The Action: Supreme Mods, A History |
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- The Action were one of the most exciting bands to come out of the mid-60s London mod scene. Led by vocalist Reg King, the Action blended the finest R&B covers with their own harmonizing and crunchy instrumentation to create a unique sound that flooded the clubs. Though they couldn't find a wider audience their music, much of which was produced by George Martin, is some of the freshest of that period. Their original compositions are also strong as they veered into psychedelic territory by 1967
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I was a "Mod" in Melbourne, Australia, during the early 1980s mod revival (it was actually a really fun, vibrant scene). 'I'll Keep On Holding On' was a guaranteed dancefloor filler EVERY. SINGLE.TIME. My first Action compilation was one called 'The Ultimate Action' with sleeve notes by Paul Weller. I wore the grooves off that thing and could never understand why all their singles weren't big hits (much like the Creation). Reg King's voice was so strong, natural and distinctive. Phil Collins was a superfan of the band back in the day and I can totally understand why. Thanks for this video, I learnt so much that I never knew before. Cheers mate!
Got that LP around the same time in Sydney, the Action were the greatest.
Me too, melb scene was unique, still listen to the Action. Stay tuned for Electric Relfs re union, Scene club cred returns!
Another fellow Aussie here - YES agree with all your thoughts, superb band !
Same time , similar memories, although I'm in England 👍
The Action, The Creation ,Fleaur de lys, The Eyes, St Louis Union ,The Attack soooo many great 60s mod bands
Interviewer to Ringo-" Are you a Mod or a Rocker"? RINGO - " I'm a Mocker"
Alan King eventually did find himself in a group with a hit: The group was Ace with the 1975 recording of "How Long."
The song was about a musician moonlighting
I didn't know that! Wow small world. Thanks
Rolled Gold fabulous. I drive past Reg Kings house most weekends
Unreal great record. “Brain” is just beyond. Reg’s voice…
I'm loving these deep dives into less well known artists. Can I suggest The Misunderstood, another "why on earth weren't they famous" band, with a checkered history and a fine collection of music.
Thank and I appreciate the request!
Vietnam got in the way, Damn you Uncle Sam
Oh yes. Love the Before the Dream Faded CD.
There is a terrific Ugly Things podcast with Rick Brown of The Misunderstood (on Apple podcasts). Definitely worth a listen.
@@dompicksley3900 Cheers!
I'm a 22 yrs old mod from Belgium and I'll be following this channel from now on!
Welcome! Plenty more to come.
I'm a modette from Germany and have a 45s collection of Mod, Freakbeat, Psych, GaragePunk, R&B, Northern Soul etc. I have the ultimate Action on Vinyl and really really love this band. Your videos are great! Since today i'll be following your channel too.
@@hollybolly7073 Thank you, I appreciate that.
KTF sister
Wow The Who & Small Faces dominate my collection when it comes to 'mod' youth music but this was a real revelation ... why didn't the 60s rock gods shine their light on this band ... thanks Matt!!
Good one, Matt. Keep doing these obscure bands.
These guys are one of my favorite bands of all time! Thank you so much for this story!
My pleasure.
I was 13, and totally unaware of these guys. In any era there are countless musicians that are fantastic, but virtually unknown.
All the reason to always support Matt and his channel----- learning about bands and topics we may have missed.
I was 10-11 years old and listening to AM radio constantly, but they're the first you've pulled out of the way back machine that I don't remember. I would've appreciated their musicianship...thanks, and keep 'em coming, Matt.
Matt, I bought the original compilation, "The Ultimate Action", back in the early 80's when it was available as an import, on Edsel/Demon records. It had a mostly black cover design, with just a tiny picture of the band in a circle, but no other group shot elsewhere. Paul Weller wrote the sleeve notes on the back ("...A piece of the Action! YES PLEASE!), dated November 1980. It had 14 tracks. Later on, I bought a CD compilation called "Action Packed" which added 3 extra songs to the original 14 from the Ultimate Action LP.
Great job. I was fortunate enough to have seen them, not in 1965 but when they reformed in the late 90s or early 2000s they had Phil Collins on drums, along with Roger Powell, Collins is a massive fan, also got to meet ALL the band after the gig they signed my records for me and I had a long chat with Roger, about drums, mods etc. Great memories.
