - a lack of distribution. That's not the case anymore.
US-based label Hammondbeat is releasing the album from July 2008 (with general US distribution to follow in September), so if you want a copy, check out the Hammondbeat website for details of ordering. We rated it - certainly one to hear.
And if you want to know more about the band, a feature on singer Miss Modus appeared in the Daily Express recently, which you can read here.
Read our review of the Modus album
Originally released (in limited numbers) on vinyl in 1988 on Billy Childish’s Hangman label, Rare & Unissued by The Prisoners gets a welcome reissue this week from Big Beat through Ace Records.
Rare & Unissued brings together all the hard-to-find recordings by the 'pioneers of modern day garage', but is slightly different to the original vinyl release. That's because Ace has already reissued some of the album's tracks on previous Prisoners reissues - so rather than offer duplicate tracks, there's two previously undiscovered cuts - the instrumental Unbeliever (fast) from the Wisermiserdemelza sessions and a take of Love Me Lies recorded live in a studio some time before the its appearance at those sessions.
Also added are two cuts recorded at a demo session in 1984 which appeared on various small run compilations – Joe 90 and a version Hush - and new sleevnotes, with contributions from band members. You can pick it up now from Amazon, which is selling it for £8.98.
If you're at a loose end on a Sunday in Glasgow, Sunday Service looks like it's worth checking out.
Every Sunday at The Venue, Oran Mor (Top of Byres Road), Glasgow, Mark Robb & Craig Loosejoints (Ecurie Weegie) plus guest bands & djs will spin soul, r&b, jazz, psych, funk, reggae and more. The night runs from 11pm - 3am, entry is £4.
Some interesting forthcoming guests too, including:
Sun 4 May Bank Holiday - DJ Snowboy
Sun 25 May Bank Holiday - DJ Keb Darge
Sun 22 June - DJ Terry Hall (Yes, the bloke from The Specials)
Stoned Woman by Mother Earth is one of my favourite Acid Jazz releases - and now it has been reissued by Ace Records, which has kindly given us five copies to give away.
Originally released back in 1991, it's a mix of soul, funk and 60s grooves - admittedly with a few rough edges, but all the better for it. The new release has brand new liner notes and six bonus tracks - single b-sides and rarities, including a previously unissued version of George Harrison's My Sweet Lord.
If you want to get in the draw to win one, follow the link below...
Enter the Mother Earth competition
We loved the first two volumes, so we're happy to hear of the launch of The In-Kraut Volume 3.
It's the final instalment in the series on Marina Records, featuring more vintage German grooves from '67 to '74 - 20 rare soul, beat, now sound, mod, jazz & soundtrack gems to be precise. That includes mod stomper Glory Be by Daisy Clan, Dieter Zimmermann's orchestral take on Whole Lotta Love, Inga's cover of Sonny & Cher’s The Beat Goes On, Katja Ebstein's 'druggy' take on A Hard Day’s Night and an even more funk'd up version of The Champ by The German Top Five. Not to mention the usual batch of lost/rediscovered vintage grooves.
We'll have a review of the album before release - which is May 9th 2008.
Find out more at the Marina Records website
Coming in September is the latest fashion collaboration from Fred Perry - the Terry Hall-inspired V-neck sweater.
It's based on the one that Hall wore in a copy of The Face (the first edition), a late 70s version with oversized Laurel and a deeper V, but keeping the original shape.
It will be made in pure British lambs wool in a choice of black or maroon in a quantity of just 500. And that's a worldwide figure - so expect demand to be high when it officially launches in September.
Via Retro To Go
We're about to start our re-design of the website and to go along with it, we want to stick up a load of new content. We hope to expand and improve existing sections, but we need to know specifically what you are interested in.
Do you want more listings? More news? More reviews? And if so - what kind of reviews do you want - clubs, events, films, books, music or anything else?
And do you want more articles - and if so, what kind of articles? And who do you want us to interview? Or perhaps you want something more technical - like a radio station or downloads? Would you be interest in well-designed merchandising?
Please let us know your thoughts abut the above and anything else by contacting the site or leaving a comment below. And if you fancy contributing in any way at all, we're ALWAYS happy to hear from you.
I'm sure I am not alone in being impressed with The Bees' recording output - so it should be interesting to see what they are like as DJs.
You can find out this Saturday (19th April) at London's Rock 'n' Roll Soul, where they will be guest DJs alongside Boogaloo Stu Kirkham and Emma Sunley.
Rock 'n' Roll Soul is at the Cock Tavern, East Poultry Avenue, Smithfield Markets, EC1 from 9pm-3am, £6 admission.
Still going strong after something like 20 years, JTQ are still releasing albums - the latest of which is JTQ Live At The Jazz Cafe.
