Sussed #1

SUSSED a user’s guide to modernism €4.00

Inside.....

TO BE SOMEONE 30 Years of Irish Mods EDDIE PILLER Deconstructs Quadrophenia MOTOWN Singles, Hype&Soul IRISH BAND SCENE The Kids Are Alright and much more ....

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SUSSED

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FOR MODERNISTS BY MODERNISTS

It was outside the Long Hall on Georges street one Saturday afternoon that I said to Ray "do you know what'd be great....an Irish Modzine". That was the summer of last year and to be honest the idea parked itself for a bit - it could have been just one of those pipe dreams that come up when the ale is flowing but mentioning it to Ray was the best thing to happen. With his skills in DTP and eye for design and detail he has kept the vision from outgrowing itself. So towards the end of 2011 we set about collating articles "gotta have a bands page" "what about Fashion? Need something on clothes" "Clubs...whats happening around the island" and after a few phone calls things started to come together. So here we are some months later with the first issue of Sussed (the name comes from a Club Ray used to run back in the 00's)

Although there is a strong Irish slant to the Mag it's not a parish magazine and we intend to over whatever we think is interesting or noteworthy from within and without the island.

As can be seen from the articles in this issue Mod is truly a multi media phenomenon in the 21st century. Music is still central to the lifestyle so whether it be the classic vintage sounds of Northern, Jazz, Latin, RnB or the recent recordings we focus on in the New Retro article, everyone's boat should be well and truly floating.

Belfast's Marty McAlister's dissertation on the Irish Eighties Mod experience was the event of Q4 2011 and he writes for us on his the genesis of the project.

There's a comprehensive focus on Irish bands by Niall Gilmartin which shall serve as a taster for future articles and in depth profiles of the bands featured. Limericks Kev Fitzpatrick writes with razor sharp precision on the humble jacket.

Throw in some top tens, book reviews and miscellaneous odds and ends and we hope you feel your time has been well spent reading. Thanks to the contributors and all those who helped to get this magazine out.

FEATURES 4 5 6 8 9 10 13 14 15 16 18 20 22 23 24

TO BE SOMEONE Marty McAlister talks to Sussed

WE LIKE IT LIKE THAT The story of Latin Boogaloo reviewed THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT Top Irish bands doing the rounds

WHERE WERE YOU Garry O’Neill’s epic photo journal of Dublin youth culture JACKET REQUIRED Never get it wrong with this guide

QUADROPHENIA Eddie Piller deconstructs the Who’s magnum opus THE STRYPES Cavan Beat group re-hijack Mod THE JUNCTION Club -v-Club

RECENT NU-SOUL RELEASES Soul/Funk that’s easy on the pocket COCK OF THE WALK Worried about that first suit? Worry no more THE URGES We get the exclusive on new stuff

MOTOWN UK RELEASES 100 from the golden era

HYPE&SOU! Al Abrams, Motowns original plugger grants Sussed an audience MYRON & E Timmion Records’ finest reviewed

WE ARE THE MODS A review of E. E. Cassidys 2009 release

Sussed is brought to you by Joe Moran and Ray Gilligan.

Contributors: Niall Gilmartin, Marty McCallister, Eddie Piller, Kevin Fitzpatrick.

If you’d like to contribute to future issues or have your band or club featured or just to let us know what you think contact: email: seosaimhm@gmail.com. Postal address is 4 haydens park grove, Lucan Co. Dublin.

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TO BE SOMEONE Belfast Boy Marty Mc Allister talks to Sussed about the inspiration behind his book ‘To Be Someone - Mods in Ireland’

Daddy just buy me the Book and i’ll read it”, my then 9 year old Daughter Emily, after I’d bored her silly for about an hour about my Life as a Mod. That was my ‘Lightbulb’ moment. There was no book on Mods in Ireland, nothing! No point of interest for future generations, nothing to show or tell our Grandchildren about the most exciting, adventurefilled, coolest youth culture to ever hit the shores of this tiny Island of Ireland. So here I am, 3 years on, and a lot of time and effort put in, and a finished product.

Top Mod Faces are here, Eddie Piller (on his experiences in Ireland), Joe Moran, Joe Kinsella, Fiona Mellon and from the younger Generation, Niall “Gilly“ Gilmartin , who, may I add, has helped me immensely. Thank you Gilly! /you’re a top Bloke. North of the border people have touched on how, at the height of the “Troubles“, they were determined not to let political hard times stand in their way of looking sharp and cool. We also have Hugh Burns, former lead singer with Cinnamon Firm, Paul May, Noelene Shelmerdine and Paul Williams, from Donegal John Doherty and loads more.

“dress smart and sharp and carry yourself with dignity and pride”

“To Be Someone - Mods In Ireland“, will excite and hopefully inspire the Youth of Ireland, that you dont have to wear trackies and a baseball cap, and grubby trainers, but to dress smart and sharp and carry yourself with dignity and pride. Have a look into History. What has gone before? Then take it into the future, be Modern, be Sussed, be Sharp. Second Generation Mods in Ireland have given me an insight into their lives. What has inspired them, what makes them tick, why they are Mods.

Internet has made it easier for me to contact people, Facebook, Mod Sites, Scooter Sites, suppose a lot easier than An Post or Royal Mail. A lot of interesting accounts from all over Ireland from Donegal to Cork, Belfast to Dublin, The Legendary “Irish Jack“ gives a fantastic foreword for the Book. All the SUSSED 4

MODS IN IRELAND

It’s amazing how everyone has a story to tell, yet were inspired by a lot of the same things, in 79/80 The Jam and the Revival Bands, but yet it’s all individual, how we delved into 60s Culture to learn and educate ourselves on the Original Mods of 61/62.

The progression of Chicago House exploded into Acid House/ Rave, but the roots of Mod were still there thanks to Eddie Piller and Acid Jazz. The 90s saw it come to life again, only in a slightly different form, Britpop! But the inspiration was still the same. This is the Story of the Second Generation Mods in

Ireland. Go anywhere in the World and people will all say the same thing.........”Those Irish Mods are Cool as F..k!

Marty Mc Allister

Adam Cooper from Heavy Soul has came on board to help with the editing and publishing of the book. Published on Dec 2011, To Be Someone is available from: http://www.heavysoul45s.co.uk/

Here’s Marty’s current fave tunes....

All absolute belters!

Humanize

Big Boss Man

Grow Your Own Small Faces

Summertime Blues The Nitepeople

My Baby Likes To Boogaloo Don Gardner

I’m Alive

Don Fardon

The Autumn Stone Small Faces

Le Responsable Jacques Dutronc

Berts Apple Crumble The Quik

10 Biff Bang Pow The Creation

I’ll Keep Holding On The Action

Galway DJ Dave Barry has been quietly buiLding a reputation as one of the islands premier soul spinners.

He also has a vast collection and love of Jamiacan music. Here he takes time to list his favourite Ska tunes.....

ONLY SOUL CAN TELL - DAKOTA JIM (BLUE BEAT)

This is a very soulful ska number of the highest order. Actually Slim Smith on vocals over a solid ska beat by the Dakota All Stars.

Add to this a scorching flipside (Call Me Master) and you can see why you would be doing well to get change out of 300 for this Blue Beat gem.

WATERMELON MAN - BABA BROOKS (R&B)

The definitive ska version of the Herbie Hancock classic. Byron Lee does a lively version but Brook s has the edge in the style department - Definitely one for the mods!

We like it like that – the story of Latin BooGaloo

JET 707 - PRINCE BUSTER ALL STARS Awww-bi bi,BEAT) aww bi-bi those noises (BLUE with Another heard at theBlue start ofBeat the Joe Cubaa hefty price tag but wellrelease worth the shekels! A real tour de againselling million Bang Bang force of a skaofnumber this one. Relentless heralded the advent a short lived rhythm from beginning to end. Great! but much loved New York scene – Boogaloo.

Although Boogaloo had been around for many PEMPELEM - AZIE LAWRENCE (BLUE years in the music of the likes of Richie Rey it BEAT) wasn’t until the late sixties that the fusion of Latin Gained popularity on the soul/mod circuit in beat and soulfew sensibilities into price a the last years cohered and the has rocketed seperate genre. few short glorious as close as And youfor lla get to a 4 figured ska tune these A was belting little number with great years thedays.

Boogaloo the music of choice in crooning vocal. the Spanish areas of the city.

TRAIN TO SKAVILLE From 1965 to 1970, musicians in - THE ETHIOPIANS (RIO) New York City fused English and

Not actually a ska tune but rather an early Spanish lyrics with Afro-Cuban, reggae track. Amazing stuff all the same and a jazz, rock and R&BJA rhythms and mods. stalwart for loving

melodies to create Latin boogaloo. It was a period of revolution and social awakening SOUL TIME - BYRON LEE AND KEN and young Latinos(BRA) in search of their identity, LAZARUS And the said letlike there be ska... Just growing up Lord in neighborhoods East Harlem listen to the seconds and the South Bronx,first adopted10 Latin boogalooof as this tune, and if you re not hooked, give up on the auld their soundtrack. This audience, once on the Ska -Sterling stuff! verge of leaving Latin music behind, now came to appreciate it. With the emergence of DOG WAR - THE MAYTALS (BLUE BEAT) salsa, another New York creation, An interesting one and before you say it I know some also say theknown Latin boogaloo was its as Broadway Jungle. For some reason the is missing the first killed off, not

by Bluebeat the fans, but press by few seconds while on JA Wildbells (Jamaica Ska industry politics. on the label) it has the lot. One of the Maytals shining moments. Two and a half minutes of pure manic We Like It and Like That explores. this fascinating, yelpin hollerin Brilliant!

though often overlooked, bridge in Latin music history, seeking to understand its context in the SKA RHYTHM - C. HYMAN (SKA BEAT) Does what it on the label but in story ofexactly Latinos in America andsays its continued case you re still unsure influence around the world today. Mr C.Hyman tells us what its all about over some quality horns Featuring original interviews with Joe Bataan, interplay. Get on it!

Johnny Colon, Ricardo Ray, Jimmy Sabater (of the Joe Cuba Sextet), Joey- Pastrana, PHOENIX CITY ROLAND ALPHONSO (DR Larry Harlow, Harvey Averne, Angel BIRD) Lebron (of the Lebron Brothers), A total scorcher of a classic ska. It simply doesn't get than this. Tight Benny Bonilla (of much the the better Pete arrangements and Luciano, rhythms from the Skatalites Rodriguez band), Felipe with blistering solos by Roland Al. 10/10 Aurora Flores, Sandra Maria Esteves, Alex Masucci, Oliver Wang, JuanMcCOOK Flores, Bobby SKA JAM - TOMMY & THE Sanabria, Bobbito Garcia and others.

SUPERSONICS (RIO) To say that we here at Sussed are excited about If Aliens landed in your back garden and asked this project somewhat an understatement – about - all what allisthis 60s ofska business was we shall be keeping an is eye grab on howyour the project you d need to do copy of the genius group Tommy and McCook andknow. the Supersonics Ska Jam comes together will let you and drop guarantee We like it likethe that –needle. the story ofILatin BooGaloo those Aliens will be

10 skanking 'til Jupiter.

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i-Bi-Aww Bi-Bi-Aww, those vocalisings heard at the start of the Joe Cuba million selling release Bang Bang heralded the advent of a short lived but much loved New York scene – Boogaloo. Although Boogaloo had been around for many years in the music Richie Rey it wasn’t until the late sixties that the fusion of Latin beat and soul sensibilities cohered into a seperate genre. And for a few short glorious years the Boogaloo was the music of choice in the Spanish areas of the city.

From 1965 to 1970, musicians in New York City fused English and Spanish lyrics with Afro-Cuban, jazz, rock and R&B rhythms and melodies to create Latin boogaloo. It was a period of revolution and social awakening and young Latinos in search of their identity, growing up in neighborhoods like East Harlem and the South Bronx, adopted Latin boogaloo as their soundtrack. This audience, once on the verge of leaving Latin music behind, now came to appreciate it. With the emergence of salsa, another New York creation, some say the Latin boogaloo was killed off, not by the fans, but by industry politics.

