Britpop, R’N’B and Soul: What happened to the Mods after The Jam ended.
When The Jam played their last gig in December 1982, more than a few predicted that this would be it, the end of the Mod Movement. The mistake in thinking: Mod as an attitude and style was never dependent on big names. The scene has always found strength through its micro-networks, not through appearances on Top Of The Pops. So of course things continued from 1983, for example with Weller’s new formation The Style Council, which opens this box set.
Above all, however, there continues to be a large number of bands that continue to maintain mod traditions and do not necessarily embrace change – which also explains why the scene remains male-dominated. Women tend to emerge as solo scene stars, two examples in this box set of more than 90 tracks from the British mod scene from 1983 to 2000: Tracie with her mod-pop and Dee Walker, the underground and girl group style combined.
Mod as an attitude and style has never been dependent on big names
Both show that from 1983 onwards, despite all the maintenance of tradition, Mod has traveled through many channels. The scene includes underground garage believers like the Barracudas or The Mystreated, who initially only release the majority of their songs on 7″. The first proto-Britpop bands soon joined them, groups like Biff Bang Pow!, in which Creation boss Alan McGee tried his hand as a singer, or the later Madchester heroes Inspiral Carpets, Charlatans or The Stone Roses, in which not only the hairstyles were mod -influences revealed.
The contributions from Gene, Cast, Supergrass, Primal Scream and Ocean Color Scene show how the Britpop movement itself is influenced by mod. When these bands start, Paul Weller has long since reinvented himself after The Jam: as a Britpop tutor whose mod attitude sets the scene’s taste compass. By the way, the honest compilation makers at Cherry Red were unfortunately unable to secure the rights for the title song of Blur’s box set. The song would still have fit well.