The Moderns
Got To Have Pop

Imported from Japan by Listening-Post Music

The story of The Moderns starts at a high school in south Sweden in late 1978, where Janne Borgh met Tony Manieri and Par Attack for the first time. Being two years older and a lot more musically experienced, Janne became the leader and main songwriter of what was to become Sweden's first and best mod-revival band. Hannbe had been playing in a local band called Silver and The Buddyboys who were quite well known in Southern Sweden. The former was a glam-rock band in the Mott The Hoople/Bowie/New York Dolls vein and the latter A 60'S TRIBUTE BAND PLAYING THE Beatles and other hits of that era.

Fueled by the energy from the punk movement, Janne wanted to do original songs influenced by The Who and The Jam. So in early 1979 the band who at this point featured Janne on bass and vocals, Tony on rhythm guitar and vocals, Mats Johansen on lead guitar and vocals and Richard Lundqvist on drums, recorded their debut ep. This record featured the songs "Got to have Pop", "The Year of Today", "When the time comes" and "Say Yes". Self produced and self financed, the record gained a lot of publicity due to the freshness of the sound and the face that nobody else did this kind of music in Sweden at the time. At this time both Janne and Tony were in the Swedish Armey (mandatory in Sweden) for about a year and Mats went to Sinai to do UN service.

The band took a short break to reform in the fall of 1979, now with Par Attack on drums. The band played lots of gigs in Sweden, recorded a second single - Tell Me where the action is backed with She Said Go and secured a record deal in Stockholm. This was with the independent label, Mandarine Records, who released the third single "ready for the 80's backed with Identity. through Madarine the band got to tour the UK as part of the first Echo and the Bunnymen tour and also did a few gigs on their own. they played at Liverpool's Eric's in Matthew Street and at the legendary Hope and Anchor in London among others. This was probably the high point of the band's career.

A funny incident happened in Blackpool where The Moderns played in front of 500 skinheads who were there to see Skrewdriver. The singer of Skrewdriver told the skinheads to treat the Moderns with respect despite the fact that the Moderns were Mods and that the Skrewdriver fans were skinheads...and that's what happened.

The band continued for a couple years after with a couple of personnel changes but what we have on this record is the "original songs" that made The Moderns one to remember!
Price- $15.00

 

Tracks

1. The Year Of Today
2. Got To Have Pop
3. When The Time Comes
4. Say Yes
5. Tell Me Where The Action Is
6. She Said Go
7. Ready for the 80's
8. Identity
9. Suburban Life
10. Circles