Mod music is a moveable feast. Over the years, as the Mod scene in its various guises has ebbed and flowed, so too have the tunes. As a genre, it can now encompass pretty much any style of 60s music – black or white, British or American, fast or slow. That’s not to mention the plethora of Mod-friendly sounds made since 1970.
Such a laissez-faire attitude wasn’t always so. During its heyday in the early-to-mid-60s, Mod dancers imbibed strong doses of uptempo American soul and R&B, with the occasional chaser of Jamaican ska or funky jazz. And that was the template used by any self-respecting British band of the period.
When the Mod scene was re-born at the tail end of the 70s, dancefloors would heave to tunes mostly derived from that original golden age. For the best part of the 80s, classic Chess R&B rubbed shoulders with out-and-out Northern soul, straining above the rattle of two-stroke engines at scooter rallies and pumping out of smoky basement clubs in major cities.
By the end of the decade, however, Mod had fragmented beyond all recognition. Some DJs embraced the funk/jazz world of Rare Groove – and in Eddie Piller’s case, he created Acid Jazz. Those Mods who’d maybe preferred live music found comfort in indie bands like The Charlatans, Blur and Inspiral Carpets, who shared the 60s sensibilities of mid-80s mod-friendly acts like The Prisoners and Makin’ Time.
Come the 90s, the Mod scene needed a fresh injection of ideas, which arrived with a new organisation under the nom de plume of The Untouchables. Being Mods, with their innately fastidious and obsessive natures, they eventually fell out, but from that initiative was born The New Untouchables, a collective of DJs, event organisers and snappy dressers with some serious aspirations. Inspired by the return of Modfather Paul Weller and the rise of Britpop via Mod-ish clubs like Blow Up in London’s Camden, the NUTs spent the 90s launching events and club nights across Europe from their capital base.
Key fixtures in the NUT diary included the Mousetrap all-nighter, Night Train and the Purple Pussycat, with DJs like Rob Bailey and Speed (Pete Wild) a ubiquitous presence. In both a musical and aesthetic sense, the NUT team evolved the Mod idea, charting its course into the late-60s period of psychedelia and Swinging London. Doubting Thomas’ derided these Austin Powers wannabes but they missed the point – the NUTs were creating their own bespoke Mod world distinct from previous generations. And key to this identity were the tunes.
Characterised by a flagrant disregard for genrebased musical snobbery, DJs unearthed all manner of rarities from all walks of musical life with one rule in mind – they had to fill the dancefloor. Many of these discoveries shunned a four-on-the-floor beat in favour of a funkier apparel but most were still rooted somehow in American rhythm and blues. Garage, boogaloo, library music, psychedelia, blue-eyed soul, Latin jazz, R&B, progressive pop, horn rock, Northern soul, frat rock – you name it, they played it.
In 2004, while working for Sanctuary Records, I approached Rob Bailey to document this scene as it embraced the noughties. The result was a series of compilations, Le Beat Bespoké, sporting ambitious sleeve designs which aimed to capture the spirit of NUTs’ events, from the flamboyant 60s attire to some grand locations. Le Beat Bespoké evolved into an annual Mod-friendly festival encompassing bands as disparate as R&B hairies The Pretty Things and delicate soul flowers The Flirtations. Only this year, the weekender played host to The Undertones, The Sonics, James Hunter and The Polecats. Mod?!
Here, we celebrate a decade or more of New Untouchables activities with a snapshot of some of the key collectable tunes which their DJs have helped to expose.
Of course, it only needs a few spins for a tune to rocket in value – and prices for the likes of Phil Wainman’s drum-tastic Going, Going Gone took off from a booked price of a tenner to several hundred pounds in a matter of months. Equally, many of the scene’s most triumphant tunes are easily available on compilations like the NUT’s own compilation series, Le Beat Bespoké.
BESPOKÉ TUNES
Q&A with New Untouchables pioneer Rob Bailey
What was the idea behind The New Untouchables?
