Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Mods - Ritual - Everybody Needs Somebody






Ok, Here is a few choice New Jersey cuts, via the Asbury Park area.

I had heard that these guys were from my neck of the woods from Mr. Brimstone over at Blues for the Red Boy and a few weeks ago when i was out and about with some friends and Mr. Funky 16 Corners & Iron Leg Master blogger Larry Grogan dropped the knowledge on me again I really had no idea that the 45 was even that rare, but after talking about the Asbury music scene of years gone bye with Larry and DJ Pres and The Mods came up I knew I had this 45 tucked away somewhere so i dug it out and now i give it to you!

A sharp 6-piece group from Rumson and Seabright, NJ, the Mods often performed in Asbury Park and at Le Teen de Vous in Middletown, with competition like the Castiles (one of Springsteen's first bands) and the Inmates. The original band members were Rich Lillie on vocals and his brother Bob Lillie on guitar, Phil Watson lead guitar, Wally Hageman guitar, Bob Busch on bass and Bruce Cunningham on drums.

The band released two 45s on the Al Mott's Revelation VII label, the first a promotion for a local Ford dealer, Go Steinbach's Mustang, with a crude cover of Satisfaction on the flip.

Their second record has their greatest recorded moment, the fantastic Ritual. It's known as having some of the most misogynistic lyrics of any garage song (and that's saying alot!), but there's no denying the power of the opening riff when the bass and drums kick in. The double-tracked vocals are also unusual. This release has a good cover of Everybody Needs Somebody on the b-side.

Ritual appears a second time on the Mod label as the b-side to a song based on the TV show Candid Camera. This was a tie-in to the band's appearance on the show (check it out here). The show aired in November of 1966 and led to offers to tour, but by that time the members were attending college. The Mods played occasional shows for years afterwards with changing personnel, but never again strived for national attention.

The above from: Garage Hangover

The Mods - Ritual

The Mods - Everybody Needs Somebody

2 comments:

Funky16Corners said...

HOLY CRAP! That Candid Camera clip is amazing. Where' you find that flyer??

The RedBoy said...

Finally! The man comes around!