We Like It Like That explores this fascinating, though often overlooked, bridge in Latin music history, seeking to understand its context in the story of Latinos in America and its continued influence around the world today.

Featuring original interviews with Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon, Ricardo Ray, Jimmy Sabater (of the Joe Cuba Sextet), Joey Pastrana, Larry Harlow, Harvey Averne, Angel Lebron (of the Lebron Brothers), Benny Bonilla (of the the Pete Rodriguez band), Felipe Luciano, Aurora Flores, Sandra Maria Esteves, Alex Masucci, Oliver Wang, Juan Flores, Bobby Sanabria, Bobbito Garcia and others.

To say that we here at Sussed are excited about this project is somewhat of an understatement – we shall be keeping an eye on how the project comes together and will let you know in future issues how the project develops For more info http://mathewwarren.com/

SUSSED 5

The Kids a

Appearing on the Sussed radar are a number of Irish Mod Influenced bands doing the rounds. This issue profiles four of strong interest plus later on we feature two of the island’s finest, The Urges and The Strypes...

ReSoul

Formed in Dublin in March 2011, are a band that draws its influences from 60's Mod, Beat & Soul movements, the Punk & New Wave of the 70's & 80's right up to the guitar based revival music of the 90's. This wide range of influences include The Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, The Stones, The Who, The Supremes, TRex, Bowie, Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Smiths, Stone Roses and Oasis. Using these acts as their foundation ensures that ReSoul are a group that makes quality, honest & real music!

Despite their relatively short time together as a group, ReSoul have got themselves into the studio and recorded many tracks including their sublime “Ain't No Love (In This City)”, an outstanding debut outing that sets the bar high in terms of the standards that this group expects. Deco Fitzsimons is the group's main songwriter and lead singer, with brother Kilo supplying backing vocals and rhythm guitar, along with Mark Bolger on lead guitar followed by Chris Hogan on bass and Gary Ivory on drums.

The band recently performed a stunning 40 minute set at Whelans along with The Universal. Their blistering performance and ability to deliver these songs are a testament to the bands work ethic and professionalism. Most of the crowd were stunned to hear that the lads had only been together a matter of months.

ReSoul are a welcome and fresh addition to the current scene with a clear hunger and passion for what they do.

Looking forward to hearing more from these guys in the future. These lads are ones to watch out for. ReSoul play a showcase gig on April 20th in the Grand Social, Dublin and at SUSSED 6

the Rockin’ Road festival on May 27th. For more info see www.myspace.com/ReSoul-official www.youtube.com/user/ReSoulofficial www.facebook.com/pages/ReSoul-official

recommended listening: ‘Ain’t No Love In This City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51VPN43iZKw

The Penny Dreadfuls Your New Favourite Band, The Penny Dreadfuls were blasted onto this earth in July 2011.

Loud, Raucous and oozing attitude, after just 2 practises they found themselves supporting, Mod legends The Lambrettas.

Causing a Blitzkrieg of mayhem wherever they play, don't expect sweet music.

These boys find their influences in a dark place.....

The Penny Dreadfuls may not be pretty but they are fine and dandy, foppish and cool, with a very tight rhythm section, shreeching keyboard, Actionesque guitars and low down and dirty vocals. The Penny Dreadfuls will make their mark, be there!

Vocals & Rhythm Lead Guitar Bass Guitar Keyboard Drums

= = = = =

Benny Dreadful Bobby Dreadful Dreadful Norm Denny Dreadful Paddy Dreadful

recommended listening: ‘Dreadful Theme’ http://youtu.be/8vkgZIDH4mY

are Alright The Modfathers

Dublin band have been a staple of the Irish Mod scene since they formed in 2000.

Originally a three-piece consisting of Colin Doyle (Vocals/Guitar), Alan Bates (Drums), Colum Ashmore (Bass) the band have expanded to a four-piece with the addition of the talented Wayne Massey (Keyboards & Guitar), allowing the band to enhance and expand its musical soundscape.

Supertonic Sound Club are a new

Dublin based band playing a perfect synthesis of soul-funk with a touch of Dancefloor Jazz, Northern Soul and authentic Reggae/Ska, taking influences from 60s & 70s film soundtracks.

While the band’s main focus is on the music of The Jam, The Modfathers deliver a diverse and energetic set of Mod classics, including The Who, The Kinks, various Revival bands and their own original material. The band’s latest composition ‘Shape Up’, is a mix of the magic of early Jam with a sprinkling of the sound of The Blades. With a catchy chorus, backed up with a thundering rhythm section, ‘Shape Up’ is perfectly delivered by the fantastic vocals of Colin Doyle.

The band recently played a free gig to a packed crowd at Quinlan’s pub in Clondalkin, belting through a blistering set that included ‘This Is The Modern World’, ‘The Kids Are Alright’, ‘Boy About Town’, ‘Going Underground’ and a blinding version of Weller’s ‘From The Floorboards Up’. If you enjoy loud, power chord pop sound of the great Mod bands, then this is the band for you. A musically tight fourpiece who look as good onstage as they sound, The Modfathers keep going from strength to strength. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/themodfatherscolindoyle or look them up on Facebook for details on future gigs.

recommended listening: ‘Shape Up’ modfathersinfo@yahoo.ie

With scorching, energy filled live performances, this group quickly attracted national and international attention for their incredible and unique sound. In May 2010, they recorded sessions for both the BBC (Mark Lamarr's 'God's Jukebox') and RTE (The Tommy & Hector Show) as well as appearances on the Late Late Show. Their debut single was released earlier this year on Rowed Out Records in the UK, along with three other compositions and are a nice little taster to whet our appetites for their forthcoming debut album, scheduled for release later this year.

The band consists of Jim Pipe (Organ/Piano/Harpsichord), Gary Moran (Bass), Jim Magill (Drums/Percussion), Wil Lacombre (Guitar), Ronan O'Donnell (Saxophones), Armen Babasyan (Trumpet/Flugelhorn), Barry McBrien (Trombone) and have added a stroke of genius by featuring a switching line up of vocalists including Shelley Bukspan, Saranagati, Dave Barker, Sharon Osigwe and Cecile Gorge.

For more information go to http://www.myspace.com/supertonicsoundclub or look them up on Facebook. recommended listening: ‘Truly Something Special’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojD4iOpU5iU

SUSSED 7

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hough not necessarily Mod, and you’d think it may not have a place in a publication such as this, Sussed feels that ‘Where Were You’ warrants pride of place. The brainchild of Gary O’Neill, a Clanbrassil Street native (for the uninformed that’s Dublin 8) , this is a book that’s been literally years in the making. The end result bears testament to the hard work and time put in that such a project involves and requires.

You’ll find every page dripping with love and affection for all those youth movements that were so much a staple part of our collective youths and that made us, I suppose the Mods we are today? Youth movements exist through disrespect for authority, I’m sure we’ll all agree that’s a given, but had there been no Teds would Punks have existed and vice versa?

Had there been no Rockers would Mods have existed? (personally, I think we would’ve but that’s just me).

It’s all a huge paradigm that suggests a ‘chicken and egg’ scenario.... great fun to talk about and often equally great fun to get privately anthropological about. Mr O'Neill’s photographic trek through the annals of Dublin youth culture from the 1950’s up until the 90’s throws this cultural challenge out there for us to rub our chins even more about and suggests a man that, whose passion, sometimes bordering on the obsessive, could be the ONLY man for this job. Sussed talks to Gary about the background behind such a huge undertaking.

So, the obvious question to kick-off with, how did this come about?

The initial idea formed around 2001, through an combined interest in youth culture, street photography and old Dublin, which developed my enthusiasm to documented the city's young folk & whatever they were into. I'de always had an interest in youth culture that came about through older brothers and sisters being into different scenes and styles throughout the years and also the music i was listening to when growing up.

I became frustrated with not been able to find anything of substance that covered that aspect of Dublin life. I knew some people would certainly be able to relate to it and the fact that it hadn't been done before, and i thought if someone else was going to do it might not be as substantial as what i wanted to do, so after working on it for a few years, it was around December 2007 that i though "this is what i want to do". The next day i was on my way into work to hand in my notice, but the recession beat to to it, the firm went bust that day, and i started working on the book more or less full time after that.

How did you source the photos? Was it all just word of mouth or was there a science to it?

When i made my mind up to start the book, i drew up a list of people and places that were likely to yield material. It included newspapers, magazines and fanzines, current and past photographers and people that were involved in different scenes. About a year after that initial period of sourcing, flyers were made up and circulated at gigs, football matches, in pubs and on the street. I got a great response after handing out flyers for 18 months or more and because it was only about Dublin there was a constant line of "have spoke to such & such" and "My Auntie/Uncle was into that back then".

What are your stand out photos? Fave photo, hardest to source, one that gives you most satisfaction, etc?

I like the full page photos on page 27, page 65, page 73, page 95, page 155, page 185 and page 217. The group of girls in the top photo on page 67, the two girls in the top photo on page SUSSED 8

72, the top photo on page 98, the young Punk kids on page 163, the Ted couple on page 217, the Ted with dog on Page 197.

Some of my favourite photos are the early seventies Skinhead/Suedehead and Bridge Bootboys ones, but my favourite is probably the one of the two lads on the top of page 114, its thats look that was influenced by the Clockwork Orange film, it was more of a style than a scene at the time. They look like a couple of city gents in their bowler hats, crombie coats, pin-stripe parallels, ring socks and highly polished possibly George Webb shoes, and just like the Bridge Bootboys photos this kind were had to find, i found that one in, of all places, an old Irish humanities school book.

What was the cut-off point. The point that you felt had brought it to completion?

When i was satisfied that i had enough of the right material that covered all the areas that i wanted to feature, i didnt want to leave anything out if i could help it. That point came with the acquisition of the Bridge Bootboy photos, as they were proving quite hard to find and i didn't want to have a book without them in it, so once i got them i was more or less happy with everything, well, about 95%, i would have liked to got more photos from the glam era and a few other scenes, but as a labour of love i could have continued collecting photos for a few more years so there was a necessity once i had found those more elusive photos to say "right thats it".

It's a piece of work, I know I and nearly

everyone I know were looking forward to, similar to when your fave band used to bring out a new album you'd literally run into town that day to pick it up. Did you foresee the positive response the book has got?

Not really, i knew there was a lot of interest in it because there hadn't previously been a book that properly covered the subject, and lots of people liked the idea of a book like this and were wondering what exactly it was going to be like, as it was covering their scenes, style etc.

So when it eventually came out i think there was genuine surprise at the quality & size of the finished job. The response has been great, i think in the current economic climate its giving a lot of people a certain sense of comfort in its nostalgia.

The scale of this project would imply there's more to come from 'WHERE WERE YOU?' So what next?

There's the documentary film based on the same subject as the book. There will be the online archive with hundreds of photos that didn't make the book, the archive will be an ongoing thing where people can add old photos alongside any new material that i get. There might be a bigger photo exhibition and also the possibility of more books with the same quality as Where Were You? and hopefully some WWY shows featuring talks and debates from people featured in the book

Where Were You? has sold out in it’s first hardback run but will be available from leading stockists from March 2012.

jacket required.....

Night out on the cards so you’ve decided to buy a New Jacket. What to buy? Surely it’s an easy choice? Slim Lapels, Three Buttons, Side Vents and Ticket Pocket.....done.

Mod Styling, you’re ready to go. Except you get there and every Mod is wearing a slightly different version of the same Jacket? That can’t be right.

What happened to Individual styling? After 50years of Mod surely we’ve got some other options?

