K SPECIAL VA - Randy Cozens Presents... The Mod Top 100 (45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) [2024] (4 x CDs)

K SPECIAL

VA - Randy Cozens Presents... The Mod Top 100 (45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) [2024] (4 x CDs)

Best 100 mod tunes of all time? One man had it nailed. The result was The Mod Top 100 as compiled by Randy Cozens.

In celebration of exactly 45 years since Randy Cozens' legendary Mod Top 100 was first published in Sounds music paper UK bank holiday issue on Saturday, August 25, 1979, here is the complete playlist.

In 1979, DJ Randy Cozens compiled an inspiring chart of the best mod records. Eddie Piller puts the list into context. 

Randy Cozens was an original mod from the old school - the sharp clothes and soul music.

In 1979 he was to compile a chart that would help to dictate the path of mod through the '80s and give the flagging northern soul scene a lifesaving boost.

The second wave of mods had nothing to go on but their bands.

Mod was iconography - a tonic jacket, a parka, some desert boots, or a Who badge. It was a way for the 1978 generation to establish itself apart from the punk explosion, and from the early days of The Jam, The Jolt and the Buzzcocks, the next logical step for mods was The Chords, the Purple Hearts and Secret Affair.

Into the mix jumped one Randy Cozens, who was still only in his early-30s by the time the mod revival happened. The parka-clad revivalists were a million miles away from his '60s contemporaries and they needed to be taught about the real music of their mod forefathers; about the clothes and the style; the jazz, the soul, the ska, and the rhythm and blues. To this end Cozens wrote letters to every music paper in the country, urging these kids to check out their heritage. Mod wasn't about bands. It was about clothes. It was about music.

Randy used to write letter after letter to 'Sounds', 'NME', 'Melody Maker' and all the other music papers urging young mods to check the real heritage of their "mod forefathers"...soul. He didn't use the word 'northern', that didn't come into the mod lexicon till the early 80's. Just soul. It wasn't that we didn't like soul...none of us had come across it... there was nowhere (radio or nightclub) that you could hear it. Anyway, Randy was a mod in the 60's and he had stuck with it, literally on his own, fed by his passion for artists like Maxine Brown, Nella Dodds, stuff like that.

Eventually, ‘Sounds’ asked Randy to compile a Mod Top 100 of what was termed ‘real mod music’. The list ran as part of a Bank Holiday edition in August ’79, made up of 97 soul/jazz records, two ska records and one false track (named after Ian Clark, the soul DJ) to prevent anyone claiming they have all 100.

This didn't actually stop a few people requesting the Rancid Polecat at dos... but never mind, eh.

Published on August 25, 1979, the chart proved to be a revelation.

 

Together with the 6T's soul club that he formed in association with Ady Croasdell, the Mod Top 100 came to influence the overall direction of mod.

When Cozens died in 2003 there were 500 people at his funeral, mods and all.

Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in 1950s London and spread throughout Great Britain, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries. It continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and fashion, the subculture has its roots in a small group of stylish London-based young men and women in the late 1950s who were termed modernists because they listened to modern jazz. Elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits); music (including soul, rhythm and blues, ska and mainly jazz) and motor scooters (usually Lambretta or Vespa). In the mid-1960s, the subculture listened to rock groups such as the Who and Small Faces. The original mod scene was associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night jazz dancing at clubs.

During the early to mid-1960s, as mod grew and spread throughout Britain, certain elements of the mod scene became engaged in well-publicised clashes with members of a rival subculture: rockers. The mods and rockers conflict led sociologist Stanley Cohen to use the term "moral panic" in his study about the two youth subcultures, in which he examined media coverage of the mod and rocker riots in the 1960s.

By 1965, conflicts between mods and rockers began to subside and mods increasingly gravitated towards pop art and psychedelia. London became synonymous with fashion, music, and pop culture in these years, a period often referred to as "Swinging London". During this time, mod fashions spread to other countries; mod was then viewed less as an isolated subculture, but as emblematic of the larger youth culture of the era.

As mod became more cosmopolitan during the "Swinging London" period, some working class"street mods" splintered off, forming other groups such as the skinheads. In the late 1970s, there was a mod revival in Britain which attempted to replicate the "scooter" period look and styles of the early to mid-1960s. It was followed by a similar mod revival in North America in the early 1980s, particularly in southern California.

