Various Artists - Doing It For The Kids

01. The Jasmine Minks - You Cut Me Deep
02. Felt - Ballad Of The Band
03. The House Of Love - Christine
04. The Weather Prophets - Well Done Sonny
05. Primal Scream - All Fall Down
06. Biff Bang Pow! - She Paints
07. The Jazz Butcher - Lot 49
08. Heidi Berry - North Shore Train
09. Nikki Sudden - Death Is Hanging Over Me
10. My Bloody Valentine - Cigarette In My Bed
11. Pacific - Jetstream
12. The Times - Godevil
13. Momus - A Complete History Of Sexual Jealousy (Parts 17-24)
14. Emily - Reflect On Rye
15. Razorcuts - Brighter Now

1988 Creation Records | CRELP037
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Not a mod record as such, but in 1989 when I got this, I had been beginning to cast my net a bit wider for new sounds. Needs must and all that. I had passed it over a few times before, but I had noticed it had a Times track and some of the band names sounded vibey. Then I read somewhere that Alan McGee had named the label after my favourite 60s band The Creation, not to mention calling his band Biff Bang Pow! after one of their tracks, and I was sold. I suppose Creation Records offered me (and probably many others) a way out of being soley into mod music while keeping my mod credentials. It was the perfect missing link between mod music and the sounds I was later into. It also played no small part in mod music in general regaining its iconic status during the nineties, when bands like Ride, Oasis and others were declaring their 60s influences.
Like most compilations, it's patchy fare at times, but it does feature some soon to be big names like Primal Scream, House Of Love and My Bloody Valentine, who are still one of my favourite bands, though Cigarette In My Bed went right over my head at the time. Other worthy mentions go to the Jasmine Minks opener and the beautiful Brighter Now by The Razorcuts which closes the album.



www.creation-records.com

Various Artists - The Cutting Edge

01. Purple Hearts - Let's Get A Burger Man
02. The Risk - I Know A Girl
03. Beat Direction - Ska Au Go Go
04. 5:30 - Catcher In The Rye
05. XL - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
06. Manual Scan - Jungle Beat
07. The Blades - A Chance To Stop (Demo)
08. The Dansette - This Is Your Life
09. The Risk - Nice People
10. Solid State - Train To London Town
11. Squire - Debbie Jones (Demo)
12. Ministers Of The Groove - Getting Out Of Your Life
13. The Blades - Last Man In Europe (Demo)
14. The Dansette - I Will Be Strong

1985 Razor Records | RAZS16
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I got this a few years after it was released at a time when my interest in the mod scene was waning, so my memories of it are quite mixed. At the time, it was considered one of the better compilation of 80s mod bands, though there was quite a range in quality and production. Of interest were the two Blades tracks which were alternate versions of those which appeared on their Last Man In Europe album. It also featured the first 5:30 (aka Five Thirty) single, who would go on to earn some praise in the UK music weeklies in the early 90s. The Squire track Debbie Jones was also an alternative version to that which appeared on the September Gurls EP, utilising what sounds like an early drum machine and some odd dual mono panning in the mix. I think this version may have popped up on their fanclub album Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed. One of the better things about the album was the artwork, credited to P. Hallam and Terry Rawlings, author of the book MOD: A Very British Phenomenon.

Fabulous Records presents: A Fabulous Compilation

01. James Taylor Quartet - Blow Up
02. The Needles - I Want You
03. Living Stones - You Better Stop Now
04. The Otherside - Mrs. Jones
05. The Babelfish - Talk About Alice (Set Me Free)
06. The Girls - More Than Enough
07. Chocolate Factory - Baby What You Want Me To Do
08. The Offbeats - For The Millionth Time
09. The Candlesticks - Be My Baby
10. The Passengers - Take It away
11. Die Sache - Who's In My Garage?
12. Makin' Time - Crawling Up A Hill (Live)

1987 FAB Records, Germany | FAB-L007
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Great compilation which I remember buying on account of J.T.Q., Makin' Time and The Offbeats track, which had appeared on an In The Crowd modzine flexi-disc (along with The Pictures) which I had lost. The emphasis here is very much on a sixties garage sound, with some acts pulling it off better than others. Highlights for me were The Girls, The Living Stones and The Passengers tracks while Die Sache, The Babelfish and The Needles cover of Bob Dylan's I Want You were filler at best.
As I recall, the inner was a nice, shiny, silver and black, op-art style plastic sleeve, which I probably sacrificed for the wall.
Sadly, I've no pic for this and couldn't find one anywhere, or much info on Fab Records either.

Various Artists - The Beat Generation And The Angry Young Men

01. Long Tall Shorty - That's What I Want
02. Small Hours - Underground
03. Purple Hearts - I'll Make You Mine
04. Les Elite - Frustration
05. Long Tall Shorty - I Do
06. Merton Parkas - Dangerous Man
07. Les Elite - Get A Job
08. Directions - Weekend Dancers

09. Purple Hearts - Concrete Mixer
10. Les Elite - Career Girl
11. Long Tall Shorty - All By Myself
12. Directions - It May Be Too Late
13. Merton Parkas - You Say You Will
14. Small Hours - The Kid
15. Purple Hearts - Hazy Darkness...

1984 Well Suspect Records | SUSS 1
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"What you are now holding is the net result of five weeks hard slog in a dingy Soho basement. A compilation of some 15 demos and unreleased singles, which if it wasn't for a handful of dedicated, young believers, would have remained buried amongst piles of nameless studio out-takes for time immemorial. Names like The Merton Parkas, Purple Hearts and Long tall Shorty will instantly bring back memories of that hot and sweaty summer of '79, when mod had not yet received its death sentence from the music press and you could still catch any of a dozen young mod bands live in a given week."
(from sleevenotes)



Eddie Piller interview at Mod Madrid.