1

The Three Two Roll

Perfected by Brooks Brothers in the US this Ivy League Staple is definitely worth a look. The Jacket has Three Buttons but the Lapels roll over the top button giving a two button closure. Check out Steve McQueen, mid 60’s, for perfect styling.

2

The Blazer

Another Ivy Classic. In Dark Navy with Two or Three buttons, patch pockets also look great with this style. Note in the picture white buttons are used and two buttons on the cuff to finish, makes for nice detailing.

3

The Madras Check

A Bleeding Madras jacket with a crisp white shirt and a nicely cut pair of trousers will match any suit in the style stakes. Back in the day Georgie Fame had this look down to a T in the jazz and blues clubs of London.

4

5

by Kevin Fitzpatrick

The Bumfreezer

Generally associated with Italian style tailoring the jacket is cut short and tight. One, two, three or double breasted can be cut in this style. The fit on this is “Greyhound style” so not for all shapes.

The Cotton Sports Jacket

Great for Spring or Summer, can be casual or formal depending on what you team it with. Three button on this style is a classic Mod look.

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6

The Seersucker Jacket

A Summer favourite of mine, worn to perfection by Brian Jones, Mick Jagger et al. The light cotton is perfect for the summer sun allowing cool air to circulate to the body, plus they are cool as f~#k... Ralph Lauren have a great “Made in Italy” range of Seersucker with Patch Pockets and 3/2 roll finish.

The Double Breasted

Four or six button closure the Double breast is a classic mod style. Four button as pictured would be my style of choice.

Whatever you settle on, Tailored or Off The Peg, make sure firstly that it FITS. Finish it off with a pocket square to add a flash of colour and a shirt/tie combo to compliment and individualise your own MOD style SUSSED 9

QUADRO

With the recent deluxe reissue of the Who’s 1973 seminal rock opera and the ever divisive subsequent movie, guest contributor Eddie Piller looks at Pete Meaden’s influence on Quadrophenia and its continuing impact today.....

Q

Peter Meaden.

Innovator, manager, businessman, Mod 1941-1978

uadrophenia was Pete Townshend's retrospective view of his early life in music. Consequently, it is highly stylised and idealised.

To understand where the film came from, one has to examine the trilogy that became The Who's first important body of work. Townshend conceived the idea of a teenage rock opera that told the story of Jimmy, a composite and complex character who tried to lead the perfect mod life with disastrous results.

Consequently, Quadrophenia became the ultimate mod experience. The album was released with an extensive photo-book of his character's life experience which was designed to be looked at whilst listening to the album. Townshend's mind was straying to the visual even then.

On it's release the album was a worldwide international hit. The sixties modernists were long gone and the band's audience wore the denims more associated with the antithesis of mod - the rocker. This did not diminish the impact of the album, but such are the machinations of the international film industry that it took a further five years before the Who's then managers were in the position to make the movie.

SUSSED 10

Bill and Jackie Curbishley had taken over from the mercurial Lambert and Stamp in guiding the Who's career. They had painstakingly assembled a team which included cult director Franc Roddam.

Eventually the finance fell into place and production on Townshend's opus began in 1978.

The production team included Peter Meaden, who enthusiastically sourced locations based on his early mod experiences in Shepherd's Bush. Meaden had been Pete Townshend's first guru. He became manager of the proto-Who High Numbers and was seen by many as the only true mod-philosopher-poet of the 1960s. His ideas set the standard for the concept of youth-culture-as-art-ascommodity. He became a major influence on Townsend in his formative years and obviously thought that the mercurial guitarist had returned the favour with the story of the film. He was quoted as saying after he had read the script, 'Townshend's writing about me, man, this is the story of my life'.

Quadrophenia's investors to visualise a celluloid rough-art-house-movie as a break-even tax-loss, perhaps even as a quaint and historically accurate period piece. Life as a young mod autobiographical for many of them. None could have possibly predicted the social future. It was here that fate dealt a particularly prescient hand.

Punk rock had swept all asunder in 1976.

It destroyed the cosy relationship between the prog-dinosaurs and the complacent record companies. The original movement burnt brightly but quickly died. In its wake it left a new generation of inner city youth who were frustrated with their contemporary surroundings. By 1978 this disparate group of non-punks had coalesced around a young Woking band called The Jam. The antithesis of their punk contemporaries, they were a modinfluenced three piece who rejected McClaren's elitist mantra and who collectively sowed the seeds for the forthcoming mod revival.

“the parallels between Townsend’s Jimmy Cooper and Peter Meaden were obvious”

Indeed the parallels between Townsend's Jimmy Cooper and Peter Meaden were obvious.

Cooper is eventually overwhelmed by a sea of amphetamine insecurity and paranoia which results in him taking his own life at the end of the film. This was sadly reflected when Meaden ended his own life with a barbituate overdose just before Quadrophenia finished production.

His genius was a sporadic thing.

Moments of complete clarity in pursuit of the aesthetic commercial ideal contrasted with periods of dark depression.

He died without ever seeing the end result on screen.

Whilst in 1975 it would have been easy for

The Jam based their style, attitude and music around that of the Who's Meadeninspired glory-period (1964-1966). A sharp mod image was backed with Paul Weller's iconic world-view and a propensity for speedfuelled r’n’b flavoured modernist anthems.

The parallels between the Jam and the early Who were striking.

When the producers of Quadrophenia were looking for mod-extras for the film, small-ads in the music weeklies bought forward a plethora of teenage Jam fans and scooter riding proto-mods. Clothes?

'No problem, we'll bring our own'...Dancing.?

'Yeah, we know the dances'. Fight scenes.?

'Yeah, piece of piss, we fucking hate rockers'.

Realism was not a problem.

The proto-mod revivalists and the producers of Quadrophenia collaborated in what soon became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Quadrophenia was a film about mods, THE film about mods. For the first time in fifteen years British kids were living the mod life. Perfect timing. By the time

OPHENIA Quadrophenia hit the streets in mid summer 1979 mods were already a fixture in most British towns. The film's producers targeted this unexpected but most welcome audience. They utilised the potential for conflict and confrontation (echoes of Stanley Cohen's seminal work on youth culture 'Folk Devils And Moral Panics') local press resounded with headlines like 'Mod Riot at Cinema' and 'Mods vs. Rockers violence over film bring back memories of the sixties'. Even the legendary 'Councillor says Ban This Film' made an appearance.

This publicity, alongside that of the post Jam-second-wave-of -groups from the burgeoning mod revival scene (The Chords, The Purple Hearts, Secret Affair, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Merton Parkas, Lambrettas, Special Aka, Madness et al) were receiving maximum press coverage and riding the new-mod zeitgeist, ensuring that the film was rapturously received by teenagers.

Critics, on the whole, received the film well.

They were unaware of the movements in underground subculture that were occurring because of the film and consequently wrote about its attempt to sum up the allencompassing world of sixties modernists.

On reflection, some 32 years after the film's release the gaps and differences between the mod scene of the 1960s and that of the late 1970s have shrunk to nothing. Mod has become the philosophy that Meaden was never able to commercially articulate. A bite-sized Ben Sherman, an RAF ministry of defence roundel. Meaden's vision of social revolution through modernism died with its commerciality.

Quadrophenia, the project was Pete Townshend's attempt to shape the sixties modernist idea in his own image and through his own memories. His view was backed by journalist and Townshend's best friend Richard Barnes' through his phenomenally successful book, Mods.

Published on the back of the film and revival, it went on to sell a quarter of a

million copies. A feat almost unheard of in non-fiction photo journalism with such a limited subject.

Even Townshend could not have imagined how the current generation of British youth would embrace his particular dream. He had been introduced to the secretive, underground world of the modernists by Meaden in early 1964. To Peter Meaden this particular lifestyle was all encompassing and total. Mod could and indeed should, influence every aspect of life; from the clothes that you wore, the music that you listened and danced to, the place you lived, the books that you read, the art that you appreciated. His view of modernism was similar to that of his architectural and artistic predecessors, in that to him, as to them, modernism was more than just a lifestyle choice. It was all.

Pete Townshend had long been regarded as the creative fulcrum of the Who and he embraced Meaden's outlook and philosophy from the very start. His attempt to express these loyalties and frustrations through music bore fruit with the bands extraordinary 1965 trilogy; 'I Can't Explain', 'Substitute' and 'My Generation' which effortlessly and successfully captured the distilled essence of what it was to be a modernist in mid 1960s Britain.

thriving youth culture should not be lost.

The very release of the film Quadrophenia added at least some 250,000 adherents to what had been, up to that point, an underground scene. This drove the mod revival up into mainstream territory, a fact reflected by The Jam becoming the most successful British singles band since The Beatles (17 singles in the top 75 at the same time?) and bands with a smaller mod-profile like Secret Affair selling upwards of a million records.

Like its predecessor in the 1960s, the mod revival, which had been partly inspired by the film Quadrophenia, enjoyed its moment in the spotlight, but the rule with all youth culture is that exposure to the mainstream precipitates a hastened demise.

Mod suffered from press overkill and eventually faded from view. The modernist ideal however, as defined for the 1980s by Paul Weller, survived and continued to exist in an underground world of late night Soho clubs - a life of 'clean living in difficult circumstances', of jazz, soul and smart tailoring - until its resurrection and reinterpretation in 1995 by the Gallagher brothers and Damon Albarn amongst many new travellers on the mod path.

The legacy of Quadrophenia runs deep.

Just ask The Arctic Monkeys and The Ordinary Boys. Modernist or postmodernist??? Or just mod?

Consequently, any attempt to re-create those original lifestyles and ideals after the event, once artistic values had moved on and once mod as Townshend and Meaden knew it was well and truly dead, are condemned to be regarded as post-modernist by their very nature.

The irony inherent in

Quadrophenia is that what started life as a retrospective, historical tale of a specifically defined (by Townshend at least) modernist movement could then hijack and subsume a contemporary and

Eddie Piller is a DJ, club promoter, journalist, broadcaster, producer and record label chief.

He has been one of Modernism’s leading commentators for over 30 years.

the future is bright the future is.....

i

STRYPED

t would be easy to look at the The Strypes and seeing their youth dismiss them as a novelty act. To the mainstream they are four cheeky chappies aping the early years of the Beatles. This image no doubt reinforced by their first single, a reworking of the Beatles ‘You cant do that’ and their appearance on Late Late Show at Christmas 2010. I questioned them on this link and the danger of being pigeonholed. Evan Walsh Drummer told me “This is what we do, we are into this music. Our peers just don’t get this stuff preferring top 40 pop or whatever, but this stuff just does it for us”

And this music is not just the music of ye beatles. Peppered liberally in a recent conversation I had with the guys are the like of the YardBirds, Sonny Boy Williamson, Artic Monkeys, Kinks, last shadow puppets. All heavyweights of their genres and not something one would expect these callow youths to be listening to but when you hear Strypes play the references all make sense.

So who are the Strypes and where have they come from. Line up is Ross Farelly Vox and guitar, Josh McClorey vox and guitar, Pete O’Hanlon vox and bass and Evan Walsh Drums.

They have been together for two years at this stage paying their dues in local gigs and the rehearsal room. It was an appearance on the LLS as well as a single hitting the irish charts that brought them to national attention. However it was a gig before that (and the ubiquitous video of said gig that invariably appeared on You tube), that started getting their name around as a combo to take note of. They played a saturday set at the Flat Lake Festival 2010 and impressed the promoters and the crowd so much that room was made for them to play again on the Sunday. Well received is an understatement. Says Walsh “ I was focusing on my drums during the set and at the end I looked up and when I saw the crowd – I was like WOW” .The other three lads smile at this – being out front they get to see all that’s going on with the crowd. Says Josh, “when people see us setting up there’s kind of like a sense of “ah look at these young fellas” but when they hear us play they realise that we really can do the business”. And doing the business is what they want to do. Their ethos is all about putting in the hours, playing gigs and building up a fan base. Not surprisingly, X Factor talent shows have no attraction for them. “We’d prefer to tour, in the van, doing a gig and moving on. All the early rock and rollers did it”. Youthful Romanticism? Maybe, but its also the exuberance of youth “touring in a transit van, working at the craft, sounds much more fun than having a million hits on youtube” says Josh “ we ended up having jam sessions in the van waiting to go on stage at flat lakes, very rock and roll, no?”

dna grooves claudio de rossi lists his current top 10 spins....