I was at the 100 club gig & at the Dome - well done Rob Bailey for pulling those gigs off 🌞🎶😎🙌👍
Kudos to you Matt for this video,one of the most underrated bands ever
Agreed!
In the summer of '67, I regularly listened to Radio Luxembourg at night high up in a little mountain village in the Swiss Alps. And there they all came, See Emily Play, Flowerman (Syn), Revolution (Tomorrow), Burning Of the Midnight Lamp, Itchicoo Park, On Love (Skip Bifferty), Tallyman (J. Beck), A Bad Night (Cat Stevens). And of course Shadows And Reflections. Simply great songs.
What a great time to listen to the radio!
Thanks for this video, there were so many great groups in the UK in the 60s, the Fleur deLys, Birds, Pirates, and of course the Action.
I'm an American, but I find these lesser known UK bands (to Americans) far more interesting and their music much more exotic than the Stones, The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, etc who have become over-exposed and over-explained here in the US. I'm really getting music like The Action, The Nice, The Small Faces, The Move, the Creation, Screaming Lord Sutch, and Graham Bond
I've always liked that Mighty Baby album, ha! What an interesting video, there's so much to The Action's tale that I never knew!
The Action are such a huge band for me. Thank you for this video. It’s a shame they never got the attention they deserved. Just yesterday I was listening to The Free Design and the same thought occurred to me about them, as well.
The Free Design is high on my very long list!
@@popgoesthe60s52 I'll be looking out for that one!
Been loving Mighty Baby for quite a while, and knew they came out of the Action, but I never looked into the Action's recordings. Now I will have to give them a listen or two.
Every "mod" in the 80's Melbourne scene knew and loved this band.
The 80's, you caught up 20 years later then? 🤣
@@bobburroughs6241 ha! So youre 80 now?😎
@@Colin-o9t I think you misunderstood mate. The Mods were the 60's, it typically took Aussies 20 years to catch up.
@@bobburroughs6241 i know my stuff, mods existed here in the sixties too but you wouldnt know about that would you?
The Mod revival was a big thing in the UK in the late 70s/early 80s thanks to the film Quadrophenia, and bands like the Jam, Secret Affair etc.
I'll keep on holding on is one of my all time favorite songs.i heard it for the first time 40 years ago and I'll never get tired of it
Rolled Gold is mandatory listening!
Edsel/Demon label did a really good vinyl comp in the 1980's which is how I discovered this great underrated band.
I love the Action, especially Rolled Gold, every song a gem. Thanks for this!💋
Thanks for covering the Action Matt, they were the greatest mod band ever imo, especially because of Reg King's voice which was ultra soulful but he was never a screamer. Rolled Gold is the best 'lost' LP ever, an incredible original mix of powerpop, psych, freakbeat, rock and soul - they flowered into a band of great vision and creativity. I never tire of it, so glad it finally came out. BTW they did some reunion gigs in the late 90's and even a VHS doco In the Lap of the Mods that now is almost impossible to get - does feature gushing super fan Phil Collins, there was also a coffee table level book. On UA-cam there is a great snippet of them doing a few songs as well as hanging out with their manager, no full version of their take of The Ronettes 'Do I Love You' which is a real bummer as it was one of the best covers, not avialable anywhere I don't think in full. ua-cam.com/video/F5lUQrUM-Hk/v-deo.html
Thank you, Mark - this was a fun one to do!
hey! I stumbled upon this video, Pete Watson is my grandad, he is happy and well! thank you for covering them! 😊
My pleasure, Tilly!
Excellent overview. Like many others, my introduction was The Ultimate Action (with Paul Weller sleeve notes) and the accompanying single I’ll Keep on Holding On. With bands writing their own material this held back the Action as they were mainly a covers band, albeit very good with their own sound.
After I watched this, I went to Amazon and downloaded several albums. Once I have a chance to listen, I’ll pop back on and comment further 😁
Down the rabbit hole I go. Thank you.
The favorite band of a young actor and model called Phil Collins. He raves about them to this day.
“Why you wanna make me blue “ was a Temptations cover, “In My Lonely Room “ Martha and the Vandellas, and “I’ll Keep Holding On” the Marvelettes. The Rolled Gold stuff sounded excellent!
