Hard As Nails summer dates

The ever-excellent London mod night Hard As Nails has just announced its summer dates.

The across-the-board musical policy comes from a number of resident DJs - Andy Brazil, Macke, Clanger, Jim Cox, and Kerry Foster - meaning they won't all be DJing at each event, allowing more time for the guests to show their musical wares.

- Saturday June 7th DJs Rob Messer, Southern Sam, Jim Cox, Clanger, Macke
- Saturday July 26th DJs Mik Parry, Andy Pollard, Jim Cox, Clanger, Andy Brazil
- Saturday August 30th DJs Mark Thomas, Warren Boogaloo, Kerry Foster, Macke, Andy Brazil

UPSTAIRS @ CLOCKWORK
96-98 PENTONVILLE RD, LONDON N1 9JB
9pm-4am, £8 entry

Visit the club's Myspace page here.

Mojo King shop in Cardiff

If you're on the look out for mod-styled clothing and accessories in South Wales, you need to get yourself to the newly-opened Mojo King.

Owner Paul Reeves (who also co-runs Cardiff's Fabulous night) has used redundancy money from his previous job to set up the store in the Roath area of Cardiff, offering the likes of  Soul of 65, Gabicci, Fred Perry, Aertex, Baracuta, Warrior and Ikon, along more obvious items like parkas, desert boots, sta-prest and retro bags and accessories.

The range is mostly for men, but some female items are carried too. You'll find the shop at:

Mojo King
Unit 1, Wellfield Court Arcade
Wellfield Road
Roath
Cardiff
CF243PB
Telephone: 029 20499968

Open Tuesday to Saturday 9.30 to 5.30  (but closed on Cup Final Day). No website as yet, but you can get an interior shot of the shop over the page.

Retro TV W/C 9th May 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 9th May to Thursday 15th May.

Highlights of the week

BBC 4 broadcast The Music from Mad Men night on Friday 9th May, featuring a new biography of Peggy Lee (9pm), Kings of Cool: the Classic Crooners (10pm), and The World of Nat King Cole (11.50pm). The other bit of TV that looks at all interesting this week is Love Music Hate Racism 08, a look at the evolution of the Rock Against Racism movement (channel 4, Friday 9th,12.25am).

Radio wise, the most interesting listing to be found this week is on Radio 4 (Tuesday 13th, 1.30pm)
The Blues Dance - a look at the world of the blues dance or Jamaican private club in the history of black Britain. Johnnie Walker presents his own tribute to Dusty Springfield in Icons Revisited (BBC Radio 2. Tuesday 13th.10.30pm) and the world of public information films is celebrated in The Archive Hour - The Terrible Truth (BBC Radio 4. Saturday 10th. 8.00pm)

New music reviews online

We're trying to clear out a backlog of music reviews right now (amongst other things), with two new reviews just online.

First up, the Le Beat Bespoke 3 compilation - or the album of the even if you prefer (although its actually rare 1960s garage/psych tracks rather than track taken from that particular event.

Secondly, the expanded and reissued Stoned Woman by Mother Earth, which no has six additional tracks and new liner notes. If you like the sound of it, don't forget you can still win one from us by clicking here.

Finally, if music is your bag, you can get news, reviews and snippets every single day from our 'across the board' music site - Electric Roulette.

SOS in Bournemouth

Bournemouth has a new late-night soul event in the form of S.O.S.

Having begun promoting nights locally in 2006, the S.O.S. team have secured a regular slot at the 500-capacity Opera House in the town, with the next event scheduled for Saturday 31st May. On that occasion soul band DC Fontana are playing live, while guest DJs manning the decks will be Rowly, Warren Boogaloo, Steve Lyons, and Emma Cox.

S.O.S., Saturday 31st May
@ The Opera House, 570 Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, BH1 4BH
8pm-4am, £10 entry
Future dates: 6th September, 1st November

For more info visit the S.O.S website here. To buy tickets visit the venue, or ring 07934 483756.

Neil Young Archives project

A trailer showing off Neil Young's long-awaited Archives Volume One has been made available to watch through YouTube.

