Oh Canaduh! This is more history from Canada and this is even more underrated – this is most likely the definite punk/power-pop trio in history. They got it all – style (and the good looks of the girl on bass), songwriting, punch and great tunes. The only lived short (from 1979 to 1983, with their peak being 1980). But they did leave something behind, oh boy, this absolut stunning 12″ EP.
The internet (damn internet, never forgets) quotes:
“Some punky powerpop now and then is exactly what we all need to be able to coop with life. Canadas Modernettes does everything right, up till the title track. It’s catchy, it’s intense, it’s great, it’s awesome. Hell(paradise?) yeah, they make smile the whole sunday long which makes it’s so much easier to do the laundry and clean my apartment.
What’s for dinner? Mmm salmon. Pink innersleeve and pink food. Take note of the great looking sleeve. Always been very fond of squares and circles. AND! AND the production! Oh man it’s Bob Rock you know!” That comes straight from our bible, KBD!
The verdict:
1977 – sure, The Jam where part and this truely is!
published by a cool lable – a local indepdendent lable, tick!
found in a cool shop – … Michelle Records if my memories serves well
catching sound – POWER with a capital P like in Punk Pop!
The lyrics – simple teen fun – cool!
My favorite is Barbra, a timeless ode to school and love and girls and and and:
there's a new little girl in my home class you know i'm talking about barbra and everybodys thinks that she's such a gas b-a-r-b-r-a barbra shes the girl i love forever we spend our lives together barbra well the docs gonna side so she can pass you know i'm talking about barbra and everybodys looking and thats such a gas b-a-r-b-r-a barbra i envy the guy she kisses i just wanna skip class with barbra there's a new little girl in my home class you know i'm talking about barbra and everybodys thinks she's such a gas b-a-r-b-r-a barbra shes the girl i love forever you know im talking about barbra talking about barbra talking about barbra talking about barbra (c) 1980 Modernettes / Buck Cheery
and it has been glued to film perfectly and even got restored to HD – modern times, tststs:
And for those who are by now deep in love with the girl on bass – Mary Jo Kopechne has for a long time retired from music and lives a remote life on her horse farm:
What do others say?
Mary Jo from The Modernettes is the blonde (dancing), one of the greatest rock stars of all time who didn't become one. The Modernettes basically had the idea (and part of the sound) of Green Day, ten years ahead of time and locked in a corner of Canada with no one who could ever get the record (Teen City) distributed outside of British Columbia. And obviously not a single hustler from the scene loading quarters into a pay phone, telling every A&R Man in major lable Hollywood to GET YOUR ASS UP TO SAN FRANCISCO and see this fucking band (The Modernettes Tour Fall 1980). I did (because i lived in Oakland) and they where the best band ever. Fact! So Green Day would up selling 80 Million albums (and got paid for every one of them), deservedly so. The Modernettes sold 8 Thousand and got doofus Ted (who ran Quintessence Records, sort of) sticking his head into Jughead's bass drum in practice room and saying "I don't hear a follow-up hit here!" to which buck/joch quite reasonably replied "our first record was a HIT? In what universe?" (since it didn't get five copies hipped to Retail ourside of the British Columbia Area). Stories, Stories - but put on the record, the music does not lie! (unknown, found on the net)