Never knew the connection between Mighty Baby & The Action. I still like Egyptian Tomb. Also, India relates back to The Corporation, which originally brought me to your channel. Groovy 🫡✌️
Yes, I was delighted to find the Action's version of India. Thanks for the support, Bob!
Thanks for this superb history and analysis of the band that I would come to know and love as Mighty Baby during their heyday when they were constantly on the festival circuit with Hawkwind, Twink, Pink Faries, The Deviants et. al. I particularly like the attention you pay to the changing sound of the The Action as different drugs became fashionable. Such a valuable critique is to be saluted because it provides a very welome and reasonable taxonomy with which to categorize not only the music of The Action but all musical trends across the board. Richard Meltzer used this approach to some extent in his crticism, but the last music journalist I can remember who applied this method in the widest sense possible has to be Joe Carducci in the first edition of his Rock and the Pop Narcotic. Thanks again!
Thank you for the kind words. It's interesting to me how the "fashion of the drug culture" changed the music.
I'm in England was a Mod from the Revival and through the 80's . The Ultimate Action from 1980 was a must have LP , with a cool insert and sleeve notes by Paul Weller.
I bought the album as an import (I'm in the U.S.) in the early 80's and the only insert it came with was a list of the Edsel/Demon records catalog. What was the "cool" insert that came with the LP in England?
@@terrynak It was a full fold out biography with some photos.
@@shaunw9270 The "new" LP I bought didn't have that insert - either Demon Records pulled it out before importing to the States or the store owners (Rhino Records store in Westwood, L.A.) pulled it out of the LP before restocking it on the shelves. The album was not shrink-wrapped, but came in a plastic sleeve that was open at the top and folded over with tape. I suspect foul play...
Bought the ultimate Action album from Penny lane records in Liverpool 1983! Blew my mind... We are the mods forever!
I have the CD box set, which I haven't listen to in quite awhile. I'll have to give it a spin again.
Have you ever thought about doing a video about Spirit? That's a band that's ripe for one of your deep dives.
I will certainly do Spirit - great band!
Actions Speak Louder Than Words is one of my all time favorite pop psych records and it is a serious shame no one heard it at the time. Thank you for the excellent video.
Me too. Discovered The Action through Paul Weller in the 1980s. Their music is consistently great.
I love these potted band histories, thank you! I think this story proves that with all the great music out there in the mid-sixties there just wasn’t space in the charts for a band as good as The Action. Incidentally, guitarist Alan “Bam” King did end up having a bonafide international hit in the ‘70s as part of the group Ace with the single “How Long” (#20 in UK, #3 in both US and Canada).
Keep up the great work, would love to see you do a history of The Pretty Things at some point! 🤞
Hello, Matthew. Yes the Pretty Things will be a fun one to tackle.
The Pretty Things👍👌
I heard of the Action but not their music.
They were good. I am surprised they never broke through.
Great video Matt
Very informative.
Thank you, Patrick!
I’ve got something to say is their best song imo and it has one of the greatest opening riffs and opening lyrics in Rock history. I love it.
I had the album on Edsel i think it was around 81, thanks to Paul Weller praising them when he was in the Jam. The 60s/ Mod type band i was in at the time covered I'll Keep On Holding On.
I have the Edsel compilation, truly wonderful band. My mod friends got me into them in Belfast. My old friends turned me on to so much great music from the sixties, even if I wasn’t a mod myself.
Reg had a beautiful singing voice and they a proper group like the Small Faces were.
The Action were just unlucky I suppose. But they have not been forgotten - even all these years later, so perhaps they did succeed in the long term.
Great video Matt, really enjoyed this.
Thanks, Ed!
Very cool band Matt! I have to be honest, I may have heard of them, but I certainly have never heard any of their music. What a shame because they are fantastic. They definitely deserved at least some recognition similar to the accolades The Who received. Great mod sounding band. Loved hearing about their history. My father had that album by Ace, believe it or not! What a coincidence! Cheers ❤🍻
Hey Matt! Glad you liked them!
I saw The Action at The Marquee Club in the sixties. I also bought the 'I'll Keep on Holding on' single.
That must have been a fun scene, back then.
brilliant band!