A few articles, magazines and videos to view: 

https://www.modculture.co.uk/feature-the-mod-top-100/

NME Originals - MOD Magazine (2006)

https://issuu.com/kylldare/docs/nme.originals.mod.magazine.2006?ff

Mods and Rockers - Brighton Beach Fight (1964)

https://youtu.be/8K5AgYw97cY?si=E6xZ7WhQ9TtFtp6F

Mods and Rockers - Film c.1964

https://youtu.be/HPhygnqIZiw?si=zAtK9nTHcl-pLNDS

So, for the very first time (to my knowledge) the complete (99%) set has now been compiled in its entirety and is posted here. I say 99% because the listing for track 43 is completely fake and never actually existed. Randy Cozens aware of collectors eager to claim to own the lot, inserted one fictitious recording: Rancid Polecat - Ian and the Clarks (Liberty), before anyone complains there is a track missing...

This fully packed 4CD set contains many rare and extremely hard to find tracks, with a significant amount featured in their original 7" 45 mono single mixes. Only the original CD quality studio mixes are included. No later remixes, re-recordings or poor-quality rips here!

All tracks have been meticulously and precisely digitally edited for the very best listening experience.

Compiled as always using the very latest and highest quality digital remasters, with a considerable number of tracks sourced from the original master tapes for superior sound quality and enjoyment.

K

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Track lists

CD01

01 Doris Troy - What'cha Gonna Do About It 1:43

02 Hank Jacobs - So Far Away 2:24

03 Nella Dodds - Come See About Me 2:39

04 George Stone - Hole in the Wall 2:53

05 The High Keys - Que Sera Sera 2:51

06 Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded (Original 1964 Fontana 7" Mono Single Version) 2:07

07 Sugar Pie DeSanto - I Don't Wanna Fuss (Original 1964 Pye International 7" Mono Single Version) 3:02

08 Rufus Thomas - Walking the Dog 2:31

09 Joe Tex - Hold What You've Got 3:06

10 Irma Thomas - Time Is on My Side (Original 1964 Liberty 7" Mono Single Version) 2:51

11 Ike & Tina Turner - I Can't Believe What You Say (For Seeing What You Do) 2:01

12 Ray Pollard - The Drifter 2:59

13 Chuck Jackson - Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird) 3:25

14 Major Lance - The Monkey Time 2:46

15 Inez and Charlie Foxx - La De Da I Love You 2:23

16 Bob Kuban and the In-Men - The Cheater 2:40

17 Mary Love - I'm in Your Hands 2:34

18 The Larks - The Jerk 2:35

19 Mitty Collier - I Had a Talk with My Man 3:43

20 Maxine Brown - Oh No, Not My Baby 2:35

21 The Sapphires - Gotta Have Your Love 2:14

22 Solomon Burke - Everybody Needs Somebody to Love 2:41

23 The Blendells - La La La La La 2:55

24 Lee Dorsey - Ride Your Pony 2:53

25 Jackie Ross - Selfish One 3:16

CD02

26 The Sharpees - Tired of Being Lonely 2:39

27 Ray Barretto - El Watusi 2:39

28 Roy Head and the Traits - Treat Her Right 2:05

29 Little Milton - Who's Cheatin' Who? 2:55

30 James Brown and his Orchestra - Out of Sight 2:21

31 Don Covay - Mercy, Mercy 2:25

32 Darrell Banks - Open the Door to Your Heart 2:34

33 Donnie Elbert - A Little Piece of Leather 2:41

34 Bessie Banks - Go Now 2:39

35 Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces - Searching for My Love 2:31