Ramblin’ Woman (ABC / Bluesway) Big Moose Walker

Well (Demon) The Olympics

The Train (ABC) Ray Charles

Holy Smoke (Charly) The Steampacket

Big Boss Man (Verve) Jimmy Smith

Mojo Workin’ (Chess) Muddy Waters

Bye Bye Bird (Checker) Sonny Boy Williamson

The Seventh Son (Prestige) Mose Allison

10 I Got a Woman (Prestige) Brother Jack McDuff

Boom Boom (VeeJay) John Lee Hooker

On stage the band is tight and you can see that they all are having fun and although it is a band they are distinct individuals. I suppose if I was writing in smash hits or mainstream media I would be breaking them down into the cheeky one, the serious one etc but I will resist this pat pigeonholing of these musicians. I mention to them that (this was before their recent Retro Revival sets in Sweeneys) they each seem to have singular takes on the retro look from Beatles to Contemporary Brit pop vibes and they affirm its something they threw on before coming to the gig. “This is what we are into Joe” I’m told sternly. I wonder is there a fabrication, a guiding hand? “No, we are all into this look; this is the direction that we want to go in. We aren’t a covers band – we just play music we really like”. They are working on a set of their own material with all the guys adding bits to the process in a true collaborative process. I press them on the covers point – at first listen, they have the Beatles thing down however as I mentioned earlier there are other bands and genres they listen to. “The Beatles started as a cover band” says Evan “and when we found out about that we started to check out who they were doing covers of, and suddenly we had this huge web of stuff that was there, stretching back to sonny boy Williamson and the like”. The guys love Williamson so much they have a video on youtube of them covering Got Love if you want it (used by the High Numbers/The Who on their I’m the Face track). Check it out and be impressed.

The night I met with them was the Retro Revival night and they had the town buzzing which led to their acoustic set at the Bubbles reunion night in Dublin. They wowed the crowd so much that they ended up doing two sets. I spoke to them on the latter night again and they had mixed feelings about the attention they were getting but they took it all in their stride. I could see that they were buzzing if a little bewildered says Pete “it’s mostly older people who get what we do”

So whats in store for the Strypes in the immediate future? Well since this interview they returned to a packed Retro Revival in February for a blistering set, they have been invited to play at the Prestigious Cavern Club weekend in Liverpool (the band are truly awed when they tell me this) and the word on the street is that they have been booked to play at a major Arts Festival in Britain. I think the guys are going to have plenty of time for those impromptu jamming sessions in the back of the transit recommended listening: ‘You Can’t Do That’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz8TSTYr5Q0

SUSSED 13

the junction

Each edition the junction will focus on two Irish clubs. Hoping to bring profile to each club, we give the run down on music policy, dress codes (if any) and the kind of cats you’d expect to see down there. This issue we focus on two established and successful clubs, Belfast’s ‘Afterglow’ and Dublin’s ‘Retro Revival Club’, each polar opposites to other but each equally deserving of a mention and of course your consideration...

Lurking in the recesses of every genre, occasionally name checked but rarely in the spotlight.

Retro Revival Club

has slowly but surely become one of Dublin’s most popular monthly club nights since its beginnings 2 years ago. Its current home is in Sweeney’s bar on Dame Street and each club night they host an array of Irish and International bands and DJ’s covering all genres. You can expect anything from Indie, Garage Rock & 6ts Pop to get your feet moving on the first Saturday of each month.

The club primarily run by Luke Gleeson, has played host to some fantastic Irish acts such as The Urges, Retarded Cop, September Girls, The Vagabonds, This Other Kingdom, Me & The General, The Statics, The Revellions, Fallen Rule, Girl Band, The Cheap Freaks, The Pacifics, The Mighty Atomics and Elevator. While on the International side of things they have had Thee Vicars, Graham Day & Gaolers, Thee Spivs, The Len Price 3 and cult Christian rockers The Knights Of the New Crusade (Alternative Tentacles), all drop in to play some outstanding shows.

The Retro Revival Club also initially released The Urges debut LP Psych-Ward, before it was released internationally through Steve Van Zandts label Wicked Cool.

Graham Day & the Gaolers at Retro Revival

Steve Van Zandt himself even dropped by to one of the club nights the last time he was in town with the Bruce Springsteen band!

Up and coming Retro Revival shows over the next couple of months include The Urges, The Method (UK), Suzies Ashes (GER), September Girls, #1s, Dott (Galway), The Debutantes, Girl Band, The North Sea & many more.

For more info contact Luke retrorevivalclub@gmail.com SUSSED 14

AFTERGLOW

Afterglow Mod Club in Belfast is going over a year now, it just celebrated its first Birthday in November with Paul Molloy from Friday Street, Glasgow as Guest DJ.

The Club was started by fellow Belfast Mods Hugh Burns and Marty McAllister for somewhere to go and listen to Original 60s Mod sounds.

There is no strict Music Policy but do have a selection of DJs that bring their own sounds to the Night. Local DJs Sarge, Roger Dixon, Paul May, Norm and Dee O'Loan are used on rotation for different Dates as well as Guest DJs Mikey Collins, Bill Kealey and Paul Molloy who have graced the Afterglow Decks.

Venue changes for various reasons have been a pain for Marty and Hugh, starting off in Love and Death, Ann Street then moving to Victoria's for a few Months. January 28th 2012 sees the Club night move again to Queen's Bar for the "To Be Someone" book launch night, with Colin and Jennie Baillie from Two Cat Records, Scotland making their first Afterglow appearance.

The Club does not have a dress code but go to an Afterglow night and you will see some of the sharpest dressed Mods around who take pride in their appearance. It’s almost a healthy competition between Mod Guys. The Mod Girls also Dress for the occasion, not to be out done by the Fella's.

Afterglow runs every 2-3 Months and will continue in various Venues until it finds something permanent, which is very hard to do in Belfast City Centre on a Saturday night. Future Dates for Afterglow are Jan 28th Queens Bar Belfast. April 28th 2012 Printers, Commercial Court. August 18th, Printers, Commercial Court. October 2012 Date and Venue to be announced. DJs on rotation Sarge, Roger Dixon, Paul May, Dee Oloan, with guest DJs from other Clubs in Ireland and Scotland and as far away as France!

Music Policy RnB, Club Soul, Psych, Boogaloo, Ska and Hammond Jazz.

Here are five Afterglow top sounds...

Groovin’ with Mr. Bloe Mr Bloe

It’s Your Voodoo Working Charles Sheffield

Humanize

Big Boss Man

Grow Your Own Small Faces

Bert’s Apple Crumble The Quik

Well we all know that the world economy is in recession and with it comes some hard times. No need to let the music suffer in this difficult era however. It’s a fact that rare 45’s are increasing in price, getting scarcer and pay checks are getting slimmer (to pay for the crimes of the speculator class) so keeping in mind that there’s less of your hard earned available for discs we here at Sussed have spent some time scouring the dealers and websites looking for new retro records – hours spent poring over clips and chasing leads have giving us this list – it’s not definitive and focuses mainly on the Soul/Jazz/Funk arena but it just goes to show there’s still plenty great music to be had.

All should be easily available to buy and all are on youtube for you to preview.

Cold Game

Myron and E and The Soul investigators (Timmion) From the get go this one gets the pulse racing Jangly vintage guitar, tremulous string arrangement and tambourine all nodding vigorously in the direction of the The Impressions. Production is reminiscent of sixties radio – just a little rough around the edges and all seemingly set down in one take on an antiquated reel to reel. The rhythm is consistent throughout and will fully satisfy the dance floor, with a big chunky break in the middle floor space will be at a premium. Vocals by the two lads are drenched in sixties stylings ala the great vocal groups of Chicago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMHgAxVwiPA

It’s a Shame

Myron and E and The Soul investigators (Timmion)

The second outing from these guys and in a slightly different vein to the above but no less as good is this nugget. Kicking off with a few BahBah-Bahs and a solid bass line over a driving drum beat the vocals lose no time in setting out the stall of complaints. Once again hearing this I am reminded of so many records that I have listened to over the years and again it’s the smoothness of Chicago that is to the fore on this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE24Uq5RKIE

Some Place

Nick Waterhouse & Turn Keys (Pres) When I took this one out of the bag and saw the legend “Vocal With Orchestra” I knew that this had to be something special and my word but this is exactly that. Like some demented barrelhouse honky tonk soundtrack this one takes you by the throat and throttles you till you can’t breathe. In line with the dirty RnB the vocal is raw and edgy – lots of falsetto, teetering on the edge of apoplexy. Absolutely fabulous dance floor gem for all the proto soul fans - and for an extra treat the b-side has the instrumental stripped back to basics with a rumba beat. Both sides are MONO for added atmosphere...sweet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nlGgqYGYtU

Hey Girl

Jo Stance (Ricky-Tick) From the Finnish Label Ricky-Tick and a collaboration of vocalist Johanna Forsti and Teppo Makynen comes this beautiful haunting Detroit-like track. Plenty of northern soul vibes at

the outset before Johanna’s silky voice wraps itself around the melody. There’s a solid drum keeping the beats ticking over and it seems to be tailor made for the soul steppers amongst you. A beautifully delivered, heartfelt, first crush song that should be on every deejays set list.

Credit where credit is due but this one slipped past me before that inveterate groove merchant Ray spun it one night in Watusi... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcEpu18XSgM

Soul Sister (instrumental)

Cathy Edgar (Imagenes) Although there is a fine Vocal from Edgar on this recent British 45, harking back to the strong female soul singers of the sixties and seventies, it’s the instrumental that really shines to these ears. Sinister sounding with its parping horns rising periodically to crescendos and a rollicking piano lead it could be the theme for a sixties spy series. It’s all very Wade In The Water but you know what that’s no bad thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXTJ7SjOm6c

Right Now

Salena Jones (Jazz Classics) Label doesn’t give much away on this release stating merely the usual promotional guff.

Anyway this is a fine version of the classic even though it takes a few listens to really get the groove and get over the cheese quotient. Tempo is high enough and Jones phrasings are spot on and very suited to the swinging arrangement.

Sounds very BBC light entertainment department to my ears and its no wonder – its arranged by Keith Mansfield, he of Grandstand, Ski Sunday themes and a host of other wonderful ditties for that august corporation. This track was never released as a 45 but can be found on her 1969 CBS outing The Moment of Truth. The b-side of the disc has Helen Reddy doing a version of Hit the Road Jack which itself has its charms. Not a bad record for a tenner (but don’t let your granny hear it – she’ll love it). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MetN9q0GlI

Fish in the Sea

Frootful (freestyle) Very sparse arrangement on this effort from guitarist Nick Radford although at the time of its release (Feb 2011) it ticked a lot of boxes for the various non mainstream radio shows. The haunting vocalist here is Angeline Morrisson and her floor scraping bass tones are perfectly suited to the tempo and rhythm of this basic groover.

The thing about Radford is that he gets the whole homage thing and hits the nail squarely on the head. It’s got some nice little breaks for the dancers and once the hook gets under your skin you will be humming it all day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYPQjSIfNHE

Fatso

Dark Knights of Soul feat. the Haggis Horns (Mocambo) I know there a lot of you out there that like their black music especially thick, dark and funky.

