54 tracks across 2 discs.

Long before Mod reached the masses, circa 1964, there existed 'Modernists', a central London cult that pre-empted the dress sense in constant flux. Everything had to be just so: back vents precisely seven inches once week, exactly five the next. At Soho's open-all-night Flamingo one Saturday, you had to be electric-blue Italian. Go back the following Thursday, and it'd be Parisian.

It was these same early harbingers of sartorial elegance who drew-up the blueprint for the sonic delights that continue to dominate mod-culture half a decade after it emerged. The charts - then known as 'the hit parade' - was snobbishly dismissed in favour of modern jazz, early soul cuts, brutish R'n'B, and even the odd 'girl-group', the earliest examples of which (at least under any hip leaning of the term) were just emerging when the pioneers of this new-movement were still on target practice.

This compilation - augmented with extensive sleevenotes - brings together an impressive 54 tracks that illustrate perfectly what got the younger siblings of the first rock & roll generation onto the dance floors. With classics of the genre rubbing shoulders with obscure gems and old school ties co-existing with the future sounds of London, a finer collection of the roots of the most enduring of all British youth cults can barely be envisaged.

Track Listing

• The Sunset Four Jubilee Singers - Wade In The Water
• Roosevelt Sykes - Night Time Is The Right Time
• James Moody - Moody's Mood For Love
• Joe Liggins And His Honeydrippers - Pink Champagne
• Buddy Morrow - Night Train
• Juliette Greco - Je Suis Comme Je Suis
• Earl Bostic - Flamingo
• Otis Blackwell - Daddy Rolling Stone
• Ray Charles - Get On The Right Track
• The Gerry Mulligan Quartet - Walkin' Shoes
• Bo Diddley - I'm A Man
• Modern Jazz Quartet - Django
• James Brown - Please Please Please
• Shirley and Lee - Let The Good Times Roll
• Barbie Gaye - My Boy Lollipop
• Muddy Waters - I Love The Life I Live
• Mose Allison - Parchman Farm
• Laurel Aitken - Nebuchadnezzar
• Doris Day - Everybody Loves A Lover
• Huey ‘Piano’ Smith - Don't You Just Know It
• Andy Williams - House Of Bamboo
• Ike Turner’s Kings Of Rhythm - She Made My Blood Run Cold
• Rosco Gordon - Just A Little Bit
• Lambert, Hendricks And Ross - Gimme That Wine
• Horace Silver - Sister Sadie
• Jerry Butler & The Impressions - For You Precious Love

• Dave Brubeck - Blue Rondo A La Turk
• Ray Charles - What'd I Say
• Googie Rene - Caesar's Pad
• Nat Adderley - Work Song
• The Isley Brothers - Respectable
• The Top Notes - Twist and Shout
• Owen Gray - Cutest Little Woman
• Bill Black’s Combo - My Girl Josephine
• Ann Cole - Plain As The Nose On Your Face
• Eric Morris And His Drumbago All-Stars - Humpty Dumpty
• James Brown - I Don't Mind
• Bobby Parker - Watch Your Step
• Phil Upchurch Combo - You Can't Sit Down Part 1 & 2
• Ike and Tina Turner - It's Gonna Work Out Fine
• Teddy Randazzo - Let The Sunshine In
• The Coasters - Little Egypt
• Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland - Turn On Your Love Light
• Don Covay - Pony Time
• Barbara George - I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)
• The Dave Clark Five - Chaquita
• The Shirelles - Baby Its You
• Billy Preston - Volcano
• Gene Chandler - Duke Of Earl
• The Dukays - Nite Owl
• James Booker - Gonzo

Additional Details

Label: Chrome Dreams

Genre: Pop/Rock

Run Time: 158 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 08/09/11

UPC: 823564619729