Young demonstrated earlier this week, at an IT conference in San Francisco, some of the features of Archives. The first release in the Archives series focuses on 1962-1972, and is packaged as an interactive 10-disc Blu-Ray collection of material, including hundreds of tracks of music, photographs, letters and other memorabilia. This period covers his early bands, his time in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and first few solo albums. It is also hoped that it will include the unreleased material he recorded at Motown studios, which has yet to see the light of day. Some of his fans will be forced into updating their home entertainment systems in order to be able to play Archives on the new Blu-Ray format.

The first Archives volume (of an estimated five) is scheduled for release this Autumn, via Sun Microsystems/Reprise/Warner Bros. Have a sneak preview below.

Ian McLagan - album and UK tour

Ex-Small Face Ian McLagan is going back on the road in the UK and Ireland, promoting his latest album under the Bump Band name.

The album is called Never Say Never and it's released on 7th July 2008 on the Proper Records label. It's described as 'beautiful and emotionally raw' and features all new material. The tour will play at several small venues - so ideal to get things signed and a photo or two I guess.

If you want the full schedule, read on over the page.

Ian McLagan website

Monkeeman - new album and UK gig

German beatsters Monkeeman has a new album out on the market - the first release in the UK. Not only that, the band are playing in UK - at the excellent International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool.

If time and money is precious, you can check out the band at the MySpace site via the link below. Or if you like to spend your money on clobber, the band have arranged for a free EP to be given away with every clothing order with DNA Groove.

Which sounds like great value to me.

Monkeeman MySpace site

Latest Takin' A Detour compilation

The latest installment of Detour Records' mod band compilation is set for release shortly.

Takin' A Detour Volume 4 is an 18 track CD featuring contemporary, mod-related bands from around the world, with each act contributing two tracks. This volume sees appearances from freakbeaters The East End (Russia), '79 revivalists The Itch (UK), power-poppers The Cokes (Japan), punk-pop group The Nailclippers (also Japan), '60s poppers Camera (USA), The Fadeaways (Japan), psych-rockers The Parascopes (Austria),   mod rock from the awfully-named The Unremarkables (UK), and finally indie-mod hybrid Weird Scene (UK). A wide-range of styles are represented here, which helps show the mod/scooter scenes' strength in diversity.

Takin' A Detour Volume 4 is released on the 9th of June and can be purchased from the Detour website here. You can email Dizzy from the label here.

1970 Reggae Soul Revival weekender

Following the success of the first event, details of the 2nd 1970 Reggae Soul Revival weekender have been announced.

Taking place on the weekend of the 11 and 12th of July at the Sugar Lounge in Margate, the big news this year has to be the appearance of Derrick Morgan alongside George Dekker. They will be duetting on many classic skinhead reggae anthems, as well as performing their solo songs. Weekends DJs include Brian Kelson, Phil Bush, Mark Wilson, and Oxford Paul. Weekend tickets are priced at £20 and available from the venue here .

1970 Reggae Sound Revival
11-12th July 2008
@ The Sugar Lounge, Mansion Street, Margate, CT9 1HE
8pm-3am on the Friday (£6), allnighter with live acts on the Saturday (£15). Free Sat daytime event (open decks, stalls)

For more information on the event you can phone the organisers: Phil on 07796 988633, or Brian on 01952 604251.

New Shindig! magazine out now

If Mojo and Uncut don't cut it, you'll be pleased to know that the latest issue of Shindig! magazine has hit the shelves.

The May/June issue features Andy Partridge and Dave Gregory talking about the Dukes Of The Stratosphear (with the albums about to be reissued), a look at San Francisco in 1966, a feature on American power pop band Blue Ash plus a critical look at the reformations of both The Sonics and The Zombies amongst other news, review and features.

You can get a subscription online at the website or you can now pick it up in WH Smiths in the UK or Barnes & Noble in the US.

Shindig! magazine website

Monkey Train in Stockton

Another night in Stockton, this time a newly-launched night going by the name of Monkey Train.

The music mix is ska, 60s R&B, soul & reggae, with DJs Paddy M (Tighten Up, Set the Tone), Johnny and guests. It kicks off on Saturday 7th June at the Georgian Theatre, running from 8pm until late. Tickets are £3 in advance, £4 on the door.