Well this one should cover all those bases and then some. Haggis Horns are as Producer Mark Ronson described them “the best fucking horn section in the world”. I’ve been listening to their stuff over the past year or so and whilst the majority requires an open mind and a love of all things musically black this track is easily accessible. Dark funky grooves abound in this with the first half like a mix between the TOTP theme tune if it had been left to George Clinton to compose. Getting very heavy rock in places the organ and the punctuating brass pulls it back to respectability. As I say one for the open minded. http://www.juno.co.uk/products/fatso/418063-01/

JB Reworks

Whiskey Barons (flavorhead) Another one for you funk brothers this time a reworking of There Was A Time and Can’t Take It With You. TWAT has been a staple of the Mod/Northern scene for many years and is made perfectly for the dance floor with all those breaks in it and to some people the idea of someone remixing it is anathema. So what do the barons bring to the party? Well to put it simply, they have ramped up the funk quotient and brought some heavy bass drums to the fore. A fine reworking (and that’s something for me to say as I cannot stand JB’s original). The flip is another matter altogether and seems to be too rushed to my ears. Aimed squarely at the Funk boys methinks.

Incidentally the Whiskey Barons have a fine reworking of seven day fool – check it out on you tube – its been on my iPod for ages now and always makes me smile. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy7OBwMufcY

Easy Diggin’

Five Corners Quintet (RickyTick) Stable mates of Jo Stance this is in my opinion the best place to start listening to these Finnish cats.

How can I describe this one? if the Cosby Show had been about a private investigator in California then this would have been the soundtrack. Light and sunny with some dark moments – optimistic breaks switching to some melodramatic moments of near danger. Ah this is just freaking great and is easy enough to pick up on the Hot Corners EP. Incidentally this is yet another one of Mr Gilligan’s choice cuts from Watusi. Get on it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzIfi77Qc5k&fe ature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL78C42C 4DE9C4F166

SUSSED 15

Cock of the Walk

Finally you’ve saved up for that suit you’ve been coveting for what seems like forever.

With it being such a financial outlay you’ve got to get this right. You need to know you’re in safe hands. Gillian Long of ‘Cock of the Walk’ tailors talks to Sussed about the background to Cock of the Walk, potential pitfalls to avoid and Mods being the easiest customer to deal with (surely that last bit can’t be right!).....

Why tailoring and not designing?

Tell us about how you got into tailoring

It all started in the 90s really. Towards the end of Britpop, which had been brilliant sartorially, there was just nothing. So I started making my own clothes and it went from there. In the beginning, I was just awful. I'd rush the clothes I was making because I couldn't wait for it to be finished.

And then just end up disappointed with the results. I was cocktail waitressing at the time, and decided with my days free I'd enroll in a college course and learn how to make clothes properly. It was at college that I realised I had a knack for pattern cutting and problem solving, and after a bit of encouragement I ended up moving to London to study fashion at uni. That's what led me to Savile Row. Being a tailor wasn't some life long ambition of mine, but after getting a degree in Fashion (which for me was a massive achievement as I'm not from that kind of background), I still felt as if there was a lot more I could learn. So I set myself a challenge to learn more about making clothes. It was either Bespoke Tailoring or Couture. I'd majored in menswear as I found it the more inspiring choice, and I didn't speak French, so I went knocking on doors until I got myself a tailors apprenticeship. On day 1 at Gieves and Hawkes, I just knew this was for me.

I guess in tailoring you are always learning but how long was the formal training?

It depends where you train really. And what path you want to take. A tailor's apprenticeship can go from 4 to 10 years depending on the shop. And which discipline. I trained at Gieves and Hawkes in Coatmaking, which has a 4 year apprenticeship. You'd think with a fashion degree under your belt you'd be pretty advanced to start with, but on day 1 I was told to forget everything I'd learnt at uni as I was going to learn the Gieves way of doing things. When you finish a tailors apprenticeship you can either choose to become a tailor, or go on to a cutters apprenticeship - in said discipline. That will have you trained as a Master tailor at the end, but you're talking of 10 years apprenticing, before you're a junior cutter.

That's another 5-10 years away from being SUSSED 16

a fully fledged master tailor. That's why you'll find more working class people as tailors, as they had to get earning as soon as possible. Only those who could afford to live on apprentice money for a possible 20 years get to be Master Tailors.

Once you qualified where did you end up? Working for an established tailor I take it?

After Gieves I moved back North to Manchester. And I couldn't find a job as a tailor at all. This was my first eye opener into the murkier world of tailoring. I went knocking on tailors doors, as it had proved itself a good idea in the past, and was turned away from all of them. Even though I'd just trained as a Coatmaker on Savile Row. It soon transpired that these 'tailors' I was knocking on weren't making their own work and it was all made in a workshop just outside the M60. The tailors shops in the city centre were just that, showrooms with plenty of impressive pictures of celebrities having their fittings, done by well dressed gentlemen in fancy surroundings. But none of them could sew a button on. So I got a job in the workshop that made the suits for the majority of the 'shops' (what we called the tailors in manchester) and started there on £2 an hour.

You've set up on your own - that must be daunting?

Not really. By the time I set up on my own, I knew it was the direction I was always going to be heading in.

I'd worked 2 years at the workshop just outside Manchester, and I'd accepted that pitiful wage as long as I continued to learn more about other areas of the craft, such as cutting and trouser making. I was going in on my Saturday mornings unpaid to learn start them while they’re young we say!

cutting when my boss decided it wasn't a good idea any more for me to learn too much. So after 2 years, I walked. Lucky for me, not long after that I got ran over and received a decent compensation payout. I put every penny I got into starting my own business. There was no way I would have ever been able to save up. Those 2 years at the workshop gave me a bloody determination to succeed though. After 2 years working for virtually nothing, making the work for a fancy man in his fancy shop to take all the credit, while never getting the satisfaction of seeing the suit on the customer had done it for me. All I wanted at this point was to do what I loved for a living, so (how I look at it) I just gave myself a job. By the time I left I'd already began to get my own private customers on the side, so that helped make my mind up that I could go it alone, and do much more stylish tailoring too, as my boss only had one style of cut, and that's probably not been in fashion since the 1940s.

With the advent of Mad Men, suits and the high street faux tailored look have you seen a marked increase in mainstream clientle?

Sort of... The kind of customer that comes to a tailor isn't a beginner in the dressing stakes, so it's rare to find mainstream customers coming over to the full bespoke side off the whim of a trend. But the trend for the faux tailored look has probably penetrated further the souls who would have eventually moved into bespoke in the future anyway. The way clothing is consumed for the mainstream dresser is very different to going to a tailor and waiting months for something in which you have had a say in every decision from its inception. I think that barrier is the one

which needs to be overcome before the mainstream come over to the tailored side.

Contrast the wider population attitude to style with the Modernist nuanced stylings - can Mods be extreme?

Of course some Mods can be extreme in their tastes, but fortunately they have a tailor on their side who should be there to stop extreme mistakes being made. On the whole, I've found my Mod customers to be more interested in subtleties within the cut or a little detail here and there. Something that wouldn't or shouldn't stand out by a mile, will look sharp as to the wider population without them being able to fully put their finger on the why, but will get the nod from those in the know. Working with the Mod population makes certain aspects of the job a lot easier aswell, such as weaning out of a customer what look they are after. Most of the time, your Mod customer has got this dream suit in their head and they know every last detail of what they want. Sometimes you can be making notes and looking at photos for over an hour though.

But it's always a pleasure.

Bespoke costs money - why should someone choose it over off the peg?

only people left from the working classes who are still going to a tailor to be honest.

Well, Mods and Footballers. I'll let the shops in Manchester have the Footballers, I'll have the Mods. haha. Yeah, Mods are refreshing as they keep us on our toes, keep challenging us, keep pushing the envelope for new details or new cloths or new techniques. The Mod appetite for tailoring perfectly matches my appetite to keep trying to break new ground and discovering new techniques or uses for an old technique. So you could say we're perfectly matched.

You've been to Dublin now a number of times - do you go to other European countries for fittings?

“it’s all about the fit. this is something the mod client gets right again and again�

I've never had a customer come to me yet who didn't have an idea of what they wanted. Going to a tailor and getting bespoke or even semibespoke, enables you the customer to be the designer, to make it personal to your style, your lifestyle and however you will use the suit. All design decisions along the way are yours (unless you want to leave smaller decisions to the tailor - we're happy to do that too). Bespoke doesn't cost any more than getting a designer off the peg suit, but the quality is a world apart. Bespoke leaves inlays (really large seams) on the inside for future growth of the customer and can be let out to around 4 inches in girth over the course of your lifetime. And the suit will last you a lifetime as it is made from natural fibres and trims which don't disintigrate over time (unlike off the peg). In some cases, trims in a bespoke suit, such as body canvas actually get better with age as they mould to the shape of the wearer ensuring a better fit. After all that, off the peg sounds like a false economy doesn't it?

I guess the Mod expectation is somewhat of a godsend when compared with the general population eschewing of all structured clothing?

Definitely. I think Mods are probably the

No, just Dublin, London and Manchester.

As much as I'd love to go to other European Cities for work, I can't have any more time away from the workshop as I still have to do the work I'm bringing in from the visiting trips. Visiting tailors usually go out visiting about three times a year, so I'm already over working myself on that front. But you'll vouch for me Sussed, that the Dublin trips double up as a night out and a laugh as well.

Are their regional differences in what your customers prefer?

I would say there are subtle differences between Dublin, London and Manchester customers, as everyone mingles on the same scene, but each city has it's own identity. From what I've seen of the Dublin scene, I've noticed people like a little kick on their trouser leg, whereas Manchester and London tend to go straight all the way down. Generally speaking, London lean more towards the fully suited look whilst Manchester tends to lean more towards separates. I've also noticed a trend in cloth choices too. My cloth rep will back me up here, as he has also noticed it. Manchester customers much prefer a check to London customers, who tend to opt for a plain cloth. I'm yet to work out the Dublin customer when it comes to cloth. I'll just keep bringing everything I've got.

Whats your favourite period for tailoring whether male or female?

Obviously I'm a fan of the early sixties when it comes to the shapes and the lines. I like how for men, everything was suddenly

slimmed down and decluttered, really focussing your eye on the cut, and I like how the women in the early sixties dressed really womanly. The mid to late sixties got a bit boyish for my tastes.

Are there any tips you can give to someone thinking on going bespoke?

For someone coming to a tailor for the first time, I would advise they have a rough idea what they want. We can wean the rest out of you. But also relax and enjoy yourself. It may be your first time, but we're old hands at it. There's nothing to be nervous of.

Don't be worried about 'making mistakes' because that's what we're here for. And don't try to 'learn the words' as this can lead to confusion. Tailors all have different words for the same thing. It depends where you trained. So the right word for one thing won't make any sense at another tailors.

Other practicalities being to allow 6 weeks for your garment to be completed, and make sure you will be free at least twice for a fitting during this time. Don't pay for the suit up front - just a deposit for cloth.

Payment in full is only required when you have collected the final garment and both you and the tailor are satisfied with the results.

What staples should a well dressed man have in his wardrobe?

From a tailors point of view the answer is very simple. Clothing that fits perfectly, and works with the rest of the wardrobe.

What is your idea of the male mod style?

Again, it's all about the fit. This is something the Mod client gets right again and again. A lot can be left to personal preference, such as trouser break, lapel width, how much cuff to show... But the male mod style, these days anyway, can be summed up by his fit. A few years ago it would have been summed up by how much of the 'right mod characteristics' the look had. Tonik mohair cloth, tick. Frogmouth pockets, tick. Covered buttons, tick. But recently there has been a real move to get all the subtleties right, such as the perfect shoulder line, the best lapel roll possible and the perfect sleeve pitch. This, I feel is where the male mod style is at at the minute, leaving the other stylings to reveal personal preference instead of conforming to a uniform.

Cock of the Walk 5a Moorside Road Swinton Greater Manchester M27 0EL tel:

07950 463 665

email: cockofthewalkbespoke@googlemail.com Web: http://cockofthewalkbespoke.co.uk/ http://cockofthewalk.posterous.com/

SUSSED 17

With Sussed being an Irish publication we hope to promote and champion all things downright irresponsible of us not to give special mention to The Urges. The pride foremost exponents, nay prophets of Psych/Mod/Garage for the 21st century.

