Magazine:
Mojo

No. 139, juni 2005

15 tracks, 43:23

Mojo

In mid-1965 the Mod scene found i's  true standard-bearers in the diminutive form of The Small Faces - four sharp-dressed, cocky East End tykes looking to beat boredom by looking good and sounding even better.
In many respects, The Small Faces were the product of the five years that preceded their arrival on the scene. In that time the Mod movement had risen from the back streets of EastLondon, through the pages of fashion magazines like Town and - thanks to the pitched Bank Holiday battles between Mods and Rockers - on to the front pages of every national newspaper by 1964.
But Mod was never intended as front-page news. If anything, it was a narcissistic, almost coded expression of the self that saw a generation of largely working-class teenagers seeking to escape the drab realities of post-war Britain.
Fuelled by improved education, 100 per cent employment and a changing world, Mods had money to spend on clothes, rnusic and kicks. For the latter pair they initially crowded to London's clubs like The Scene and The Flamingo and later on to the likes of Klooks Kleek in West Hampstead or the Zambezi in Hounslow where their nights were soundtracked by soul, R&B, jazz and nascent ska, before the music moved North.
MOJO's Mod Club Party is a celebration of some of the tunes that were spun at those clubs and also of the homegrown British music that arose thanks to their influence from 1964 onwards. The 15 tracks have been chosen due to their timeless power, their passion and their impact. And the impact and appeal of Mod is sornething that still resonates over 40 years later. Why? Because, as Paul Weller puts it, above all Mod is about "taking pride in yourself because there's nothing else'.

Phil Alexander, Editor-In-Chief, MOJO

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