Long before Mod reached the masses, circa 1964, there existed ‘Modernists’, a central London cult that pre-empted the dress sense in constant flux. Everything had to be just so: back vents precisely seven inches once week, exactly five the next. At Soho’s open-all-night Flamingo one Saturday, you had to be electric-blue Italian. Go back the following Thursday, and it’d be Parisian.
It was these same early harbingers of sartorial elegance who drew-up the blueprint for the sonic delights that continue to dominate mod-culture half a decade after it emerged. The charts - then known as ‘the hit parade’ - was snobbishly dismissed in favour of modern jazz, early soul cuts, brutish R’n’B, and even the odd ‘girl-group’, the earliest examples of which (at least under any hip leaning of the term) were just emerging when the pioneers of this new-movement were still on target practice.
This compilation – augmented with extensive sleeve notes - brings together an impressive 54 tracks that illustrate perfectly what got the younger siblings of the first rock & roll generation onto the dance floors. 54 TRACKS ACROSS 2 CDs
DISC ONE
1. The Sunset Four Jubilee Singers – WADE IN THE WATER 2. Roosevelt Sykes – NIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME 3. James Moody – MOODY’S MOOD FOR LOVE 4. Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers – PINK CHAMPAGNE 5. Buddy Morrow – NIGHT TRAIN 6. Juliette Greco – JE SUIS COMME JE SUIS 7. Earl Bostic – FLAMINGO 8. Otis Blackwell – DADDY ROLLING STONE 9. Ray Charles – GET ON THE RIGHT TRACK 10. The Gerry Mulligan Quartet – WALKIN’ SHOES 11. Bo Diddley – I’M A MAN 12. Modern Jazz Quartet – DJANGO 13. James Brown – PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE 14. Shirley and Lee – LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL 15. Barbie Gaye – MY BOY LOLLIPOP 16. Muddy Waters – I LOVE THE LIFE I LIVE 17. Mose Allison – PARCHMAN FARM 18. Laurel Aitken – NEBUCHADNEZZAR 19. Doris Day – EVERYBODY LOVES A LOVER 20. Huey ‘Piano’ Smith – DON’T YOU JUST KNOW IT 21. Andy Williams – HOUSE OF BAMBOO 22. Ike Turner’s Kings Of Rhythm – SHE MADE MY BLOOD RUN COLD 23. Rosco Gordon – JUST A LITTLE BIT 24. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross – GIMME THAT WINE 25. Horace Silver – SISTER SADIE 26. Nat Kendrick & The Swans – MASHED POTATOES 27. Jerry Butler & The Impressions – FOR YOUR PRECIOUS LOVE
DISC TWO
1. Dave Brubeck – BLUE RONDO A LA TURK 2. Ray Charles – WHAT’D I SAY 3. Googie Rene – CAESAR’S PAD 4. Nat Adderley – WORK SONG 5. The Miracles – SHOP AROUND 6. The Isley Brothers – RESPECTABLE 7. The Top Notes – TWIST AND SHOUT 8. Owen Gray – CUTEST LITTLE WOMAN 9. Bill Black’s Combo – MY GIRL JOSEPHINE 10. Ann Cole – PLAIN AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE 11. Eric Morris & His Drumbago All-Stars – HUMPTY DUMPTY 12. James Brown – I DON’T MIND 13. Bobby Parker – WATCH YOUR STEP 14. Phil Upchurch Combo – YOU CAN’T SIT DOWN (Parts 1 & 2) 15. Ike & Tina Turner – IT’S GONNA WORK OUT FINE 16. Teddy Randazzo – LET THE SUNSHINE IN 17. The Coasters – LITTLE EGYPT 18. Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland – TURN ON YOUR LOVE LIGHT 19. Don Covay – PONY TIME 20. Barbara George – I KNOW (YOU DON’T LOVE ME NO MORE) 21. The Dave Clark Five – CHAQUITA 22. The Shirelles – BABY IT’S YOU 23. The Supremes – BUTTERED POPCORN 24. Billy Preston – VOLCANO 25. Gene Chandler – DUKE OF EARL 26. The Dukays – NITE OWL 27. James Booker – GONZO