Sussed talks to Guitarist and Lead Vocalist Jim Walters. New recordings, marketing,

t

he Urges: five men, their names are not important now, but what is, is the sound that those five men create.

Starting out in Dublin as a raw & primitive garage band it didn’t take long for their racket to catch the locals attention. After releasing their first single “(Around &) Around” in 2007 the ears of international promoters began listening. They have since toured extensively throughout Europe, the U.S. & beyond. It was on one of these excursions to New York City ( to play with the legendary Sonics) where they caught the attention of Steve Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records. The label released their excellent debut album "Psych Ward" in 2008. This was an impassioned bolt of garage and psych that remains close to the heart of many (one review proclaimed it to be the garage album of the decade) T but that was then and this is now & it is the now of which I must discuss.

The Urges have progressed & learnt from the basics of garage music and in the process absorbed new influences to expand their sound.

They have moved out of the garage, thanked those who have opened their ears from The Seeds to The Chocolate Watch Band, and set out on their new journey. Like every great band The Urges know that the need for progression and developing their sound is vital for any group to remain relevant & keep the heart of their sound beating. The Urges have done this by incorporating Rock n Roll, Soul, West Coast Psych, deep searching lyrics and superb playing by all five. The use of brass & string arrangements can be heard in their new sound, elevating it above and beyond their peers.

In parallel with their musical progression their live shows have also evolved. Witnessing The Urges live is something that goes beyond the sounds creeping out of amplifiers. Using light, film and colour, bathed in swirling visuals, they, as men, become part of the music, a visual and aural assault on the senses.

Listen to the lead track ("Fire Burning") from their forthcoming album, and hear the soul and beat sound that is played with passion and skill.

Delve into the west coast psych sounds of "Sick Of The Scene" and "Strangers In A Stranger Land" and you will hear where they are going.

Listen once, twice and further still, you will detect more subtle influences that creep into their music, building blocks of a new sound. A new sound that is wholly The Urges own. Film scores, folk rock, Scott Walker, Gene Clark, David Axelrod, I could list what I hear so wonderfully used to create something new but now it is up to you to listen, to be taken over.

As those five men sing "I’ve Been Here Before" you may ask yourself..... have I? T but in so many ways you haven’t! So let their sounds fill your head, for it is the music they create that counts

SUSSED 18

Mod that this island has to offer. It would be wrong, insane, unethical and of Dublin, The Urges have established themselves across Europe as one of the touring, petualant German tourists and emergency surgery are all covered....

I'd like to work backwards and quiz you about the new stuff if that's ok. I notice although not a million miles away from the classic urges sound of Psych Ward, certain new tracks i've heard give the impression that the songs are moving into more melodic even soulful territory.

I'll use the example of a demo i was privvy to recently 'I've been here before' and compare it to older tracks like 'Salvaje' or 'I gotta wait'. Has this more melodic shift in sound been intentional?

Absolutely intentional, but far from an overnight occurence. i'd be seriously fucking worried if the new songs didnt sound as though they'd moved on. we had been immersed in the garage/punk/trashy thing for so long it was second nature and we could have made the first LP again 2 times over. we toured it all to death and then for various reasons (changing lineup/new influences/gargling) had to start from scratch, learning to play and write differently and to sing harmony. Our changing taste should reflect in the new music, we've incorporated brass, strings and 'weird indian shit' into the songs. All derived from listening to bands like love, early Fairport convention, The Pretty Things, The Move. Strange bands like the Rotary Connection, strange arrangers like David Axelrod and, not very strange, but very fucking good, Soul. Its still us, but its us...... evolved. ie. standing more erect, better hand/eye co-ordination and less grunting.

I was particularly impressed with songs played live recently 'Face made for sorrow' 'I feel you' and 'Now i see'. Are these tracks being earmarked for release?

Much obliged. All of these songs will be on the forthcoming lp. Them and nine others I can’t recall the names of now.

Is there a single release expected anytime soon? Have you decided on what it might be?

We release a 45 rpm first week in April, assuming nothing disastrous happens. Our gypsy curse might say otherwise. A double a-side of 'Fire Burning' and 'I’ve been here before', intended to show the two contrasting sides of our sound. One a psych-soul stomper, the other a slower psych-soul stomper. Both feature our beloved new brass section, The Raging Horns (members of the Supertonic Sound Club)

What was the decision behind excluding 'Around (and around again)' from both the initial and re-releases of Psych Ward yet including the b-side 'Jenny Jenny' on the latter release of the album?

Can’t remember at this stage? It’s a bit of a

moot point. But you can be sure i had my reasons. I guess the label just smelled some licencing potential on the b-side.

Grabbing the attention of Van Zandt’s ‘Wicked Cool’ label must have been a major coup. How was the transition from one label to another in such a relatively short space of time?

At the time it was a major coup. It appeared to be the top of the tree in the 60s/garage scene. We got radio play on Steven’s show and sold and are still selling quite a few records (relatively). We were brought to the U.S., did some good gigs, but they dont seem to have any long term plan for us or anyone else on the label.

Basically, I feel, unless the song can be used to sell fried chicken or tampons theyre not interested. All very slick and show-biz.

As a result I think most bands on the label sound alike (and shite). I don’t want to sound like everyone else. We submitted 2 LPs worth of demos in October and they said they could only afford to do a series of singles at the moment and we could record an LP depending on licencing opportunities!! We'll see what happens.

I notice you’ve taken up what appears to be full time guitar duties. Was this a move that was simply down to line-up changes or was it dictated by the shift in sound?

Evolution / shift in sound whatever you want to call it. I’ve always written the songs on guitar and played in rehearsals and on recordings. Am not remotely interested in shaking tambourines, so it was natural.

Also, my transcendent / superlative / giltedged playing was being wasted on my Philistine band-mates. Basically... I felt I owed it to them and the world.

On a personal level is it something you’re enjoying yourself?

Thus far, enjoying is a bit strong. I'd say I prefer it.

Loathe to following a glib line of questioning could I ask you to share your highlights / low points up ‘til this point?

Lots of both.... Highlights are travelling the world seeing and playing places you’d never dream of going to. Mexico City, Moscow, New York and every country in Europe you can think of......... and Roscommon.

Meeting some great people, some not so great people and some certifiable weirdos and having a lot of epic nights out.

Personally opening for the Sonics in New York and supporting the La's stand out.

And some ace gigs of our own. I never think about this stuff though, i hate looking back to last year and cracking open a can

of nostalgia. I’d rather watch the wonder years. And thats shite. At this moment my highlight is finishing the recording of the new record.

One lowlight with a happy ending that comes to mind is the first time we went to america. We were supposed to do a festival in boston and some shows in new york, we got as far as immigration at Shannon. Some oul one at border security resembling a human big mac told us we needed visas to play and we would not getting our flight. Then she said she’d "escort us back to irish soil". So there we were on the bus back to Dublin with nothing but our guitars, broken dreams, 3 bottles of gin and 2 bottles of vodka. I won’t go into details, but it wasnt pretty. And a male German tourist may have been bitch slapped. When we got back, our then manager went to the U.S. embassy, we went to any boozer that would let us in.

The only thing I remember of the preceding days is falling off a bar stool, splitting my head open and Rosco (Bass) performing emergency surgery on me on Dame Street with sellotape and tissue. The next day while looking at stuffed monkeys in the natural history museum (and still on a bender) we get a call telling us to be at the airport in an hour, we can play. We made all the shows.

The Urges have had quite a hectic touring schedule over the last few years.

Is there an accompanying tour planned for any imminent releases?

from a tour aspect 2011 was the least hectic. A 3 week tour in europe and a couple of weekenders. All the songs on the new record were written in the last 10 months so busy in that respect. Someone else looks after the tours but I think there might be something happening in September.

You’ve been also busy recording the last few months. How has that been going?

Are you at a point of completion?

To say we were recording the last few months would be a gross over-statement.

We did 2 days in December for a single and 5 days late February for the other 12 tunes.

Will be mixed and everything on April 15th.

We laid down all the backing tracks live in the room, just as God or Allah or whoever intended.

2 more days for brass, a few backing vocals and some other finishing touches. I don’t believe in taking 2 days to record 1 guitar solo. I like some mud in my music. I believe the closer you scrutinise the less you see.

recommended listening: ‘Now I See’ http://youtu.be/EvXPGhLN3fY

‘Psych Ward’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFwcM62cYB8

SUSSED 19

d

maybe he just simply owned all of the records?

uring research for this publication hours were lovingly spent trawling through old Irish fanzines and photos for inspiration. We came across the following by pure fluke. The info was sourced by the extremely clued in and tenacious Bill Mailey from Wigan for the Soul Serenade fanzine of the early 1990’s. It appears exactly as it appeared in an edition of the zine. All of this info is readily available online now but we at Sussed find it fascinating the lengths this Tamla fanatic must’ve went to at the time to acquire this data in the days B.C. (before computers). Or

Armed with just these 100 records you could easily keep a dance floor full for four solid hours.

UK Motown single releases 501-600

The Supremes: Martha & The Vandellas: The Miracles: The Temptations: Stevie Wonder: Earl Van Dyke & The Soul Brothers: The Four Tops: Brenda Holloway: Junior Walker & The All Stars: Marvin Gaye: Kim Weston: Shorty Long: The Hit Pack: The Detroit Spinners: The Four Tops: The Supremes: Choker Campbell & His Band: The Marvelettes: Brenda Holloway: Junior Walker & The All Stars: The Velvelettes: The Miracles: Detroit Spinners: Marvin Gaye: Marv Johnson: The Temptations: The Supremes: The Four Tops: Junior Walker & The All Stars: Martha & The Vandellas: The Contours: Stevie Wonder: Billy Eckstine: Dorsey Burnette: The Marvelettes: The Lewis Sisters: Tony Martin: Kim Weston: Marvin Gaye: SUSSED 20

Stop! In The Name Of Love / I'm In Love Again Nowhere To Run / Motoring OOO Baby Baby / All That's Good It's Growing / What Love has Joined Together Kiss Me Baby / Tears In Vain All For You / Too Many Fish In The Sea Ask The Lonely / Where Did You Go When I'm Gone / I've Been Good To You Shotgun / Hot Cha I'll Be Doggone / You've Been A Long Time Coming I'm Still Loving You / Just Loving You Out To Get You / It's A Crying Shame Never Say No To Your Baby / Let's Dance Sweet Thing / How Can I I Can't Help Myself / Sad Souvenirs Back In My Arms Again / Whisper You Love Me Baby Mickey's Monkey / Pride And Joy I'll Keep On Holding On / No Time For Tears Operator / I'll Be Available Do The Boomerang / Tune Up Lonely Lonely Girl Am I / I'm The Exception To The Rule The Tracks Of My Tears / Fork In The Road I'll Always Love You / Tomorrow My Never Come Pretty Little Baby / Now That You've Won Me Why Do You Want To Let Me Go / I'm Not Just A Plaything Since I Lost My Baby / You've Got To Earn It Nothing But Heartaches / He Holds His Own It's The Same Old Song / Your Love Is Amazing Shake And Fingerpop / Cleo's Back You've Been In Love Too Long / Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things First I Look At The Purse / Searching For A Girl High Heeled Sneakers / Music Talk Had You Been Around / Down To Earth Jimmy Brown / Everybody's Angel Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead / Your Changing Ways You Need Me / Moonlight On The Beach The Bigger Your Heart Is / The Two Of Us Take Me In Your Arms / Don't Compare Me With Her Ain't That Peculiar / She's Got To Be Real