The 11-track album was recorded as said venue in December 2007, mixing recent material with covers and classics - including (of course) the Theme From Starsky and Hutch.
Available on the Real Self label, you can pick it up on CD at the Tunes website (and listen to tracks) with a price of £12.99.
Find out more at the Tunes website
The V&A goes 60s soul from next month with its Story of The Supremes exhibition, showing the performance costumes of the band from the Mary Wilson collection.
It runs from 13th May to 19th October, with over 50 outfits on display, charting the changing image of the group from their dresses in the early days (when they were known as The Primettes) to the glamorous Hollywood designs they wore at the height of their fame. The exhibition will also explore the inspirational role The Supremes played in changing racial perceptions and their influence on today’s performers.
A compilation of Memphis' Ardent Studios has just been released by Ace Records.
Thank You Friends: the Ardent Records Story compiles over two CDs tracks from one of the most respected recording facilities in America. Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, REM, and Cat Power have all step foot inside Ardent, alongside perhaps its most famous customer, early '70s cult heroes Big Star.
On the compilation can be heard plenty of mid-60s folk janglers and garage cuts influenced by the British Invasion bands, and shows why it earned the reputation as the 'American Abbey Road'. By the early 70s Ardent was producing first class, popular pop-rock (helped greatly by a distribution deal with Stax). Disc one of the set focuses on the 1960s and features a few unissued psychedelic
singles which will be of interest to connoisseurs, alongside early studio experiments of Big Star's Alex
Chilton and Chris Bell. The second disc examines the '70s Stax era and
beyond, with an astonishing 14 rare/unissued Big Star-related cuts. Lengthy liner notes, featuring interviews with key studio players, help make for a comprehensive package and does the history of Ardent Studios proud.
Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story is out now and available from Amazon here.
A couple of months of yet, but here's advance notice on the June 13th Liar Liar Club.
The night promises a cross section of 60s underground sounds - from soul and ska to garage and psych - along with three live bands (who seem to be on the psych side, so make sure that's your thing).
All that for £3 at the New Cross Inn on New Cross Road, London.
Find out more at the Liar Liar MySpace page
Rhoda Dakar makes a return to Filthy MacNasty this weekend, specifically Saturday 12th April 2008.
The ex-Special and Bodysnatcher will be onstage from 8pm, accompanied by Nick Welsh (Selecter, Lee Perry etc). Full details in the flyer above or check out the MySpace site below.
New band The Troubadours bring a fresh breath of air to the music scene with their scouse pop-sike, and look set for big things in the near future.
The four-peice band, half from Liverpool and other half from Wigan, have already got themselves a fanatical following in the north-west and its only a matter of time before the rest of the world catches up. Their debut single 'Gimme Love' shot straight to number one on indiestore.com the 7" copies were sold out within days. It's not hard to see why: it's a melodic, driving Beatles-meets-the-west-coast song, polished with the help of producer John Leckie. B-side 'Here Comes The Tide' is in a similar vein, with a more obvious Lee Mavers-style vocal betraying the influence of Liverpool legends The La's. Where The Rain Falls, their epic set closer, shows the influence of those other north-west legends The Stones Roses. Paul Weller was impressed enough by their songs that he offered them support for the second half of his UK tour next month.
Expect a new single shortly and an album to follow before the year is out. Listen to The Troubadours on their Myspace page here.
UK rhythm'n'blues man James Hunter has announced details of his new album.
'The Hard Way', out June 10th, features his trademark soulful vocals and feet-stomping blues sound. Produced by Liam Watson in his Toe Rag Studios in east London, the album features New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint on the title track and 'Believe Me baby'. Hunter's Myspace page has three tracks from the new album for you to preview: 'The Hard Way', Don't Do Me No Favours', and 'Hand It Over'. To promote the album Hunter tours in support of Willie Nelson, before a headline London show of his own at The Borderline on May 28th.
The Hard Way will be sold in Starbucks stores nationwide as well as traditional music retailers and digital download stores. Visit the James Hunter Myspace page here.
Paul Weller has confirmed that the first single to be released from his forthcoming double album '22 Dreams' will be a collaboration with Oasis duo Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer.
The double A-side single will feature the collaborative 'Echoes Around The Sun' and 'Have You Made Up Your Mind' on the 26th of May. The double album, out a week later on the 2nd of June, was recorded over the course of a year at Weller’s own Black Barn Studios. Other notable collaborations include folk guitarist John McCusker on album opener 'Light Nights', Little Barrie on '22 Dreams', and Graham Coxon on 'Black River', the B-side to their single collaboration 'This Old Town' from 2007.
The album also features spoken word track 'The Dark Pages of September Lead to the New Leaves of Spring' featuring Ian Brown's guitarist, Aziz Ibrahim.
