All Mod Cons is a 1978 album by the British band The Jam

The Jam

The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...

, their third full-length LP

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

. The title, a British idiom one might find in housing advertisements, is short for "all modern conveniences

Modern conveniences

Modern conveniences or Mod cons are labor-saving devices that make a task easier to perform than a traditional method. Because of the historical use of the term, and the differences in lifestyles around the world, the term is a relative term based upon the conveniences previously available to a...

" and is a pun on the band's association with the mod revival.

The album was more commercially successful than The Jam's previous album, This Is the Modern World

This Is The Modern World

This Is the Modern World is the second studio album by British band The Jam, released in November 1977, less than seven months after their debut....

. The single "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight

Down in the Tube Station at Midnight

"Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" was the second single taken from the album All Mod Cons by The Jam. Released on 21 October 1978, it charted at number 15 and was backed by a cover of the Who song "So Sad About Us", and "The Night", written by Bruce Foxton...

" was one of the band's most successful chart hits up to that point, peaking at #15 on the UK charts

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. In 2000, Q magazine

Q (magazine)

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

 placed All Mod Cons at number 50 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

British Invasion

British Invasion

The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...

 pop influences run through the album, most obviously in the cover of The Kinks

The Kinks

The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...

' "David Watts". The song "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" is a first-person narrative of a young man who walks into a tube station

London Underground

The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

 on the way home to his wife, and is beaten by far right thugs. The lyrics of the song "All Mod Cons" criticise fickle people who attach themselves to people who enjoy success and leave them once that is over. Neither the title nor lyrics of the song "English Rose" were printed on the original vinyl release of All Mod Cons due to Weller's feeling that the song's lyrics were too personal. The song English Rose later inspired the name of The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...

.

Paul Weller admitted to a lack of interest during the writing/recording process, and had to completely re-record a new set of songs for the album after producer Chris Parry rejected the first batch as being sub-standard.

The album was released in the US in 1979, with the song "The Butterfly Collector" replacing "Billy Hunt".

Side one

1. "All Mod Cons" – 1:20
2. "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have a Nice Time)" – 2:32
3. "Mr. Clean" – 3:29
4. "David Watts" (Ray Davies
   Ray Davies
   Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
   
   ) – 2:56
5. "English Rose"* – 2:51
6. "In the Crowd" – 5:40

Side two

1. "Billy Hunt" – 3:01 (UK release)/"The Butterfly Collector" – 3:11 (US release)
2. "It's Too Bad" – 2:39
3. "Fly" – 3:22
4. "The Place I Love" – 2:54
5. "'A' Bomb in Wardour Street
   Wardour Street
   Wardour Street is a street in Soho, London. It is a one-way street south to north from Leicester Square, up through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street.-History:...
   
   " – 2:37
6. "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
   Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
   "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" was the second single taken from the album All Mod Cons by The Jam. Released on 21 October 1978, it charted at number 15 and was backed by a cover of the Who song "So Sad About Us", and "The Night", written by Bruce Foxton...
   
   " – 4:43

2006 CD reissue bonus tracks

The UK version of the album was re-released on 5 June 2006 with a disc of bonus tracks, all of which were previously available with the exception of the demo versions of "Mr. Clean" and "Fly".

1. "News of the World" (single)
2. "Aunties and Uncles" (Impulsive Youths) (b-side)
3. "Innocent Man" (b-side)
4. "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" (single version)
5. "So Sad About Us" (b-side)
6. "The Night" (b-side)
7. "So Sad About Us" (demo)
8. "Worlds Apart" (demo)
9. "It's Too Bad" (demo)
10. "To Be Someone" (demo)
11. "David Watts" (demo)
12. "Billy Hunt" (alternate version)
13. "Mr Clean" (demo)
14. "Fly" (demo)

External links

• Album online on Radio3Net a radio channel of Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company
  Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company
  The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company , informally referred to as Radio Romania , is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates four national radio channels, and, under the Radio România Regional umbrella, eleven regional radio stations. The four national radio channels are: Radio...