Great video The Action is one of the first mod bands I have came across it’s a shame there songs didn’t become popular they had some great cuts I hope you cover Dave Dee, Dozy,Beaky Mick and Tich one of these days.
late to the party on this group, but I just ordered 3 CDs. I really like how you handle all these groups and the research you do to make your videos stand out above the rest. Take care
Thank you, Robert - much appreciated.
Terrific video Matt on The Action 👌 Another underrated band that should have made it Big, especially having George Martin on their side as a producer.- Reg King had a Great voice and a talented front man that should have had successful solo career, like Rod Stewart or Steve Winwood, Also what a crying shame that material such as Rolled Gold didnt get released til many years later. -I really love their cover of the song Harlem Shuffle Waaaay better than The Stones version of the 80's,, but The Marvalettes I'll Keep Holding On is my go to pick.
Thanks Ernie - glad you liked them!
Another wonderful video on a band I wasn't familiar with. I've been totally in love with the music of the 60's since I was 10 or 11 (1974-75) and I appreciate every bit of new information that you provide, Matt. Keep up the great work! 👍
Thank you, covering these more obscure bands is really a pleasure.
All those clips sounded really good. It all sounds so familiar and took me back to the imaginary '60s in my head.
Brain is a masterpiece.
It sure is, the greatest 'lost' LP ever imo.
I love discovering 60s music and you have delivered a dandy! I was alive and thought I was aware of everything British during the era. But I must admit, this is the first time I have ever heard of "The Action". So puzzling they weren't more successful. They had it all. Strong vocals, solid musicianship, decent songs. They sound GREAT! Thanks Matt.
My pleasure, slaphead!
I worked in London at the Press Association in the 1990s and one of our music writers introduced me to one of his friends - 'Reg' - when we were down the pub after work. I asked 'Reg' if he was in the music business. His reply was 'Yeh, well I was in a group called The Action, but we never got anywhere...' At that point, I realised who I was talking to! He seemed a bit unhappy talking about the 1960s to be honest. His most notable comment being: 'I was a star for about 60 minutes every time we played the Marquee, but no-one gave two f***s about us after we left the stage.' He died a while later and even today has no gravestone where he is buried as far as I believe.
At least he felt some love at their reunion shows, what a voice!
'Rolled Gold' was the Action's peak, musically, IMHO. It was a shame that it was never recorded properly back in the day. However, at least the music industry eventually had the good sense to release the demos, which are terrific -- some of the best pop songs of the 60s, I think. "I've Got Something to Say" should have been a big hit.
Oh yeah, that and Icarus are my favourites off the album.
Always loved “Brain”,odd lyrics but movingly delivered around a sublime guitar riff.
I believe that , to create or write a hit song, its gotta sound like a hit song. They were great musicians but I didn't hear not one, great song. The Beatles The Rolling Stones , Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, and Motown etc...made it look so easy.
I always thought In my dream has a really strong hook and could’ve made the charts
There are hundreds of regional songs that didn’t make national hit status due to circumstances such as lack of promotion, payola, release timing, bad luck, management issues, small labels, etc. etc. You ability to hear a hit after it is a hit is called 20/20 hindsight. The “hit” song artists you mentioned are so ingratiated into your thinking that apparently it’s difficult for you to hear or think about potential contenders.
Nice one Buddy. We Mod revivalists in the 80's knew them. They were great. "Rolled Gold" is Fantastic. Reg King is Today recognized as one of the Finest British Rawk Vocalists. I think America didn't want "Mod" covers of Motown and Soul when we had the Original although the Mod versions Were different. The Action did some of the Best Motown covers. I think The Who made it in the USA because they had a Bit of a "Novelty" element going on which Townsend did Intentionally. The Small Faces only had one American Hit "Itchycoo Park" and that was during their Psychedelic period, none of their Mod stuff was popular in the USA. I think The Small Faces, The Action and The Creation were just Too "London" to translate.
Thanks for the comments, Pontiac!
Awesome!!! You should TOTALLY do one for West Coast Pop Art or The Millenium!!
All news to me.....very good news....thank you for another great expose :)
Glad you enjoyed it
Great vocals and harmonies in this band, really gives a great feeling, transports me to an era before I was born.
