How to Fix Oldies Radio


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Junior Walker - Cleo's Mood
Booker T & the MG's - Boot-Leg
Link Wray - Rumble

Tomorrow is my College Graduation so I went out and got a haircut. Maybe some day in the future I'll do a whole post on just haircut songs, like Smoking Popes "Brand New Haircut," Brent's TV "Hairdoo," Mars' "Hairwaves," The (international) Noise Conspiracy's "United by Haircuts," or Pavement's "Cut Your Hair," but today I want to talk a little about mods.

While I was downloading pics of The Jam for Wednesday's post I realized just how cool these lads looked. I can admit to a certain affinity for that clean and tidy Carnaby Street look for a good few years now and it just seemed like the appropriate move to make. College, which was a near decade long excursion for me, is coming to an end and I have a new job. Just seemed like I needed to make a clean break and so I cut off a good 6 or 7 inches of hair. Maybe nobody else out there puts as much symbolic significance on his or her haircut, but for me it says a lot.

Generally my rule for a good haircut is to take a style from the repertoire of The Beatles. There's a lot to choose from. I sometimes go for the Abbey Road era longer hair, sometimes I'll bring back the Cavern rock-and-roll look, but I seem to go back to the Ed Sullivan mod cut. I first cut my hair that way after a life-changing live show by The Makers the summer after I graduated high school. To a big music geek like me, having a 1960s garage haircut, or even British Invasion coif, seemed to draw a line of continuity to my little pop punk band through rock-and-roll history. Then The Locust came around and it seemed like everyone was into the longer bowl cut. It was bizarre when Justin Pearson finally razor cut his locks and suddenly ever person in front of you at their shows now had a palmade bird's nest protruding off the back of their heads.

So I sit down in the stylist's chair and she says, "Let's figure out what we're doing." I think my keywords were "clean cut but not too clean cut," "still long on the top but short in the back," and "mod." She showed me some pictures and I picked out the one that looked closest to what I wanted. And since I'm already writing an entire blog about it, I don't mind telling you, she did an excellent. In fact, I almost went into a post-art-school diatribe about the need for contrast in order/randomness and how the shears represent order and clean lines, where the razor shears really make it all work with their element of randomness. But I just said, "Wow that razor thing really makes a big difference."

So on the way to and from work today I listened to my Live Jam album I had out from the other day. It was great to sing along to their classic originals and even more fun to hear their versions of classic 'mod' pieces like "Move on Up" (maybe you know it as the sample from "Touch the Sky,") and "David Watts." So I felt like maybe I'd give the blog a sort of mini-soundtrack for my new haircut.

So, if you consider the mod movement an outgrowth of the International Style or modern art or design, there are some certain tenants that prevail. In keeping with the idea of internationalism, a lot of best tracks are instrumental. Without lyrics adding a level of cultural meaning, a great floor stomper can get feet moving in Osaka and Oxford. And there's something very anti-nationalist about middle-class UK kids recreating or replaying the soul records produced in the impoverished (read: soulful) parts of the US. (Maybe it's like how kids today latch onto those strange card-game-based anime.)

But beyond all that, what the mods did was dig dancable soul music. And some of it fetches prices of over $2,000 and some of it can be picked up cheap at thrift stores and used record shops. And like Patrick said in yesterday's blog, we need a new oldies playlist. Sure I love most of the Motown artists that everybody loves and get played 5 times an hour on K-Earth, but you're lucky to hear Jr. Walker's "Shotgun" between all the Aretha and Monkees. Where's is "Cleo's Mood" on that playlist? Do they just have those Motown gas station comps over there? I'm not the most avid crate digger ever but even I found a copy of Walker's greatest hits on vinyl... and I don't have a new music accrual budget like they do. (Or maybe that's how they make their profit... by never having to buy any more music.)

Also, Booker T and the MGs need to be rescued from simple movie soundtrack fodder. Yeah, "Green Onions" is a great instrumental track... but this was a real band here. Most folks will recognize the tune but have no idea the name of the track or the band who recorded it. And for all you Clash fans out there, Mick, Paul, Joe and Topper cut a great version of The MG's "Time is Tight," which I believe was a song on their infamous jukebox of classic soul, ska and just generally rude music. (Note: though I'll take Grandmaster Flash's version of "Hang 'Em High" over Booker T's.)

And Link Wray's "Rumble" should be as well known as The Troggs... even if few people know the name of either. Those reverb soaked fuzz guitars were groundbreaking and should instantly recognizable. But I doubt even among the aging Boomer demographic if Link Wray is remembered. Seems I'd more luck with the racist misogynists at the annual Hootenanny. And, dude, that's just sad. (Especially since Wray was part Shawnee.)

And besides all that, my life would be near meaningless if it hadn't been for Wray's most significant contribution to the guitar wielding adolescent: the power chord.

(Buy Jr. Walker at Amazon.)

(Buy Link Wray at Amazon.)

(Buy Booker T and the MG's at Amazon.)

(PS... If there's anyone out there who can school me on mods or Northern Soul... or clue me into some less surface level acts than The Who or Small Faces, I'd absolutely love it. PPS... I heard the Royal Air Force actually copyrighted the mod target?! True? Does Ben Sherman pay the RAF a small royalty?)


651 Responses to “How to Fix Oldies Radio”

  1. Anonymous Anonymous 

    Well Thats really intresting getting a hair cut and all.
    i really don't ever find a problem with The Oldies playlist
    cause my radio's don't work. but i will say that i agree that
    it would probably nice to have some more variety

    as far as link wray goes.
    i am not sure why he's not a common name

    the guy invented the power chord
    and
    did the Batman Theme song for the show in the 60's
    He did a lot for rock n roll.
    but then again
    I've only talked to about like 3 people that actually
    know about link wray. Two of them were rockabilly kids

    Rumble's great.

    but yeah. haircuts.
    Glad you got one
    and it inspired this great post..

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