36 Phil Upchurch Combo - You Can't Sit Down, Pt. 1 2:11

37 Jackie Lee - The Duck 2:20

38 Bobby Sheen - Dr. Love 2:21

39 The Poets - She Blew a Good Thing 2:46

40 Bobby Parker - Watch Your Step 2:43

41 Johnny Nash - Love Ain't Nothin' (But a Monkey on Your Back) 2:14

42 Earl-Jean - Randy 2:14

43 Fred Hughes - Oo Wee Baby, I Love You 2:18

44 Sandy Wynns - The Touch of Venus 2:37

45 Nina Simone - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood 2:44

46 Tony Clarke - Ain't Love Good - Ain't Love Proud 3:13

47 Jimmy McGriff - I've Got a Woman, Pt. 1 (Original 1962 Sue Records 7" Mono Single Version) 2:34

48 The Astors - Candy 3:00

49 Googie Rene Combo - Smokey Joe's La La 3:02

50 Little Hank - Mister Bang Bang Man 2:38

CD03

51 Jerry Jackson - It's Rough Out There 2:22

52 Shades of Blue - Oh How Happy 2:16

53 Howard Tate - Ain't Nobody Home 2:26

54 John Lee Hooker - Dimples (Original 1964 Stateside 7" Mono Single Version) 2:11

55 Jimmy Radcliffe - Long After Tonight Is All Over 2:38

56 Alvin Cash and the Crawlers - Twine Time 2:22

57 The O'Jays - Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette) 2:43

58 Bunny Sigler - Let the Good Times Roll & Feel So Good 2:58

59 The Incredibles - There's Nothing Else to Say Baby 2:28

60 The Ikettes - Peaches 'N' Cream 2:16

61 The Invitations - What's Wrong with Me Baby 2:36

62 The Packers - Hole in the Wall (Original 1966 Pye International 7" Mono Single Version) 2:46

63 Gloria Jones - Finders Keepers (Original 1966 Stateside 7" Mono Single Version) 1:50

64 Gene Chandler - Nothing Can Stop Me 2:56

65 Dobie Gray - See You at the “Go-Go” 2:56

66 Deon Jackson - Love Makes the World Go Round 2:28

67 The Capitols - Cool Jerk (Original 1966 Atlantic Records 7" Mono Single Version) 2:32

68 Ramsey Lewis Trio - The “In” Crowd (Original 1965 Chess Records 7" Single Version) 3:16

69 Fontella Bass - Rescue Me 2:52

70 Homer Banks - 60 Minutes of Your Love 2:25

71 Chris Bartley - The Sweetest Thing This Side of Heaven 2:57

72 Alexander Patton - A Lil Lovin' Sometimes 2:22

73 Al Kent - You've Got to Pay the Price 3:00

74 Bettye Swann - Make Me Yours (Original 1967 Money Records 7" Mono Single Version) 2:59

75 Darrow Fletcher - The Pain Gets a Little Deeper 2:24

CD04

76 Donald Height - Talk of the Grapevine 1:58

77 Lou Johnson - (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me 3:14

78 Jimmy Hughes - Steal Away 2:26

79 Barbara Mason - Yes, I'm Ready (Original 1965 Arctic Records 7" Mono Single Version) 3:05

80 Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes) 2:21

81 The Vibrations - My Girl Sloopy (Original 1964 Atlantic Records 7" Mono Single Version) 2:53

82 The Impressions - Gypsy Woman 2:19

83 Sam & Dave - You Don't Know Like I Know (Original 1965 Atlantic Records 7" Mono Single Version) 2:35

84 Garnet Mimms - I'll Take Good Care of You 3:35

85 Toussaint McCall - Nothing Takes the Place of You 3:21

86 Candy and the Kisses - The 81 2:32

87 Otis Redding - Mr. Pitiful (Original 1964 Volt Records 7" Mono Single Version) 2:32

88 Eddie Holman - This Can't Be True 3:03

89 Jimmy Beaumont - You Got Too Much Going for You 2:46

90 The Spellbinders - Help Me (Get Myself Back Together Again) 2:23

91 Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher 2:58

92 Roscoe Robinson - That's Enough 2:47

93 The Manhattans - I Wanna Be (Your Everything) 2:40

94 Birdlegs and Pauline - Spring 2:50

95 The Magnificent Men - Peace of Mind 2:51

96 Mickey Lee Lane - Hey Sah-Lo-Ney 2:27

97 Willie Mitchell - Mercy (Original 1966 London Records 7" Mono Single Version) 2:09

98 Derrick and Patsy - Gypsy Woman 2:19

99 Lord Kitchener - Dr. Kitch 3:58

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