I immediately recognized Bam King from his later stint with Ace (and “How Long”). Their debut album, _Five-A-Side,_ is uniformly excellent and hints at how awesome they must have been on the early-70s UK pub-rock circuit. (Paul Carrack, however, was later quoted as saying that the other members of Ace were the “laziest” people he’d ever known.) It should be noted, also, that “I’ll Keep Holding On” and “Shadows and Reflections” both appear in Rhino’s _Nuggets II_ compilation, which is a sort of “rest of the world” counterpart to the original _Nuggets_ collection. (I snagged _Nuggets II_ in the file-sharing days, but of course it didn’t come with the liner-notes booklet, so I still have no idea what was said about any of the groups.)
Thanks so much for teaching me (us) more than I knew about these guys. I am going to seek out those compilations.
Thanks Rich! I have some links in the description that will take you to them. I appreciate the support!
Wonderful group.First saw them supporting The Who at The Marquee Club in 1965.Was very happy to release first ever vinyl album on My Edsel label in 1980 as The Ultimate Action with liner-notes by Paul Weller.Should have been a big group.Still sound great.
Thanks for a very informative video Matt. I'd heard OF the Action, but never heard their music until now - very pleasantly surprised, especially by their later material. I also didn't know that Keith Emerson had been offered the keyboard seat in the band. I read Emerson's autobiography many years ago, and am pretty sure that he didn't mention this.
Glad to hear you liked them! The Emerson anecdote was from one of the Action band members who is quoted in Shindig Mag and/or the liner notes for Rolled Gold.
This group was totally unknown to me and I know a fair amount of littlt known (over here) British bands. On top of that they were interesting . I was surprised to hear them singing a Marvelettes song, but later take off in new directions. Rolled Gold sounded quite good.
It's fantastic, one of the greatest 'lost' LPs ever.
Another great video - much appreciated 🙏 thanks Matt!
Great Band and live act!!!
Truly fascinating.
OMG YES THANK YOU FOR THIS, LEGIT MY FAVORITE UK BAND THAT NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT AWESOME
Nice job!
Not being picked by Decca, working and being dismissed by George Martin and being forgotten for decades makes the whole band a bunch of Pete Bests.
😂😂😂
One of the things I appreciate about Pop Goes The 60s, Matt, is your willingness to talk about obscure bands/artists who never were able to make it/have huge hits or sell lots of records. Have never heard of the Action/Mighty Baby. Like their stuff! Sad considering they had some heavy hitters working in their corner/George Martin producing them, plus getting a couple of early endorsements from Paul and Ringo. Will listen to more of their stuff!
Thank you, Robert!
Petula Clark also did a nice version of " Wasn't it you"
I did not know that! Thanks.
Matt, you should do a video on Mods, the mod scene and its various off shoots, although with your attention to detail it might take a couple of videos.
The Shadows box set is great. Worth mentioning first time stereo mixes of the singles (and very good mixes too...).
Thanks for mentioning that! Much appreciated.
what a great band
The mighty baby is one of my favorites. Such a good guitar tone.
I'd heard of The Action but knew nothing about them, until now! I didn't know that George Martin produced some of their singles. They recorded some strong material so it is puzzling why their singles made no impact on the charts. Reg King was a very strong vocalist. Thank you, Matt, for this deep dive into a very underrated band!
You are quite welcome, Nick!
"Brain" is a great song. I'll have to check out the rest of that album.
"This is the group that a lot of people are saying will be the next big thing on the scene!" -- I wonder how many times a DJ has said that, or something similar, only for the prediction not to pan out, sadly.
Incidentally, Yes also did a really good cover of "I See You" on their debut album.
I was listening to the first Yes album yesterday on my way to a Jon Anderson concert with his new band. I commented to my friend that this song was sung by the Byrds. Funny that the song is mentioned in this video.
Great vid, as usual. I can see how they never broke out. The only snippet that stuck out to me that you played was Brain.
