Various Artists - Keep Lookin; 80 More Mod, Soul & Freakbeat Nuggets (@320)

 

Various Artists - Keep Lookin; 80 More Mod, Soul & Freakbeat Nuggets

 

Mod has always been a strange old beast, with its many contradictory styles as well as its obvious fashion accessories. Even at its conception 50 years ago, there was a great deal of diversity in the music that Mods listened to, and so this 3 disc trawl through the ‘60s on Cherry Red’s RPM, naturally covers a lot of ground. For casual observers, it’s enough to get off on the music alone, without getting into the whole Mod ethos. Let’s leave that to the experts: the music is enough, and there’s plenty of great choices on this fabulous box set, which is the successor to the 2011 collection, Looking Back.

 

There’s also more going on than the styles listed in the compilation’s title. The thing to note though, is that you won’t find any “obvious” bands here, so forget The Who, Small Faces or even The Action and The Creation. Mod’s forgotten heroes (at least to the non-experts), The Artwoods (featuring Ronnie Wood’s older brother, Art) start the ball rolling, and they also give the box set its name with their stomping Keep Lookin’. They also have their own brand new collection out on Cherry Red, Steady Getting‘ It (The Complete Recordings 1964-67), coming soon.

 

There’s a cracking version of Them’s Gloria by The Spektors, which will give the original and the belting version by The Shadows of Knight a good run for their money. To pick just a few more highlights, there’s the soulful genius of Kris Ife (sadly deceased last year) with Give and Take, and Mod-psych from Toronto’s Dee and the Quotum with Someday You’ll Need Someone. And check out the fuzzed up freakbeat pop of Katch 22 with Major Catastrophe. At another end of the Mod spectrum, there’s Laurel Aitken, but here he’s not living up to his Godfather of Ska tag, and instead he gives us the Bo Diddley blues shuffle that is Voodoo Woman.

 

Keep Lookin’ is just a fantastic collection of great records, lovingly put together by Mod expert, Cherry Red’s very own John Reed. It works with or without the listeners prior knowledge of Mod, and the box set includes a brilliant booklet, which provides a track-by-track guide, and also includes some great photos, with record sleeves and band shots.

 

Tracklist:

 

Disc 1:

 

1) Keep Lookin' - The Artwoods

2) Finger Poppin' - The In Crowd

3) Voodoo Woman - Laurel Aitken

4) Gloria - The Spektors

5) Don't Be Messing Around With My Bread - John Lee Hooker

6) I'm Leaving - The Tribe

7) Smokestack Lightning - The Others

8) Yo Yo - Ray Columbus & The Invaders

9) Blue Feeling - The Rogers

10) Whatcha' Gonna Do - Billie Davis & the LeRoys

11) I'm Coming Down With the Blues - The Gnomes Of Zurich

12) Don't Lie to Me - Four + One

13) Mickey's Monkey - The Hi-Fis

14) Lookin' for My Pigs - Ray Hoff & The Offbeats

15) Casting My Spell - The Talismen

16) The Green Ball - The Arthur Brown Set

17) High Time Baby - The Gremlins

18) My Life Ain't Easy - Gene Latter & The Detours

19) Gimme, Gimme Some Shade - The Untamed

20) Hey Girl (No Need to Push) - The Ministry Of Sound

21) Go-go - Four Fours

22) Memory of Your Love - The Thoughts

23) I Put On My Shoes - The Jeeps

24) Magic Words - The Birds

25) A Man With Money - A Wild Uncertainty

26) Make Your Mark Little Man - National Pinion Pole

27) Dandy - The Rockin' Vickers

 

Disc 2:

 

1) A Touch of Velvet, a Sting of Brass - Mood Mosaic

2) Springtime - Jimmy Thomas

3) I Can't Dance With You - The Valentines

4) Taking Out Time - The Spencer Davis Group

5) I'm Looking for a Saxophonist Doubling French Horn Wearing Size 37 Boots - The Artwoods

6) You Better Get Going Now - Lomax Alliance

7) Boogaloo Down Broadway - Soul Purpose

8) My Heart Won't Believe It - The Tribe

9) Summer Leaves With a Sigh - Tuesday's Children

10) We Want a Beat - Ray Columbus

11) Trust Yourself a Little Bit - Lindsay Muir's Untamed

12) Tell Her No - The Kompany

13) You're On Your Own - The In Crowd

14) I'm Good for You - The Troubled Mind

15) Sweet Precious Love - Laurel Aitken & The Carols

16) Soul Finger - Willpower

17) Call My Name - Liz Christian

18) Don't You Worry - Jacki Bond

19) Surrender - Perpetual Langley

20) The Way You Are - Eartha Kitt

21) Sweet Sweet Lovin' - Val McKenna

22) Something to Hold On To - Marilyn Powell

23) Give and Take - Kris Ife

24) Lightning Never Strikes - Sheridan

25) River Deep, Mountain High - Sands

26) Go Go Girl - John's Children

27) Utterly Funky - The Heavyweights

 

Disc 3:

 

1) Arcipelago - The Underground Set

2) Holding a Dream - Gene Latter

3) Stoned Out of It - John Fitch and Associates

4) Sookie Sookie - The Valentines

5) Man in a Suitcase - Alexander Stone

6) You're in Life - Icarus

7) Someday You'll Need Someone - Dee And The Quotum

8) Moneylender - Rhubarb Rhubarb

9) Shambala - The Heavyweights

10) Some People - Chords Five

11) Major Catastrophe - Katch 22

12) Run Run Run - Coconut Mushroom

13) Hey Conductor - The League

14) Cornflake Zoo - Andy Ellison

15) Something's Coming Along - The Sceptres

16) She's Alright - Lyons And Malone

17) Trans-love Airways (Fat Angel) - Big Jim Sullivan

18) Rip Van Winkle - Joker

19) Don't Torture Your Mind - The Exception

20) Love Is a Beautiful Thing - The Alan Bown

21) Rollin' Over - The Sorrows

22) Rescue Me - The Mike Stuart Span

23) All Night Drinker - Fat Mattress

24) We're Going to Beat It (Battle Hymn) - Canterbury Glass

25) Bat Poem - The Liverpool Scene

26) La Virra - Arrival

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