TMG 501 - May 1965 TMG 502 - May 1965 TMG 503 - May 1965 TMG 504 - May 1965 TMG 505 - Mar 1965 TMG 506 - Mar 1965 TMG 507 - Mar 1965 TMG 508 - Apr 1965 TMG 509 - Apr 1965 TMG 510 - Apr 1965 TMG 511 - Apr 1965 TMG 512 - Apr 1965 TMG 513 - May 1965 TMG 514 - May 1965 TMG 515 - May 1965 TMG 516 - May 1965 TMG 517 - Jun 1965 TMG 518 - Jun 1965 TMG 519 - Jun 1965 TMG 520 - Jul 1965 TMG 521 - Jul 1965 TMG 522 - Jul 1965 TMG 523 - Aug 1965 TMG 524 - Aug 1965 TMG 525 - Aug 1965 TMG 526 - Aug 1965 TMG 527 - Aug 1965 TMG 528 - Aug 1965 TMG 529 - Sep 1965 TMG 530 - Sep 1965 TMG 531 - Sep 1965 TMG 532 - Sep 1965 TMG 533 - Oct 1965 TMG 534 - Oct 1965 TMG 535 - Oct 1965 TMG 536 - Oct 1965 TMG 537 - Oct 1965 TMG 538 - Oct 1965 TMG 539 - Nov 1965

The Miracles: The Temptations: The Four Tops: The Supremes: Barbara McNair: Stevie Wonder: The Marvelettes: The Miracles: The Supremes: Martha & The Vandellas: Junior Walker & The All Stars: The Elgins: Marvin Gaye: The Four Tops: Kim Weston: The Isley Brothers: Brenda Holloway: The Temptations: Stevie Wonder: Junior Walker & The All Stars: The Supremes: Tammi Terrell: The Marvelettes: Marvin Gaye: The Contours: The Temptations: The Isley Brothers: Martha & The Vandellas: The Four Tops: The Miracles: Stevie Wonder: Junior Walker & The All Stars: The Isley Brothers: Shorty Long: Marvin Gaye: The Supremes: Gladys Knight & The Pips: Jimmy Ruffin: The Temptations: The Four Tops: The Velvelettes: Brenda Holloway: Martha & The Vandellas: The Elgins: The Miracles: The Supremes: Junior Walker & The All Stars: The Temptations: Stevie Wonder: The Four Tops: Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston: Chris Clark: The Originals: Jimmy Ruffin: The Marvelettes: The Velvelettes: Junior Walker & The All Stars: The Supremes: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Martha & The Vandellas: Shorty Long:

My Girl Has Gone / Since You Won My Heart My Baby / Don't Look Back Something About You / Darling I Hum Our Song I Hear A Symphony / Who Could Ever Doubt My Love You're Gonna Love My Baby / The Touch Of Time Uptight (Everything Is Alright) / Purple Raindrops Don't Mess With Bill / Anything You Wanna Do Going To A Go Go / Choosey Beggar My World Is Empty Without You / Everything Is Good About You My Baby Loves Me / Never Leave Your Baby's Side Cleo's Mood / Baby Don't You Know It Ain't Right Put Yourself In My Place / Darling Baby One More Heartache / When I Had Your Love Shake Me Wake Me (When It's Over) / Just As Long As You Need Me Helpless / A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday Day) This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) / There's No Love Left Together Till The End Of Time / Sad Song Get Ready / Fading Away Nothings To Good For My Baby / With A Child's Heart Road Runner / Shoot Your Shot Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart / He's All I Got Come On And See Me / Baby Don'cha Worry You're The One / Paper Boy Take This Heart Of Mine / Need Your Lovin' (Want You Back) Determination / Just A Little Misunderstanding Ain't to Proud To Beg / You'll Lose A Precious Love Take Some Time Out For Love / Who Could Ever Doubt My Love What Am I Going To Do Without Your Love / Go Ahead And Laugh Loving You Is Sweeter That Ever / I Like Everything About You Whole Lot Of shaking In My Heart / Oh Be My Love Blowing In The Wind / Ain't That Asking For Trouble How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You / Nothing But Soul I Guess I'll Always Love You / I Hear A Symphony Function At The Junction / Call On Me Little Darlin' (I Need You) / Hey Diddle Diddle You Can't Hurry Love / Put Yourself In My Place Just Walk In My Shoes / Stepping Closer To Your Heart What Becomes Of The Broken-Hearted / Baby I've Got It Beauty Is Only Skin Deep / You're An Ordinary Girl Reach Out I'll Be There / Until You Love Someone These Things Will Keep Me Loving You / Since You've Been Loving Me Hurt A Little Bit Every Day / Where Were You I'm Ready For Loves / He Doesn't Love Her Any More Heaven Must Have Sent You / Stay In My Lonely Room (Come Round Here) I'm The One You Need / Save Me You Keep Me Hanging On / Remove This Doubt Money (That's What I Want) Part 2 / Money (That's What I Want) Part 2 (I Know) I'm Losing You / Little Miss Sweetness A Place In The Sun / Sylvia Standing In The Shadows Of Love / Since You've Been Gone It Takes Two / It's Got To Be A Miracle (This Thing Called Love) Love's Gone Bad / Put Yourself In My Place Goodnight Irene / Need Your Lovin' Want You Back I've Passed This Way Before / Tomorrow's Tears The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game / I Think I Can Change He Was Really Saying Something / Needle In A Haystack Pucker Up Buttercup / Anyway You Wanna Love Is Here And Now You've Gone / There's No Stopping Us Now The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage / Swept For You Baby Jimmy Mack / Third Finger Left Hand Chantilly Lace / Your Love Is Amazing

tamla motown

TMG 540 - Nov 1965 TMG 541 - Nov 1965 TMG 542 - Nov 1965 TMG 543 - Nov 1965 TMG 544 - Jan 1966 TMG 545 - Jan 1966 TMG 546 - Jan 1966 TMG 547 - Feb 1966 TMG 548 - Feb 1966 TMG 549 - Feb 1966 TMG 550 - Feb - 1966 TMG 551 - Feb 1966 TMG 552 - Mar 1966 TMG 553 - Mar 1966 TMG 554 - Mar 1966 TMG 555 - Mar 1966 TMG 556 - Mar 1966 TMG 557 - Apr 1966 TMG 558 - Apr 1966 TMG 559 - May 1966 TMG 560 - May 1966 TMG 561 - May 1966 TMG 562 - May 1966 TMG 563 - Jun 1966 TMG 564 - Jun 1966 TMG 565 - Jun 1966 TMG 566 - Jun 1966 TMG 567 - Jun 1966 TMG 568 - Jul 1966 TMG 569 - Jul 1966 TMG 570 - Aug 1966 TMG 571 - Aug 1966 TMG 572 - Aug 1966 TMG 573 - Aug 1966 TMG 574 - Sep 1966 TMG 575 - Sep 1966 TMG 576 - Sep 1966 TMG 577 - Sep 1966 TMG 578 - Sep 1966 TMG 579 - Oct 1966 TMG 580 - Oct 1966 TMG 581 - Nov 1966 TMG 582 - Nov 1966 TMG 583 - Nov 1966 TMG 584 - Nov 1966 TMG 585 - Nov 1966 TMG 586 - Dec 1966 TMG 587 - Dec 1966 TMG 588 - Dec 1966 TMG 589 - Jan 1967 TMG 590 - Jan 1967 TMG 591 - Jan 1967 TMG 592 - Jan 1967 TMG 593 - Feb 1967 TMG 594 - Feb 1967 TMG 595 - Feb 1967 TMG 596 - Feb 1967 TMG 597 - Feb 1967 TMG 598 - Mar 1967 TMG 599 - Mar 1967 TMG 600 - Mar 1967

SUSSED 21

Ever wondered what actually goes on behind the scenes at a record label? Probably not. Who really cares about the boring mechanics of it all. But when it’s Motown records, well that’s a different story. In his book ‘Hype & Sou!’ Al Abrams, the original Plugger at Hitsville, gives us access all areas to the daily goings on at this legendary institution and clues us in on how exactly those magical records made it onto the radio in the first place...

a

L ABRAMS was born in Detroit. On May 30, 1959, he became the first employee of what was to become Berry Gordy, Jr.’s Motown Record Corporation. Working originally as National Promotion Director, he later became the company’s Director of Public Relations through the glory years of 1964-66. His book “Hype and Soul” is available from http://www.soulvation.biz/hypeandsoul.html .

There is a limited edition of 500 copies complete with a replica of the collectable 45 that Motown pressed for Dave Godin when he visited Hitsville USA in 1964. Heres Al’s own words on landing a job with Motown

I still believe I was the luckiest kid in all of Detroit that May of 1959. That’s how it felt to me walking into a virtual wonderland of music at Berry Gordy’s flat at 1719 Gladstone in Detroit’s inner city. When Berry hired me I was an 18-year-old white Jewish kid in an all-black company where people my age were making music and history.

He put me in charge of record promotion for the songs published by his Jobete Music Company and I thought I was in heaven.

My primary job was to get the records played on the radio, especially by white disk jockeys on mainstream radio stations. I certainly wasn’t going to ignore the black DJs, some of whom like Larry Dean and Bill Williams - quickly became my closest friends. Berry had given me the job because I was able to get Larry Dixon, a DJ on Detroit’s WCHB, to play a god-awful record

by Mike Powers called “Teenage Sweetheart” that Berry’s Rayber Music Writing Company had produced and recorded for a $100 fee. I still think it is the absolute worst record Berry has ever produced.

When I applied for a promotion job with Berry, he had given me the virtually impossible task of getting that record played on the radio before he would consider hiring me. Eager to get rid of me, he was convinced he would never see me again once I left his flat with the Powers disk in hand.

But it was my good luck that after four hours of begging and pleading in the hot sun, Dixon gave it a spin on the Memorial Day holiday at the very time that Berry was listening to the station in his car. That was also the only time that record was ever played on the radio. That accomplishment was enough to get me hired the very next day for SUSSED 22

$15 a week and all the chilli I could eat - cooked and served by Miss Lillie Hart.

Berry has always had a reputation for being a tough negotiator, but I got the best of him that day. I worked for Jobete, Rayber, the fledgling five-month-old Tamla Record Company, and the then-personal management entity of Berry Gordy Jr. Enterprises. Motown was still more than a year in the future.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I was surrounded by geniuses in that cramped little flat.

In addition to Berry and his future wife, Raynoma Liles, there was Bill “Smokey” Robinson and the Miracles, Eddie Holland, Marv Johnson, Barrett Strong, Robert Bateman and a house-full of nowlegendary talented songwriters, performers and musicians, all of whom welcomed me as a member of the family.

I was often a source of great amusement to my new co-workers. Robert Bateman still remembers my refusal to ride in the company’s old Volkswagen bus because it was German and still associated in my mind with Nazis. But political correctness didn’t stop me from showing up at work wearing one of my mother’s white sheets to promote a record, totally oblivious to the image of the white sheet-wearing Ku Klux Klan who were still terrorizing American blacks in that pre-Civil Rights era. Berry and the others quickly became my surrogate family with Berry assuming the role of my knowing older brother. I will be eternally indebted to him for some of the truly valuable knowledge he imparted that summer.

My responsibilities soon expanded to include writing the first Jobete and Tamla advertisements for Billboard, Cashbox, and the other music trade publications, writing artist biographies and liner notes and getting favorable mentions and stories about us into print. That quickly became my favorite endeavor and eventually I gladly abdicated my record promotion responsibilities to others so that I could fully concentrate upon publicity and press relations.

I traveled with the Miracles, Barrett Strong, and even did a short stint as road manager of the legendary Satintones. Returning from a road trip to Cleveland where we had gone to see Jackie

Wilson perform, I co-wrote the lyrics with Berry and two of my colleagues for “I Love The Way You Love” which became a hit record for Marv Johnson.

I also did my share of mischief, once convincing Janie Bradford to answer phone calls for our Miracle subsidiary label with the greeting, “Good morning! If it’s a hit, it’s a Miracle.” Berry was not amused.