For more information check out the clubs MySpace site or if you have any questions or fancy a guest DJ spot contact monkeytrain@hotmail.co.uk.

Dance - and win a Savile Row suit

We have mentioned the Magic Bus night before - and if you've not been down, here's an added incentive for you. You could win a Savile Row suit.

How? Well, Magic Bus at the Cock Tavern on Friday 13th June will feature special guest DJ William Hunt of Savile Row alongside Eddie Piller, Ivor Jones, Johnny Valatone and Dean Rudland. And there's a dancing competition with the prize of a bespoke Savile Row suit from William Hunt - male or female suit.

Flyer above, but if you can't see it, the address is The Cock Tavern, East Poultry, Smithfield Market, London EC1 (20 yards from Fabric), running from 9pm until 2am, £5 on the door.

Find out more at the MySpace site

YouTube: Spencer Davis Group

YouTube continues to dig up some great musical treasures of the past - including this one of the Spencer Davis Group.

The track is a rough 'n' ready live version of I'm A Man, taken from a Finnish TV show. Great stuff...

Martin Freeman in the Daily Mail

Interesting interview in the Daily Mail (of all papers) with actor Martin Freeman, talking about his 'mod' leanings, his career, his record collection and his thoughts on just about everything else.

Luckily for those of us who don't buy the newspaper, the full interview is online - and you can view it via the link below...

Read the Martin Freeman interview

Modern Life in Stockton

Modern Life is returning to its soulful home, bigger and better than ever on Friday 23rd May.

Shake and fingerpop to the sounds of Tamla Motown, Atlantic, freakbeat blue eyed soul, ye ye, Hammond mod, 60s britpop and Northern. Dress neat and be ready for sharp beats as DJ Grant Schofield and his team (guest DJs include Chris Arthur).

There's a live band too - Edinburgh-based five-piece combo Modus, recently signed to Hammondbeat Records. The night takes place at the Stockton Arc, running from 9pm til late, with admission £8 (£6 concessions).

Arc website

Gimme Shelter DVD release

The classic Rolling Stones 1969 tour documentary Gimme Shelter is to be released on DVD this summer.

The film, directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, chronicles the Stones' infamous tour which ended up with the chaotic Altamont Free Concert. The stellar supporting cast includes Ike and Tina Turner, Jefferson Airplane, and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Gimme Shelter has had the full colour and sound restoration treatment, and comes accompanied with a lavish 40-page booklet with photos and essays on the Altamont show. Extras include directors' audio commentary and backstage footage of the Stones at Madison Square Gardens in New York.

Gimme Shelter is set for release by Warner Home Video on August the 11th.

New film: Honeydripper

A new film about the birth of rock'n'roll, Honeydripper, is shortly to be released in the UK.

Directed by American independent cinema stalwart John Sayles, it stars Danny Glover and is set in Harmony, Alabama during the 1950s. The Honeydripper's focus is, we're told, about 'the complexities and shifting identities of American sub-cultures'. Glover's character Tyrone Purvis owns blues joint The Honeydripper Lounge and its' future depends on a show by Guitar Sam. But when he doesn't show Tyrone is determined the show will happen, and drifter Sonny Blake may just be the answer to his prayers...

The film is notable for featuring many blues artists, including Mable John, Arthur Lee Williams, Keb' Mo', and Eddie Shaw. Honeydripper is on UK general release from Friday May 9th. Visit the official movie site here. The trailer is below.

Retro TV W/C 2nd May 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 2nd May to Thursday 8th May.

Highlights of the week

Jean Seberg was only 17 when Otto Preminger plucked her from obscurity—and a pool of over 18,000 casting hopefuls—to star in his controversial retelling of the Joan of Arc epic Saint Joan (BBC 4, May Day Holiday 5th 10pm). The actress, an enduring female style icon who inspired a million pixie cuts, led a short and tragic life. Hounded by the FBI, she suffered a miscarriage and on every subsequent anniversary of her child's death she attempted suicide. She had been missing for two weeks when she was found dead in the back seat of her car in a Paris suburb on 7th September 1979. She had taken a massive overdose of barbiturates, and had been dead for eleven days.

