what Frank is listening to #202 – THE CROOKS – Just Released – (Blueprint) – 1980
Sorry this didn't go out yesterday …I was knackered.
I had never heard of these guys before but one listen to the record gives them away. You don't need books or internet access to firmly identify this band as a mod revival band circa 1980.
mod revival as generously defined by allmusic: In the late '70s, a group of British punk rockers inspired by the Jam brought back the mod styles and sound of mid-'60s London. The Mod Revivalists stuck to the R&B-informed rock & roll that distinguished the original '60s mods, but the sound was harder and more frenetic, and often only implied the music's R&B roots. Since the original wave of mod bands in the '60s only included a few of bands — the Small Faces, the Who, the Creation, and the Action, as well as a handful of others — there were actually more mod groups in the revival than there were in the '60s. Furthermore, since most of the original mods only performed in cover bands (with the exception of the aforementioned groups) or simply danced to Motown records, the revival was the first wave of mod bands to rely on original material. Nevertheless, the mod revival only produced a handful of popular bands. The Jam were the most popular band in Britain during the late '70s and early '80s, but groups like the Lambrettas, the Merton Parkas, Squire, and Purple Hearts managed to cultivate cult followings and occasionally have pop hits. The mod revival lasted as long as the Jam's career — after Paul Weller disbanded the trio to form the Style Council, most mod revivalists either split up or became new romantics, which usually resulted in a breakup as well.
Apparently, that is the mod revival. To me, however, the mod revival was just a English variation on the US power-pop phenomena at best and just a poor cousin to the skinny tie band craze in the US at worst.
So what is mod?
allmusic again: Technically, Mod refers to a lifestyle and fashion more than music itself. During the early '60s, legions of teenagers in Great Britain began dressing in stylish, neo-Italian fashions and listening to American R&B, particularly Motown. Soon, these teens were dubbed mods. The original mod bands were all R&B cover bands, but soon they began writing their own material that was generally in the vein of their influences. Mod bands played R&B harder and faster than the original recordings — it was relentless, amphetamine-driven rock & roll. Many of the mod bands were barely heard outside of the United Kingdom, since the lifestyle was primarily a British phenomenon. Two bands — the Small Faces and the Who — were able to crossover to the United States market, but that was after both bands began developing and expanding their R&B-based sound. By the time psychedelia came around in the late '60s, mod had died out in Britain. However, mod — both the music and the lifestyle — came back in full force in the late '70s, thanks to the Jam.
I apologise in advance for the next couple of paragraphs to those of English extraction.
"Mod" music is basically what the English do best … take something and give it a different name, an "English" name, which implies that it is in fact something original from England. This is cultural colonialism.
In the present context it would be fair to say that there is nothing original about "mod" music. Mod is basically white English R&B. The only variation on its original American inspiration is perhaps that it's been made more "pop" by taking the rough edges off.
If you don't believe me listen to the Who's first album …most of it is pop …the raw crunch we associate with the tracks comes from the the live versions of the 70s, when they were trying to compete with Led Zeppelin etc. Likewise, though not "mod", the roughest rocking Beatles 45 is only marginally more rock 'n' roll than Fabian or Bobby Vee. OK that's an exaggeration but pop looms high in English music. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm just saying, why pretend its something else?
If you need anymore proof listen to the US white blues bands of the same time ….. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Blues Project, Dave Van Ronk, Lonnie Mack, early Captain Beefheart etc. The US white blues bands were never as prolific as their English counterparts, but then again they didn't need to be given they had the real authentic black acts in the US. Interestingly, as an aside, those US white blues bands were more adventurous than their English cousins for the same reasons – that is they had to distinguish themselves from the authentic black acts …
Still, "we" seem to lap it up as the same cultural colonialism is still practiced today by the English. Look at Mumford and Sons if you need proof …..alt country, Americana, indie folk pop has been alive and well in the US for 15 years but it takes a English act with limited horizons to make it popular and palatable for the 15 year olds. It seems like we are still colonials.
English bands are at their best when they wear their influences on their sleeves and don't worry about proving their bona fides. qv: The Beatles, The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, The Animals, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Soft Boys, all ripped off American sounds, referenced the influences in their music, sang about English things (occasionally) and didn't worry too much about justifying the "empire"
Anyway, I digress.
Even the word "mod" is not what we think:
The term mod derives from modernist popularized in the 1959 English novel Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes describing as a modernist, a young modern jazz fan who dresses in sharp modern Italian clothes. The word though had been around in the US since the 40s with the emergence of bebop, which was routinely called “modernist”.
Sorry, I digressed again.
With the exception of The Jam I found all the other mod revival rather dull. Mind you I found all the original 60s mod music rather dull.
The thing I hated about the mod revival bands is that unlike powerpop bands and the US skinny tie bands they never seem convinced by their sounds. They try to mix it up a little so you have a power pop song and then maybe something with a little blue beat and then something different again. Maybe such diversity is admirable, but now, given that all those musical forms are dated and not at all charming to my ears, I just find it a little tiresome.
The Crooks arent as hard edged as The Jam and musically and lyrically they seem to have buried any R&B tendencies in mod in favour of pop. Lastly, though there are bursts of amphetamine fuelled energy it doesn't cut across the whole album. A low energy Jam is the best that can be said of them. A pity. Actually, I suspect they were a covers band on the pub rock circuit who jumped on the mod bandwagon.
Also, a lot of the problem is the record isn't all that well produced …there is no punch, which all The Jam albums had, and powepop songs need that.
I am perhaps being overly harsh on the band but they fall well short of The Jam (which is the genres undisputable high point). Then again they are no worse than any of the other mod revivalists and this LP would certainly be a useful edition to any mods collection, but that really isn't saying much.
Tracks (best in italics)
- All The Time In The World – a touch of "I Fought the Law" in here, otherwise quite a good mod anthem.
- Waiting For You – a slight ska /bluebeat feel.
- Lets Get Together – paint by numbers music.
- Sound Of Today – relevant lyrics and a punchy delivery …definitely an attempt at The Jam …falls short though.
- Hold Me – less Jam spread here (ha) but clearly another rip off.
- 1000 Faces – by now everything is starting to sound the same.
- The Beat Goes On – Not the Sonny & Cher classic unfortunately. Another modish anthem.
- You Dont Have To Tell Me – tedious.
- I'm In Love – I've already forgotten the last song and I think this is going to go the same way.
- Me And My Friends – ditto.
- I Dont Love You – a potentially good song that comes out sounding a little whimpy.
- Understanding – a song that stands out. But, it's a cover of the Steve Marriott/Ronnie Lane Small Faces 1966 B side. The original was a soul / R&B flavoured tune ..here it's lost its black-ness and is sped up losing most of it's charm. Still it's better than most of the other tunes here.
And…
Despite a couple of good tracks this is largely dull. Tape the good and sell.
Chart Action
US
nothing
nothing
England
Singles
Singles
Album
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Sounds
All The Time In The World
attached
Understanding
the original
Others
Review
Bio
Website
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Trivia
- By mid-1980 The Crooks ran out of steam. Broderick and Dean quit the music scene, whilst Parry and Sparrow formed Modern Jazz. They later became Blue Zoo, enjoying UK hits with "I"m your man" and "Cry Boy Cry" in 1982. Parry went to co-write Yazz's 1988 N°2 hit "Stand Up For your Love Rights" and now works as an A&R man, whilst Sparrow bangs the skins for Nenah Cherry. http://punkmodpop.free.fr/crooks_pic.htm
Other Comments
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(originally posted: 28/03/2011)
