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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Alan Bown Set Sure Had Soul!, 17 Jan 2001
Almost thirty-five years ago I heared a relatively unknown London-based band called the Alan Bown Set perform a song titled "Headline News" on Radio Luxemburg. With it's opening chorus "Extra! Extra! Read all about it," its wonderful horns, and its funky rhythm, it was Mod with "a capital M." The song failed to make the charts, which is still hard to believe. Over the next thirty-five years I never heard the song again. But, I never forgot it either.Here is that song, and plenty more like it. Before evolving into the mildly psychedelic group called just The Alan Bown, this original incarnation was a terrific dance band; a favorite at the clubs and halls of Swingin' London. Their interpretations of Motown, the Impressions, and other American masters of soul, were among the best mid-60s Britain had to offer. In many ways they were the equals of the Small Faces and the Who, but never achieved the success or the mystique of the other two bands. This collection of ALL their Pye recordings from 1966-1967 is a wonderful piece of Mod nostalgia. I only regret that they were not as well recorded as some of their contemporaries, and alas for this reissue, their recordings were apparently not remixed. So, this pretty much sounds the way it did back when these tunes first appeared on 45. Also included is a live set, one side of the rare "London Swings: Live At the Marquee" LP (the other side was given over to their contemporaries Jimmy James & the Vagabonds). If you like the Mod sound, you'll definitely find this a treat.
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~ Johnny Johnson
~ The Montanas
~ Graham Bond
~ Tammi Terrell
~ Brenda Holloway