Allen Toussaint to play London

Allen Toussaint is set to play a rare show in London.

The New Orleans singer, songwriter and producer par excellence will play the Mojo Club on Monday August 4th at the Roundhouse in Camden. Since the mid-50s Toussaint has been lending his hand to some of the most memorable R&B and southern soul songs, working with Lee Dorsey, Benny Spellman, Dr. John, The Meters, Irma Thomas, and many more. He also worked in the fields of rock and pop, collaborating with amongst others The Band, Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney. He recently finished producing London-based blues singer James Hunter. Except to see one or more of these stars joining Toussaint onstage during the performance.

Tickets for the show (which will probably sell out quickly, so we don't advise you hang around) cost £27.50 and are available from Aloud here .

New Immediate Records book

A book telling the story of the Immediate Records label has just been released.

Immediate Records was formed in 1965 by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and his business partner Tony Caldor. It very quickly established itself as the coolest label around, releasing a host of excellent singles and LPs in not just the mod vein but featuring pop, rock, blues, psychedelia, folk and soul too. However by 1970 the dream was over and the label disbanded. 'Immediate Records: Labels Unlimited', written by Simon Spence, tells the fascinating story behind this brief label that burned so brightly. It features plenty of records sleeve photographs and other memorabilia from the time that fans will no doubt pore over with delight.

Immediate Records: Labels Unlimited (Black Dog Publishing) is out now in paperback and available for £18.95 from Amazon here.

Mod Revival club in Belfast

An '80s mod revival club has started up in Belfast.

Bought to you by members of the Solid Bond Scooter Club (who formed last year), '80s Mod Revival Club is a monthly affair starting on June 7th and then runs every first Saturday. DJ Paul Williams brings you the best of mod revival, ska, northern soul, new wave, and Motown. Admission is £5 entry.

'80s Mod Revival Club
1st Saturdays from June 7th, £5 entry
@ The Pavilion Bar, Ormeua Road, Belfast

For more on the night and the scooter club visit the Sold Bond website here.

Ruby retro scooter helmets

If you have cash to burn and want to invest it in some stylish headwear for your scooter or motorbike, you should check out the retro Pavillon scooter helmets from Ruby.

Designed by Jerome Coste and available online from high-end Parisian retailer Colette, the helmet range has vintage looks, a carbon exterior and plush leather interior. And there's a range of classic and bold designs, including the one above, all with the vintage-style Ruby plate on the front.

Various sizes available, all retailing for around £443.

See the full range at the Colette website

V&A's Supremes Love Child t-shirts

In 1968, The Supremes had something of a makover - ditching the ball gowns for 'street' styling and going for a grittier sound for the Love Child album. And you can get that look with the V&A's exclusive Love Child t-shirt.

Based on the top worn by Diana Ross on that album sleeve, the t-shirt is being made available in limited quantities by the V&A to coincide with The Story Of The Supremes exhibition being held at the museum.

You can pre-order now, with the shirts shipping from mid-May. Could be one of the t-shirts to be seen in this summer - and it retails in various sizes for just £18.

Find out more at the V&A website

Via Retro To Go

New band: Beggars

Beggars come from Reading, but we doubt be there for much longer. Only a few months after forming they had landed a record deal with Heavenly Recordings and, having already supported Babyshambles a few months back, are about to embark on a nationwide tour in May supporting Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong.

Musically Beggars mix Britrock swagger with the pop-art beat sound reminiscent of The Creation and The Who. The songs are encased in the raspy blues vocals of singer Justin Girdler, which recall Lee Mavers, or more recently the 22-20s.

Clearly they are the '60s-meets-Britpop sonic brothers of northern contemporaries The Troubadours. They have a Beatles-in-Hamburg vibe to their look (plenty of moody shots of them dressed in all-black) which should endear them to the all-important teenage girl demographic. Poster boys for UK guitar rock they may eventually become, but they aren't all arrogant bluster; as shown by their choice of covering Leonard Cohen 'The Future' in their live set (and now available as a limited edition 7" and download). The debut album has already been recorded, with Brendan Lynch producing, and will be out in the autumn.

Hear Beggars on Myspace here. Below is a taster from the debut album.