22 Dreams tracklisting:
Disc One:
Light Nights
22 Dreams
All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You)
Have You Made Up Your Mind
Empty Ring
Invisible
Song For Alice
Cold Moments
The Dark Pages of September Lead to the New Leaves of Spring
Black River
Why Walk When You Can Run
Disc Two:
Push it Along
A Dream Reprise
Echoes Round the Sun
One Bright Star
Lullaby Für Kinder
Where’er Ye Go
God
111
Sea Spray
Night Lights
Weller tours the UK in May with support from The Draytones and The Troubadours. Visit the official Paul Weller site here.
The Who's collection of clothing with Lambretta produced strong feelings last year, so I'm guessing the latest batch of Who-themed t-shirts will produce similar opinions.
Nothing much to say really, except the designs are above and are new for spring/summer, likely to be retailing for around £30.
After the success of its first Paul Weller collaboration, Fred Perry has again teamed up with Paul Weller to produce the Paul Weller Limited Edition Shirt.
This isn't an adaptation of an old design, it's a brand new style designed by Weller, based on his own drawings and other reference material, with the aim of creating something 'contemporary' and 'on the money'. Although to these eyes, it has a distinctly sixties look.
Continue reading "New Paul Weller-designed Fred Perry top" »
Arguably the biggest UK mod icon, Steve Marriott, has had his vocals sampled on a new single by a funk/soul outfit, the appallingly-named Lack Of Afro.
Today sees the release of 'Touch My Soul', a funky Hammond-led mash-up, faintly reminiscent of Small Faces track 'Eddie’s Dreaming'. It takes the vocal line "Love is all around me, everywhere" from Marriott/Lane composition 'Afterglow (Of Your Love)' and builds around it. Indeed Touch My Soul is credited to Marriott/Lane alongside Adam Gibbons, the Exeter-based man behind Lack Of Afro. Cheekily the artwork for the single apes the cover of Small Faces' classic 1968 album 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake'.
Will it become a future '60s scene spin?
Touch My Soul is out now on Freestyle Records. To listen to and purchase the single visit Juno Records here. For more on Lack Of Afro see their Myspace page here.
By complete luck/chance, we've managed to recover a number of photos missing, presumed deleted from the very old galleries. They are taking time to recover and resize, but the first gallery of 'old' photos is back online - 80s mod bands.
A mixed bag of bands from the era, all culled from photos sent into the site over the years. Check it out via the link below. Unfortunately we can't put captions on right now - but that could add to the fun as you guess the names!
If you have any photos relating to the mod scene from any era - 60s through to today - we'd love to hear from you as we rebuild the gallery section. Drop us a line initially via the contact us page to find out more.
He was in five much-loved mod/'60s bands in a short space of time, and now on the verge of his 65th birthday a Jack Bruce anthology is to be released.
To be released by Esoteric Recordings on June 2nd, the 6-CD box set anthology entitled Can You Follow? gathers together material from all Bruce's career, including of course the recordings he made with Alexis Korner's Blues Inc., Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Manfred Mann and his most celebrated outfit, Cream. Songs from Bruce's solo career are also set to feature.
Born in Glasgow in May 1943, Bruce, a musical prodigy, became a composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist. After working with the bands previously mentioned, he went on to collaborate with Lou Reed, Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, Gary Moore, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Dave Edmunds, Todd Rundgren, Peter Frampton, Gary Brooker and Ringo Starr. He continues to play live today.
For more on Esoteric Recording see their website here.
A new band in name, but Trio Valore features a few familiar faces.
This three-piece consists of Steve White (Paul Weller/Style Council), Damon Minchella (Ocean Colour Scene) and Seamus Beaghen (everyone from Morrissey and Iggy Pop through to Death In Vegas).
Together, they're offering a new slant on the basement R&B/jazz combo, with an uptempo mix of drums, bass, hammond and brass - check out the tracks on the band's MySpace page for a taster. The first album is titled Return Of The Iron Monkey should be out in May on an as-yet unconfirmed label. Might well be worth checking out.
Another northern soul play with a familiar title is premiering at Bolton's Octagon Theatre - Once Upon A Time In Wigan - Live!
Not to be confused with the one doing the rounds a couple of years back, it's a nostalgia tale, with one regular (Eugene) looking back from the club's final night to is first night - and the drugs, sex, love and classic 60s and 70s American soul music he has since encountered.
Written by Mick Martin and directed by Mark Babych, the show also features a live band of actor musicians playing northern classics throughout. It runs from Thursday 5th June to Saturday 28th June 2008, with ticket prices starting at £8.50.
Now this is something we don't hear of every day: cheesy bluesman Chris Rea has reinvented himself as not one, but two groups set in the 1950s/'60s.