Thanks for giving some attention to these guys, much deserved. When I think of The Action I can't help but also think what a tragic story it was in that they should have had been signed, had some degree of success (at least in the UK) and released at least 2 LP's by '68. With George Martin backing them (to a degree) it's hard to understand what went wrong, why labels were 'passing' on them. They were obviously more talented then your average 'Mod' band. In addition they successfully changed with the times musically, going from R&B/Northern Soul to all out psych to then rural 'hippie', not easy to do. Also worth mentioning that they did put out one final LP under the name The Habibiyya - "If Man But Knew" in 1972 minus Martin Stone. These recordings are more Eastern influenced as the band was well into their Sufi journey. In addition to the Action box set there is also a great Mighty Baby box set "At A Point Between Fate and Destiny: The Complete Recordings" which was released in 2019. I would highly recommend to anyone interested in them.
Definitely hear an influence on Supergrass
Thank you Matt some of those tracks are very good. The harmonies kind of remind me a little of the Who.
Nice! Love this band.
Saw the Action live and they really were incredible. Those records really hold up. I only wish they had gotten the chance to record their proposed album.
Thanks Matt! The Rolled Gold stuff sounds a bit like a mishmash of The Guess Who and The Small Faces with a bit of Badfinger in there. Surprised they never made it bigger.
Great episode. Another really strong under the radar band. Seemed really prolific too. Did all UK RnB bands have to shift into psych circa '67 (and then blues/prog in '69)
They all did pretty much have to make the shift or suffer the consequences.
Keep The Faith. Teach The Children.🔥👍
I was s Mod in London from 79 till 87.
One of my mates bought the Ultimate Action album and i was knocked out. A fantastic group for sure. Love the soul covers but id say Shadows and Reflections is my favourite till this day. Rolled Gold is great . I really rate Something to Say from Rolled Gold.
The Action definitely had it in their soul.
Ps, Wasn't it you and Come on, come with me are also top notch.
Rolled Gold is one of the greatest 'lost' albums!
There was a band in the Cleveland area circa 1977 called the Action.
I appreciate these types of videos. I feel like round out my understanding of '60s bands beyond the ones that "made it." The Action sound like a more pop version of The Yardbirds. The excerpts sound like really good songs. It's a shame they didn't have a hit. If you can't get George Martin to produce a hit for you, something's not working.
Thanks for the comments, Greg. Plenty more obscure bands to come!
Thank you 🙏 huge fan of the Action. If ROLLED GOLD were released in 1968 or '69 history could have been different for them, every song on there is simply wonderful, I've played "Brain" before as a DJ and people have responded favorably to it. Member Alan King was later in the 70's band ACE known for their hit "How Long". Reg King should be more known and recognized in general as a great mod/soul belter. Phil Collins is also a big fan of the Action and saw them live in their heyday.
I appreciate the comments, Jason!
@@popgoesthe60s52 Also forgot to mention in an interview once that I read with Reg King, he said he knew Yoko Ono before she met John and she used to tell Reg 'you look like John Lennon' which goes to show she lied when she said she didn't know who John was before she met him.
@@jasontorres7756 That's interesting. I'd never heard that.
Although The Action didn't chart on the official UK -charts, with they're 1967 single : "Shadows and reflections", I do remember this tune got a lot of airplay on pirate Radio London during the summer of that year. They even made it to no.17 on the Radio London Fab 40 ;) Great record!
Matt, this band (like so many) were given their chance to step up to the plate, but struck out every time from a commercial angle. But all was not lost, having a few years of club success, with I'm sure much attention from the ladies (haha), makes for some good memories. A nice respite from having to get a real job. Cheers!
I've always said that must of the songs they have in the Rolled Gold album could have been perfectly recorded by any brit pop bands from the 90's 'cause they sound so ahead of it's time.
Great episode Matt. I never heard of this group. Hard to believe with George Martin at the helm that they just couldn't get a hit, but the quality of music in 1966-69 was so high across the board that it was really tough to break thru.
I also sort of wonder if Martin's work with the Beatles made him hesitant to change or make suggestions to other acts, given that he had been sort of wrong about a lot with the early Beatles. The Beatles fought him often and always ended up being correct, and Martin may have got into a mindset that ALL musicians knew themselves the way the Beatles knew themselves. Of course the Beatles were high order geniuses of pop/rock. I guess what I'm saying is maybe Martin got inclined to let the bands do their own thing rather than interfere and while that worked with the Beatles it may not have worked with lesser acts.
Wow, I See You!. Yes also did a nice cover of this for their first album.