This is a guest post from Jason Toon
 
Forsaken by its godfather, derided by critics, dismissed by the music press that inflated it into a phenomenon in the first place: the late ‘70s “mod revival” never really became the Next Big Post-Punk Thing. It never produced another band with the depth, range, and wider appeal of its biggest inspiration, the Jam, let alone ‘60s originals like the Who, the Small Faces, and the Kinks. After boosting bands like the Chords, main Jam man Paul Weller took pains to distance himself from what he saw as an unimaginative horde of louts in parkas.

And yet… though its attempt to take punk’s short-hair-and-sharp-songs aesthetic back toward the ‘60s was commercially doomed, the mod revival left behind a pile of great singles. It laid the foundation for C86, garage rock, shoegaze and other strains of ‘80s UK indie that eventually coalesced into Britpop. And after the mainstream attention faded, mod went underground, where it has survived to this day.

Cherry Red’s new four-disc Millions Like Us: The Story of the Mod Revival 1977-1989 is the best document yet of the mod revival. It’s missing the Jam, and leaves out Two-Tone ska, which offered a more socially relevant (and danceable) way for the kids of the time to engage with ‘60s style. But paradoxically, it’s actually stronger for it: without anything that a non-enthusiast would ever have heard before, Millions Like Us feels like a pocket universe of unknown pop hits.
 

 
Much more Mod revival, after the jump…

 
Here’s a very cool documentary about mods that aired on French TV show Seize Millions Des Jeunes in March of 1965. Includes live performances by the Who as well as interviews with the band and their managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.

You may have seen segments of this documentary on Youtube over the years, but this one is complete and has subtitles. If you want to own it, buy the Blu-ray version of the newly and beautifully restored Quadrophenia. While I’m not a big fan of the movie, Criterion deserves accolades for doing a brilliant job (along with the Who) of polishing the sound mix (in its original stereo and a fresh 5.1 version) and cleaning up the original film elements and transferring them to digital. The results are stunning.
 

 
A brief vignette from the “exploitation” documentary feature Primitive London from 1965, featuring London’s beatniks hanging out in their local bar, answering questions on dress, work, idling and marriage. The bar is where Rod Stewart (aka Rod the Mod) hung out, and the featured musicians are Ray Sone, harp (later of The Downliner’s Sect) and Emmett Hennessy, vocals, guitar.

Though some have been dismissive of Primitive London, it’s now a film of cultural importance, which, at first glimpse, reveals a world long gone, but when closely examined, the groupings, motivations and patterns of behavior are still the same today.
 

 
Via Publique, with thanks to Tara McGinley
 

 
Fashion, tribalism and a sharp suit. BBC documentary “The Street Look” connects fashion to pop music and back again. We proclaim our allegiance to the music we love in the clothing we wear. I’ve run through the whole gamut. My girlfriend says I’ve got more shoes than any man she knows: from winklepickers to creepers to sandals and Pumas, to cowboy boots, Beatle boots and leopard skin loafers. I’ve always been a fashion shapeshifter and it’s always been in relationship to whatever new social/cultural scene I feel a passion for. I like to wear my colors. It’s a declaration of what I believe in. Suit up and get ready to rock and roll.

In the late 70s, I started a company called Shady Character. I sold skinny ties and wraparound shades to stores that in turn sold them to kids in towns like Laramie, Wyoming and Brownsville, Texas -  places where there wasn’t a punk or new wave scene but kids wanted to align themselves with the movement. I really wasn’t doing it for the money, much to the chagrin of my partners, I was doing it because I wanted to provide kids with a freak flag to fly, a uniform in the rock and roll army. A groovy pair of Italian wraparounds can change the world for a 17 year old in a town without pity.