Inspired by the legendary list Randy Cozens compiled for young Mods of the revival period, inspiring the likes of Eddie Piller and many others to collect the records termed ‘real Mod music’. A mod from the 60s who later founded the 6TS soul club, Randy used to write letters to ‘Sounds’, ‘NME’ and all the other music papers in 1979 urging mods to check the ‘real heritage of their mod forefathers’. ‘Sounds’ asked Randy to compile a Mod Top 100 which featured in the Bank Holiday edition in August 1979.
While the recordings on Eddie Piller’s latest release maybe familiar to diehard fans of great ’60s music, the story behind it will be new to many but is well worth telling – and hearing – all the same.
A lot of youngsters fell in love with the Mod lifestyle during the revival at the end of the ’70s, but the more inquisitive ones – like Eddie – wanted to know more about the original fashions, the original influential figures, and most of all the original music. Step forward one Randy Cozens, eager to give the benefit of his advice. In those pre-internet days his platform of choice was the letter pages of the weekly music press. His enthusiasm, his passion, and the sheer volume of missives he posted persuaded Sounds to commission Randy’s guide to the music that was played in the all-nighter clubs in London’s West End in those early ’60s halcyon days. And so, the original Mod Top 100 was born.
Eddie has taken Randy’s list, and added some personal favourites from the era where original selections are no longer available. The result is ‘Eddie Piller Presents The Mod Top 40’, a new 2LP set containing 40 examples of R&B, Soul, Jazz, and Beat that you would expect to hear on the finest and most discerning dancefloors. With new sleeve notes from Eddie, and the generous support of Randy’s children, Paul and Terry, this release also serves as a fitting tribute to one of the most influential and important figures on the scene (as Eddie relates, when Randy passed away in 2003 there were more than 500 mods at his funeral, dancing in unison to The Soul Brothers Six and ‘I’ll Be Loving You’).
‘Eddie Piller Presents The Mod Top 40’, for lovers of vinyl and listeners who want an introduction to some classic Mod sounds. Both formats are stylishly packaged (of course), include new sleeve notes by Eddie, and track by track details of when each single was first released in the UK, along with its ranking on Randy’s original 1979 list.
