It’s been a busy week. Here’s a selection of mod tunes from the 60s to the 90s.
The Jam began 1977 without a record contract. By December, they had recorded two albums—In the City and This Is the Modern World, released a mere six months apart—and catapulted from the bottom of the bill to headlining halls throughout England. Much of the trio’s remarkable rise, as chronicled in the four-CD/single-DVD box 1977, can be attributed to the fact that they were an unusually disciplined band. Paul Weller, the group’s lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist, took rock & roll very seriously, especially in those early days, when he treated even trifles like “Non-Stop Dancing” as calls to arms. Good times were a matter of life or death, a sensibility that led Weller, bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler to sound urgent even when the stakes were relatively low.
[...]
New wave is “an attitude of the youth,” echoing a lyric from the Jam’s debut single, “In the City.” On that lacerating song—a two-minute, 17-second blast that makes all the possibilities in this world seem endless—Weller vowed, “I wanna tell you about the young ideas,” explicitly positioning the Jam as ambassadors of adolescent culture. Compared to their punk peers, it was a fair claim. British punk was filled with pub-rock refugees—guys on the other side of 25 who decided to don leather and rush the tempo upon hearing the Sex Pistols. And while Foxton and Buckler were the same age as most of the Pistols, the Clash and the Damned—all hovering somewhere in their early 20s—Weller was 18 when his group signed to Polydor. He sounds keenly aware of his age on the band's early catalog, composing rallying cries of teenage rebellion and romance, and happily conflating the two emotions in his songwriting and performances. — Pitchfork
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the Jam 'In the City' (1977)
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A ripper from the Small Faces. Members went to the Faces (of course), the Who and Humble Pie (among others). At times this song is on the brink of falling apart but somehow the band keeps it together.
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the Small Faces 'Come On Children' (1966)
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The Odd Numbers (Dave Baisa, Dave Miller, John Cummings) began in 1988 hailing from San Jose, California. Straight out of high school they began playing a mix of sixties beat, 70s punk, soul and powerpop. Playing the local colleges and parties for a audience of mostly punks, mods and skaters after a year or so they moved into the clubs where they were discovered by Ray Stevens II (of the Faction) who began managing and producing them. By 1990 they’d released their first LP About Time which was featured heavily in skateboarding videos put out by The New Deal and Santa Cruz. — Beer City Records
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the Odd Numbers 'About Time' (1990)
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WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Kimmel: Christian Slater, Chase Stokes, KEM, guest host Anthony Anderson
Jimmy Fallon: Kate Beckinsale, Fred Armisen, Leon Bridges
Stephen Colbert: Hannah Einbinder, Alex Falcone
Seth Meyers: Mindy Kaling, Jack Antonoff, Bleachers, Taku Hirano
James Corden: Pete Buttigieg, Jordan McGraw (R 4/26/21)
Lilly Singh: Amber Ruffin (R 4/7/21)
SPOILER WARNING
A late night gathering for non serious palaver that does not speak of that night’s show. Posting a spoiler will get you brollywhacked. You don’t want that to happen to you. It's a fate worse than a fate worse than death.
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the Chords ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ (1980)
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Merton Parkas 'Put Me in the Picture' (1980)
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LAST WEEK'S POLL: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIVIDE A NUMBER BY ZERO?
It's not possible to divide a number by zero, hence there is no answer. 53% 10 votes
The answer is infinity. 5% 1 vote
The answer is zero. 11% 2 votes
The answer is one. 0% 0 votes
The answer is the number itself. 21% 4 votes
I don't know. 11% 2 votes
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