80s mod scene stories wanted for book

Help is needed for the compiling of a photo book of the '80s mod scene.

Photographer Darren Russell is publishing a book of the photos he took of the '80s mod scene. It is to be titled 'Saturday’s Kids: Mod Life in Camera'. Claudia is helping Darren to edit it, and they are looking for people to tell of their stories of "buying clothes, going to clubs/rallies and seeing bands". If you are interested in contributing to the project then write your memroies down (up to 200 words) and email them to Claudia at Tinymod@hotmail.com.

Note this project has nothing at all to do with Modculture, so please do not contact the site,

Win The Who's Magic Bus

The Who - in conjunction with the Teenage Cancer Trust - is currently running a competition to win The Who's Magic Bus - and it is a real bus.

Well, it's actually an original (but customised) Volkswagen T1 panel van from 1965, signed by both Roger Daltrey (patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust), and Pete Townshend.

You have to pay £5 to enter (with proceeds going to the charity) and answer a ridiculously easy question. And as a bonus, all entrants get a free download of a previously unreleased live performance of The Who's 'Magic Bus' performed during the International Bus Meeting in Hannover in October 2007. If you are feeling lucky, the link below takes you to the band's competition page.

The Who's Magic Bus competition

Mick Hucknall does Bobby Bland

Following Chris Rea's reinvention as a beat artist, another '80s star, Mick Hucknall, is paying tribute to the 1960s by recording an album of Bobby Bland songs.

The Simply Red man is to begin releasing music under his own name, and to kick it off he's made 'Tribute To Bobby',  a 12-track album of Bland covers set for release on May 19th. Hucknalls' tribute to the Lion of the Blues comes from Bland being one of his 'inspirations and music idols' apparently. The album is available to preview until May 1st on Hucknall's official site here. The CD release will feature a bonus DVD containing a 'making of' documentary shot in Memphis (a preview is also on his site).

And should you be moved enough to want to hear Mick perform these tracks live, here are his upcoming UK tour dates:

Bristol Colston Hall (June 29th)
Wolverhampton Civic Hall (30th)
Liverpool Summer Pops (July 1st)
Manchester Apollo (3rd)
Newcastle City Hall (4th)
Oxford New Theatre (5th)
Leicester De Montfort Hall (7th)
Ipswich Regent (8th)
London IndigO2 (9th and 10th)

Tickets for the tour are available to buy here. 'Tribute To Bobby' is available to order from Amazon here.

Numark TTi USB/iPod Turntable

Never mind plugging a deck into a computer and loading up a pile of software to transfer your vintage vinyl to MP3 - the Numark TTi USB Turntable with iPod Dock makes it all redundant.

Well, if you have an iPod that is. That's because it has an iPod dock, recording your vinyl tunes straight to the miniature player. Or if you want to tinker with the audio quality, you can still hook it up to the PC (to the USB port) and load up one of the three types of software sold with the deck.

The turntable itself is belt-drive, with playback at 33 or 45 and line-level RCA outputs (with built-in phono pre-amp). Available now for £149.

Find out more at the Advanced MP3 Players website

Via Electric Roulette

Weller: winter tour and in Mojo

Always looking to bring you exclusive news on Paul Weller, Modculture can reveal details of his UK winter tour.

Paul will be doing 11 dates in November, for which there is a pre-sale, allowing you can get your tickets before the general public. The dates are:

Crawley K2 (November 6th)
Southend Cliffs Pavillion (8th)
Aberdeen Press & Journal Arena (13th)
Glasgow SECC (14th)
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena (15th)
Liverpool Echo Arena (17th)
Manchester Evening News Arena (18th)
Cardiff International Arena (20th)
Birmingham NEC (21st)
Nottingham Arena (22nd)
London Brixton Academy (24th)

Tickets cost £30 (£35 for London) and go general sale on Friday, but you can order them from this Wednesday (the 30th, from 9am) by clicking here.

Meanwhile the new issue of Mojo magazine sees editor Pat Gilbert interviewing Paul to mark his 50th birthday. The magazine also comes with a covermount CD of music that inspired his songwriting, plus 3 Weller rarities. There is a photo gallery of Weller (including the cover shoot) on the Mojo website here.