The Girls of Texas 60's - Various Artists

The best known girl group in Texas during the late 60's was The Heart Beats of Lubbock who are included on this album, along with other great female led bands and that is unfortunately the extent of what I know about this album, but it really is worth a listen!

1. [02:19] The Heartbeats – Crying Inside
2. [02:44] The Heartbeats – Poor Side Of Town
3. [02:36] The Brazen Hussies – Climbing The Wall
4. [02:12] Kay Gramm & The Bandettes – Cross My Heart
5. [03:07] Leisha Brodie – Cross My Heart
6. [06:14] Lou Ann Barton – I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home
7. [05:22] Lou Ann Barton – He’s Gotta Use His Head (To Turn Me On)
8. [03:15] The Heartbeats – Choo Choo Train
9. [02:08] The Heartbeats – Little Latin Lupe Lu
10. [02:34] The Bombshells – Treat Her Right
11. [02:24] The Brazen Hussies – Imitation Me
12. [02:03] The Bad Girls – Santa’s Got A Brand New Bag
13. [02:02] The Baxterettes – Why Oh Why Does Barbara Cry
14. [02:18] Friday & The Girls – An Older Boy 

Get it: HERE

THE LOOP - ALBUM RELEASE 23rd January 2012 (MOD/ POWER POP)

Releasing their second album "Shame" today, another band blowing the bloody doors off the little shop of audible wonders is The Loop from Cambridge, a band with a great bunch of songs to make your feet tap prior to your whole body leaping up and dancing around wherever you are! 

 

 The Loop are: Martin Holt - Guitars, Vocals, Darren Day - Drums, Vocals, Steve Wilson - Bass Guitars

 

Formed in the Summer of 2003 The Loop have steadily established themselves as a no-frills guitar based power trio playing gutsy, melodic, powerful songs with a simplistic ‘in yer face’ approach. Martin draws on life experiences when writing the songs and refuses to envelop them in sugary, stereotypical coatings for the masses to conform. Darren & Jamie provide the tight driving force behind this unique, refreshing and energetic collaboration.

The band was developed with a simple ethos in mind: "We've all chased the dream before, we have paid our dues many times over. We would love to turn professional but, we are realistic (not cynical!) and enjoy what we do but our friendship and families come first." 

With debut Album ‘Game Over’ available from I-tunes and ‘the difficult’ 2nd Album ‘Shame’ getting glowing reviews prior to it’s release The Loop are looking to steadily claim more converts by gigging extensively. Keep an eye out and catch them when you can. 

"As British as the river Thames!"

 This band are being raved about just about everywhere I look right now, Mod Radio UK to Glory Boy Radio, to name a couple of places, don't miss out on them, that would be an absolute crime!!!

You can contact The Loop on FACEBOOK and at their MYSPACE page and you can purchase the new album on Itunes or you can order a physical copy of the album at DETOUR RECORDS

Squire - Get Smart! - 1983

 

Somewhere between the delicate power pop of Shoes and the classy British pop of mid-period Jam sits the wonderful world of Squire. No, not Billy "The Stroke" Squier. This is Squire, the groovy mod trio fronted by Anthony Meynell, one of pop music's unsung heroes. Spanning the years 1980-1984, this exceptional compilation concentrates on the latter half of the band's career, and contains almost their entire Get Smart album. By this point in the band's career, Meynell had tired of the musical restrictions that the mod scene had thrust upon him. Adding more overdubs in the studio (including a horn section), Meynell created some of the brightest, most exhilarating, guitar-based pop music of the early '80s. Sidestepping such influences as the Who and the Kinks, and embracing Lennon's edge from the Beatles ("No Time Tomorrow"), and the bright, sunny vibe from the Monkees ("Standing In The Rain"), Squire did not create disposable pop, they created timeless pop. Many of these tracks could have been released in the mid-'60s or even in the early '90s at the height of Brit-pop. "Every Trick In The Book Of Love," "You're the One," "My Mind Goes Round In Circles," "Girl On A Train," "Stop That Girl," and "Take A Look" are nothing less than perfect pop songs. When Meynell puts down his pen and records a cover version (including Shoes' "Boys Don't Lie" and Big Star's "September Gurls"), the results are nothing less than Squire-like. Sadly, the only low point on this disc is the A-side of their fan club-only final single, "The Young Idea," which, strangely enough, was probably considered a high point when first released! Mod and power pop fans should keep their eyes peeled for this gem of a CD. It's worth the hype! -AMG

Available at itunes

The Who - Sell Out (Deluxe Edition)