Somewhat later, I guaranteed that I would never again be invited to attend a Quality Control meeting by suggesting that we re-record Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar” as “Isn’t That Peculiar” in order not to offend English teachers across America. Well, at least I never forgot the words to our Smokey Robinson-penned company song whenever Berry called upon me to do a solo before the meeting began. Who can ever forget those immortal lyrics, “Oh we have a very swinging companyT” But my ultimate goal was to tell the world through newspapers and magazines about the real ‘Miracle’ on Detroit’s West Grand Boulevard...and that’s what I was happiest doing.

That is what this book is all about

Article reproduced by kind permission of Soulvation publishing

E & n o r y M e

;sewhere in the mag you will find me waxing on about new retro sounding 45’s that I’ve stumbled across over the past year or so. All have one thing in common – an absolute adherence to the Golden Age of Soul/funk and jazz and not some bastard mélange of 21st century production techniques – think vocoder etc – with four beats to the bar dance floor groves. Of the tracks that I listed in that review the ones that really hit the mark for me are the Myron and E cuts – it’s a shame and cold game. To me those sides epitomize that mid sixties period of vocal groups at the top of their game. I knew nothing of these guys other than their singles so I did some digging to get their back story.

Expecting to unearth two young guys breaking into the music biz by accident the truth is far more prosaic but nonetheless interesting.

Firstly Myron Glasper and Eric Cooke have been around for many years in various guises working in different areas of the entertainment industry. Originally from Los Angeles, Myron has worked as a dancer (he made a few appearances on the classic hip-hop sketch comedy In Living Color), an R&B singer (he has recorded sessions with Sir Jinx, Foster & McElroy and Dwayne Wiggins), and a backup vocalist (for CeCe Peniston, the Coup, and Lyrics Born). New Jersey native Cooke who also goes under the name of E Da Boss is a deejay and has released a project in 2010 with Nick Andre titled Robot Practice but prior to that he was tour Deejay for Blacklicious and it was here that the duo got to know each other – Myron was singing with Blacklicious at the time.

Although born and raised on two opposite sides of the continent both grew up steeped in

.

FROM L.A. TO HELSINKI....

A SOUL CLASSIC IS BORN Soul music thanks to their parents – as Cooke has stated “it wasn’t till I got to secondary school that I realized there were other forms of music” – Motown, Stax, JBs etc all form their earliest musical memories and its this that they draw on in their music. Although both moved away into more contemporary styles – hip hop etc., the memories lingered.

They both started out as dancers before moving into other areas of deejaying and singing and eventually met up under the umbrella of Blacklicious

reached out to his old Blackalicious friend Glasper and in one sitting the two of them wrote Cold Game. Interestingly the vocals were recorded in the states and shipped over to Finland whereupon the music and vocal tracks were mixed.

Drawing on their shared musical heritage they produced one of the most perfect of the retro soul sounds these ears have been privy to.

No heavy funk here. Think Mayfield rather than Brown. Think strings rather than Bass.

And think Chicago soul rather than the Got-ta Got-ta shouts of Southern soul. This is retro soul with bells on.

“this is retro soul with bells on”

It was whilst touring in Helsinki that Cooke had a jam session with the legendary Timmion house band The Soul Investigators. It was at the jam session that the seeds of the Myron and E duo were planted. During the session Cooke grabbed the mic and started singing. Although the performance was warmly received Cooke shrugged it off and continued on with his then projects but neither the investigators nor Cooke really forgot about the event. In 2008 Cooke was looking for some music that he could chop up for some hip hop projects he was putting together for OM records when he remembered the Finnish soul boys. He asked could he have some of their music for the chop up however they countered with an intriguing offer – if they provided him music would he write lyrics and sing over it? He

Both see the retro soul movement as being a good thing, as a gateway for people to appreciate anew or even for the first time the golden age of soul.

Not for them though a one hit wonder and then move onto to some other genre – these guys really do love the music. As a deejay Cooke is forever crate digging and looking for elusive 45’s partly for their breaks and beats but also with a sense of reverence for that period. And teamed up with the investigators it’s a match made in heaven.

There’s an Album worth of material that’s due for release in 2012 and by all accounts that promises to be once again bang on the money

We’ll have an interview with the guys in the second issue of Sussed, delve a little deeper into their catalogue and also see what the future holds for this partnership

SUSSED 23

TOP R’N’B DJ BILL KEALY LISTS HIS CURRENT FAVE SPINS....

BARRY WHITE - TRACY (FARO)

First solo outing from 'The Walrus of Love' from 1964. Uptempo R&B heaven although it does sound a little like 'Hit The Road Jack'

BUNKER HILL - YOU CANT MAKE ME DOUBT MY BABY/THE GIRL CANT DANCE (MALA)

More famous for novelty type records in the early sixties it all came together for Bunker on this 1963 release.Bunker screams his heart out on 'The Girl Cant Dance'...an incredible vocal performance while the flip is an infectious dancefloor masterpiece.

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or a movement thats been around in various guises for the past 50 years there have been few movies that have tackled the subject of Mod in a truly exploratory way. Of recent vintage there’s the remake of Brighton Rock which gave us some iconic scenes along Brighton seafront but mod had no plot importance, other than the location and time was the period of the infamous 'Sawdust Caesars' episodes. Going back a bit further to the eighties and there was Absolute Beginners - a stylistic interpretation of the Colin McInnes novel - which just about managed to get it wrong on every level possible. In the interim there have been the Austin Powers Series that attached the Mod label to late sixties swinging archetypes and which has given us that truly awful ohhh Behave mindset. There have been other more successful endeavours such as Bronco Bullfrog and of course the daddy of them all - Quadrophenia. For all its flaws Q has been the only movie that focused on what it is to be a mod and the mindset that accompanies this Attention to clothing detail, music, one-upmanship and the idea that being a Mod is not some casual pursuit but something that is a passion, a vocation and if we are honest a little nerdish. For example in Q the scene where the guys are getting their haircut and there’s almost a digging match cause the barber wants to put wax in a Mod’s hair, or Jimmy telling Steph about his new suit and mentioning all the little details....Christ, or even sitting in the bath to get his jeans just so.

Bearing that in mind when you see a movie with the title We are the Mods one would be forgiven in thinking that here is a movie that just might take the Q route and perhaps give some insight into the lifestyle. As Terry Rawlings once opined "Mod is a very British phenomenon" so it seemed interesting to see how the yanks have taken this ideal and bent it to suit local conditions. The film follows a shy photographer, Sadie, who strikes up a friendship with Nico, a Mod girl that goes to the same school. Nico is cool and although affected by a gammy leg she is living the mod ideal of scooters, sixties fashions and exhibiting some ambivalent ideas on sexuality. She initiates Sadie into the lifestyle and slowly Sadie begins to grow and expand. Nico is dating Treg, a Lambretta riding 'face' (it never explicitly states him as a face but the inference is there) who is as grumpy as he is badly dressed. Treg takes a shine to Sadie, Nico doesn’t notice, a bit of shagging happens, there’s a showdown and all the attendant mess, that such a situation can engender, ensues. Along the way Sadie comes out of her shell and realises one or two things about herself. This whole affair unravels at quite a slow pace and puts one in the mind of European cinema. It’s a kind of disjointed movie and to this viewer it seems that there is no flow to the whole. Scenes seem to be standing on their own and exist almost outside of the narrative flow. I get the feeling that there’s a lot of footage that never made it to the release.

There are some nice moments in this movie - the club scene is good, if too short and the soundtrack is mentionable. Critically, where this film falls down is that it’s not as the title suggests about Mods. That title is fairly strident and would suggest that herein lies a dissertation of Mod lifestyle but in reality I can see little bearing of the title to the actual movie. Vainly I waited until a scene where someone explained the ethos of mod (whether it be right or wrong) and give some credence to the title. The only inference I can take from the title is that being a mod means that you are a lesbian.

There are some referential points in the movie that will be of note to those paying attention, Barnes’ ‘Mods’ book is shown on screen, Nico lends Sadie Blow up and La Dolce Vita after their first meeting and there’s a cover of a Small Faces track at the Mod club. There is one scene that seems to be on the right track - Nico explains to Sadie her dream of a beauty Salon she would like to run however the imagery is of mostly stock Swinging London calibre.

Having said that, there are some totally out of place scenes - the girls go to buy a scooter and when they don’t have enough money to purchase it they end up doing some porn photoshoot. Maybe that’s how things are done in California but what bearing that has on Mod is not explained.

Technically I cannot fault the film - scenes are shot well and the acting is understandably charmingly clunky in parts but unfortunately it’s not enough to earn this a place in the (admittedly slim) canon of Mod movies. if it didnt have the title it might be of passing interest to Mods and be seen for what it is - just another coming of age film.

This movie should work - it has all the symbols, cool photographer, soul and rnb, sixties aesthetics, vintage scooters etc. but its let down as a Mod movie by the fact that its not about Modernism.

Give this one a miss and watch Quadrophenia again SUSSED 24

MARY ANN FISHER - PUT ON MY SHOES (FIRE)

Super-moody popcorn style rhythm & blues number with an aptly down-trodden vocal turn from Mary Ann Fisher! Following the release of this smalllabel R&B banger, Mary Ann went on to became well known as one of the Raelettes - Ray Charles' all female backing vocal troupe. In fact Ray held her in such high esteem that he even penned his excellent mambo R&B number 'Mary Ann' in tribute.

JIMMY McCRACKLIN - WHATS THAT PT 1 (MERCURY)

Recorded during Jimmys brief stay with Mercury in 1961 this infectious dancer is just unsitdownable. My fave release from Jimmy and so indemand at the moment....

THE ASCOTS - SHE DID / HIP TALK (BETHLEHEM)

Another great double sider from 1962 on the fantastic Bethlehem 3000 series.The Ascots almost Doo Wop vocal backed by a driving beat make this perfect for todays dancefloor.So in-demand at the moment, this is one of those records that will come to the grave with me...

OTIS BLACKWELL - LET THE DADDY HOLD YOU / OH WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME (JAY DEE)

Serious rarity this time.Better known for penning Elvis hits such as Dont Be Cruel, Return To Sender and All Shook Up this outing sees Otis well and truly out of the Kings shadow.Both sides are dancefloor magic...find one if you can!

SAMMY AMBROSE - MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO (MUSICOR)

Super catchy R&B dancer that has been hiding on the back of the Northern Monster 'Welcome To Dreamsville' which unfortunately guarantees that you wont be picking up it up for a tenner anytime soon.I know which side I prefer!

DORIE WILLIAMS - TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW (635)

I know absolutely nothing about this record only that it was released in 1962.Uptempo R&B dancer that has rocked the dancefloor every time I've played it...long may it continue....

EARL CONNELLY - THIS GIRL (MASTER SOUND)

Cant seem to find out much about this mid tempo Popcorn/R&B masterpiece.All I know is that its exactly the sound that I love at the moment.Much harder to find than his later releases on Maycon...

MELVIN DAVIS - WEDDING BELLS / ITS NO NEWS (KE KE)

Melvins only release on tiny short lived label KeKe. This really is as good as it gets for me.

'Wedding Bells is a fantastic uptempo R&B stomper and 'Its No News' is a popcorn masterpiece.

Probably the rarest record I've ever owned and will always be in my top 3....

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Coming up in issue #002.... ladies fashion boo-ga-loo resoul renaissance man hugh burns reviews, features, interviews, art and much more....

Many thanks to the following without whom this wouldn’t have been possible: Niall Gilmartin l Kevin Fitzpatrick l Marty McAllister l Eddie Piller l Jim Walters l Gillian Long l Dave Barry l Garry O’Neill l Fiona Mellon l Soulvation Publishing l Timmion Records l Luke Gleeson l Geraldine Fahey l Claudio De Rossi l Bill Kealy l Noelle Farrelly l Rosco Urge