When Paul Weller made his solo comeback in the 90s, Mod Revival label Detour Records was born and so were The Untouchables. Without Weller, there would have been no recognisable Mod scene. London in particular was looking for something new. So we started our own weekenders and events more suited to our tastes. Two bands, The Aardvarks and The Clique, played a pivotal role in that change as the 60s and Mod scenes discovered each other and The Untouchables created something fresh, fusing the two together.
How has it evolved since then? In the 80s, serious Mod clubs concentrated on 60s black music but the Mod scene is now as much about white beat records?
Rarely a beat record was played at leading 80s Mod clubs like Sneakers – it was pure soul and R&B. I think the quality of music now is better, with the benefit of looking back over 50 years and cherry picking the best and also having tools like the internet for discovering new music. I don’t see a lot of difference from the original Mods’ evolution. You don’t want to limit yourself to the same sounds, tempos, rhythms and dances. The Mod scene’s strength, appeal and longevity is its diversity.
To what extent did the clubs like Blow Up and the mid-90s easy listening craze open people’s minds?
Easy listening may have opened the door to the Mod scene but many of the better Hammond/Mod jazz tracks were already being played. Blow Up and Night Train in Camden Town played an important role to a new generation discovering Mod for the first time, playing a mix of 60s pop/soul classics along with Brit Pop, which was clearly influenced by Mod heroes like The Kinks and Small Faces. Before Brit Pop, our Mousetrap all-nighters had already built up a reputation. Those Camden clubs, with their accessible two-room Brit Pop/Mod format, attracted new faces.
How did the scene develop in the Noughties? Has the audience changed?
That club format was emulated across Europe and subsequently the scene flourished. The DJs fed the new audience with new genres like freakbeat, Eurobeat, folk-funk, popsike and popcorn.Mission accomplished with the scene now vibrant and much more accessible and fun with many cool people.
What’s the future in terms of new tunes?
With quality UK discoveries few and far between, there’s a growing interest in US garage/psych/rock which seems to be a bottomless pit, along with European sounds, even from the Eastern bloc countries. Some Mods who love their black music looked backwards, digging for records from the mid- 50s and early 60s with that popcorn and new breed R&B sound. I’m amazed that great records are still being uncovered, which is testament to the passion and devotion of DJs on the scene.
What were your ambitions for the compilation series Le Beat Bespoké?
‘All killer no filler’! The original concept was to be exactly like my DJ set. All records I buy are with the dancefloor in mind and the first selection reflected fave raves from the NUT’s scene 2000-2004, with its mix of Eurobeat, blue-eyed soul and fuzz winners.
Le Beat Bespoké then continued on Circle Records…
Circle seemed the logical new home, run by longtime friend Pete Wild. Volume 2 included plenty of garage/boogaloo-ish records which did not strictly fit into either camp. In fact, they were best described as Mod records. I’m a sucker for female vocals so that second instalment had a fair share of femme fatale groovers.
More recently, you seemed to embrace more American and Continental tunes?
Yes, Volume 3 kicked off with the garage classic Abba by The Paragons, which had become a New Untouchables anthem. Some more soulful garage sounds were often overlooked by collectors because of their brass – faves like The Bit’ A Sweet’s Is It On – Is It Off or Fire And Ice tracks Mirrors and Music Man. We had European psychedelic heavyweights Douglas and Joanna next to folk-funk faves by Chris Britton and Julie Felix.
The latest volume seems the most esoteric yet?
Le Beat Bespoke 4 begins with a slice of spooky bubblegum from Jeff & Jerry followed by a monster fuzz rarity by the Peaceful Coalition, the first 45 from prog-folk act East Of Eden, the Parisian band Le Coeur and Aussie group The Twilights delivered the pop-sike finale.
All four volumes of Le Beat Bespoké are available on vinyl and CD from: www.newuntouchables.com.
The stars reflect availability on the Beat Bespoké volumes, e.g. ** means a track is on Volume 2.