The Who Sell Out was given a deluxe reissue in 1995, a reissue that greatly expanded upon the original 13-track album, adding a plethora of outtakes -- some heavily bootlegged -- and rejected jingles to the end of the album proper. That 1995 reissue seemed to mine the vaults pretty thoroughly, removing the need for another expanded reissue, especially not one as lengthy as this 2009 double-disc expansion. In a certain sense that's true, as there's not a whole lot of previously unreleased material among these 53 tracks: there's a rather excellent, snappy studio take on "Summertime Blues," a full version of "Premier Drums," an instrumental called "Sodding About" that could function as the introduction to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (and was indeed planned as part of a rejected instrumental EP with that track), and a tighter yet inferior remake of "Rael 1 & 2," plus a few scattered jingles on the first disc, while the second has a stereo demo of "Relax" that's quite different, and a stereo "Glittering Girl," along with alternate mixes that are rare enough to seem previously unreleased. Unreleased tracks aren't the reason for this package, un-reissued mixes are, with the first disc containing the original stereo mix of Sell Out, the second the original mono mix. Often, parsing these kinds of mixes is the province of fanatics...and to a certain extent that's true here, at least in regards to the stereo mix, which does feel different than the 1995 reissue: it's different but not dramatically so. That's not the case with the mono mix, which is punchier and occasionally graced with additional flair, like a completely different guitar solo on "Our Love Was." Also, this reissue flows differently than the 1995 deluxe edition, which was sequenced to mimic the original album's pirate radio flow. That sensibility is retained on the first disc, where unbilled commercials pop up between the bonus tracks, but on the second disc the bonus material stands slightly apart from the rest of the album, which may be an appropriate move because this disc houses many of the alternate mixes and trails out with uncredited backwards backing tracks for "Armenia City in the Sky" and an unreleased commercial for the U.S. product Great Shakes. Despite all the repeated songs and differing mixes, it's only these hidden clips that feel like collector bait; there's such infectious joy and invention to this music, it's easy to get swept up in its momentum. Besides, repetition has always been the name of the game in radio, so having songs repeat throughout this deluxe edition of The Who Sell Out only accentuates and strengthens its initial pop art concept, which makes this a rare Deluxe Edition that manages to improve an already great album, and offers up a wealth of rarities while still being immensely entertaining. (Collector's note: even though this does have a wealth of rarities, it does not contain "Melancholia" and "Glow Girl" which were on the 1995 disc, giving further reason than the different mix to hold onto that reissue.) - All Music Guide

Link in comments.

Dodgy - The Dodgy Album

The Dodgy Album is the debut 1993 album by the British indie group Dodgy.

"Water Under the Bridge", the first single released from this album, saw the beginning of "the way of dodgy", a step-by-step enlightened 'dodgy' philosophy that would appear on the record sleeves for each of their future recordings. The artwork also included their 'mdv' logo. The single was released in early 1993, and the video for the song featured the band in Amsterdam.
The second single was "Lovebirds", a song that had won them award on Gary Crowley's GLR show during the band's youth. Included on the single was the acoustic live favourite "Big Brown Moon".
Continuing their new shiny artwork single success, Dodgy released "I Need Another", the cover of which depicted the band as garden gnomes and included a campfire version of "Never Again", complete with the sound of crackling logs.

Get it: HERE

THE THEME - MOD/POWER POP

 

The Theme are:

Gary Davis -lead vocals, Paul Bassom - lead guitarist, Martin Gamby - Drums, Anthony Morgan - bass and Reece Wiggett - lead/rhythm guitar.

 I heard THE THEME recently on the Glory Boy Radio show playing the track "The first time I saw you" and I was immediately taken back to 1979 where I was sitting in front of a remoteless, fat television set, microphone in one hand and the other hand poised above the pause button of my mobile cassette recorder in pretty much the way I did when waiting for The Jam to appear on Top of the Pops back then.  The Theme's sound is full of energy, it is exciting, melodic and fun, and whilst it takes you back to another time of great music, it also sits comfortably besides the likes of Oasis The Real People and Ocean Colour Scene.

 

                                   The Theme is bringing the britpop/mod scene back to life!

The Theme describe themselves as a South London fusion of Brit-Pop and post-Punk Modrock! This is not sixties flower-power, it's hard-hitting rock music in the best traditions of Mod-Revival Power Pop.  "We're not trying to re-invent the wheel, we just wanna play some rock and roll."

 

The band have just released an excellent six track EP/mini Album, all six tracks have a real British sound about them, something that is extremely refreshing in amongst all these pseudo American RnB singers that seem to be thrust upon us from every direction at the moment, the EP is available to download from itunes HERE.

            "We love the music, we love the clothes, but this is our music and this is our sound…"

GIGS

100 Club Oxford Street Friday Febuarary 3rd
Purple Turtle Camden Friday Febuarary 10th
Camden Rocks Friday 24th Febuaray
Billeracy Football Club Friday 9th March, supporting The Mannerquins.
Southend Riga Bar April 14th supporting The Most (mod band)
Islington O2 April 18TH.

The Theme are a good honest, well dressed rock 'n' roll band playing the music they love and are having a great time doing it..........and that is exactly when the best music is made!

You can contact the The Theme on FACEBOOK  and read more about them at REVERBNATION

MOD ON! (Expression copyright Carl Grisley)

Purple Hearts - Beat That. 1979

 

Outstanding disc by one of the best of the Mod Revival Bands.  Solid musicianship, witty and well-delivered lyrics. This album is brilliant.  Thirty years after its release it sounds as fresh, energetic and as relevant now as it did in 1979.  If you are looking for a very good example of what "Mod Revival" sounds like, this is as good a place to start as any. 

 Get it: HERE (NEW LINK)