The 57-year-old Teeside singer, who suffered serious ill-health a few years ago, has just released an album under the guise of The Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes. A 3CD plus 2 10" vinyl plus 80-page book package, it tells the story of a late '50s guitar instrumental band (The Delmonts) that evolved into a '60s blues band (The Hofner Bluenotes). According to his website, Rea
had decided that it was no longer creative or fun enough to just release yet another single CD, finding it much better and rewarding for both him and his new expanding audience to create something more special to own and enjoy.
His new tour begins tonight in Glasgow and will see 'support band' The Delmonts followed by 'The Hofner Bluenotes'. Those dates in full:
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (19th March)
Edinburgh Playhouse (20th)
Birmingham Symphony Hall (22nd and 23rd)
Bournemouth Int Centre (24th)
Manchester Apollo (26th)
Nottingham, Royal Centre (27th)
London, Royal Albert Hall (28th)
Oxford, New Theatre (30th)
Liverpool, Philharmonic (31st)
Newcastle City Hall (2nd April)
Newcastle City Hall (3rd)
Sheffield City Hall (5th)
Harrogate Int Centre (6th)
Belfast Waterfront (8th)
Chris Rea Presents The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes is released on Jazzee Blue and is available now from Amazon at the not-insubstantial price of £29.98 here. For tour tickets and more on the new album see the official Chris Rea site here.
Members of two popular northern guitar groups have got together to produce 1960s orchestral pop-inspired music under the name The Last Shadow Puppets.
Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys fame and friend Miles Kane of Liverpool band The Rascals formed the group last year as a studio project, and only decided upon the name The Last Shadow Puppets a few weeks ago. An album, The Age Of The Understatement, was recorded in France last year. The London Metropolitan Orchestra have been drafted in to provide strings for most of the album tracks. The band have said they were keen to write material that invoked the late-60s singer-songwriter style encapsulated by artists like Scott Walker and David Bowie. Indeed so indebted they are to the 1960s for inspiration their forthcoming single has two covers on the B-sides: Billy Fury's Wondrous Place and David Bowie's In The Heat Of The Morning. So far the public have only heard the single The Age Of The Understatement: a rolling, Scott 4-esque tune with cavernous drums, baroque guitars, Gregorian chants and that trademark Turner lyrical wordplay. It bodes very well for the forthcoming album.
The single The Age Of The Understatement is released through Domino Records on April 21st, with the album of the same name released a week later on the 28th. You can watch the video for the single (shot in Moscow) here. There are no plans for UK live shows yet, but with Arctic Monkeys not scheduled to tour in 2008 we should expect The Last Shadow Puppets to fill the void somewhere along the line soon.
Well, we've previewed it, run a competition for it (which you can still enter here) and now we have a review online for New Breed R&B With Added Popcorn.
This newly-issued compilation from the Kent label covers the late 50s/early 60s era, specifically the R&B tunes of that era - many of which are doing brisk business on mod club dancefloors around the country/world.
Check out the review via the link below.
Kent's New Breed R&B With Added Popcorn reviewed
Fine purveyors of West Coast-style garage folk-rock The Higher State are set to release their second long player Darker By The Day.
The Folkestone band, featuring ex-members of The Embrooks and The Mystreated, continue to be the best writers of authentic Byrds-esque, mid-'60s San-Francisco-scene rock around today. They have always drawn quite a live following, and are regularly invited to play '60s festivals around the world. Hear the band play out material from the new album at these upcoming UK and European shows:
London George Tavern (April 5th)
Rennes France 'Mondo Bizaaro' (17th)
Le Harve France The Greenish Pub (18th)
Darmstadt Germany 'Beat Explosion' (19th)
Krefeld Germany Kulturrampe (20th)
Liverpool 'International Pop Overthrow' (24th May)
Rotterdam Holland 'Primitive Festival' (27th June)
Darker By The Day is released next month on Greek label Dr. Mushroom's Optical Illusion. Pre-order your copy via their website here. To hear The Higher State visit their Myspace page here.
Anglo-Argentinian beatsters The Draytones have announced details of their first full-length LP.
Up In My Head is out on 1965 Records on April 14th. The 10-track album is a diverse collection of guitar-pop songs with excellent Kinks/Beatles-esque melodies and Creation/Who-like guitar sounds.
Up In My head tracklisting:
1. Turn It Down
2. After All
3. Heart Shaped Line
4. As High As I Can
5. On The Way
6. Don't Talk To Me
7. Summer's Arrived
8. I Have To Go
9. Throwing Stones
10. Flowers On The Bridge
The rocking Turn It Down is the first single from the album and is released on March 31st.
And to round off an exciting period for the band comes news that Paul Weller
