Mo-Dettes

A post-indie, all-girl supergroup whose music blended stripped-down rock & roll with the lean rhythms of dub, the Mo-Dettes were formed in London in 1979 by American-born guitarist Kate Korris, who previously had performed briefly with the Slits and the Raincoats very early in each band's history. Korris teamed up with bassist Jane Crockford, ex-Bank of Dresden, to form the Mo-Dettes, and they rounded out the line-up with Swiss singer Ramona Carlier (whose heavily accented vocals became one of the band's aural trademarks) and drummer June Miles-Kingston (whose brother Bob Kingston was also a figure on the British rock scene as guitarist with Tenpole Tudor). The girls traded in a spiky new wave sound despite their moniker and the (then) current mod revival. They debuted later the same year with the self-financed/Rough Trade -distributed `White Mice’ single. Thanks to steady airplay from iconic radio host John Peel, the 45 fared well on the independent charts which led to a deal with Deram Records. Maybe a rookie rendition of The Rolling Stones’ `Paint It Black’ was an ambitious beginning, but it did give them a limited taste of Top 50 success in July 1980, now that they were no longer an indie act. Previewing their debut album, third bad-ass single `Dark Park Creeping’ was possibly too brooding and menacing to achieve daytime airplay before the debut album, The Story So Far, was released in November 1980. With no sign of `White Mice’ on board the chapter-and-verse, The Story So Far set (`White Mouse Disco’ was hardly compensation!), only really `Masochistic Opposite’ (their debut’s flip-side), `Fandango’, `Norman (He’s No Rebel)’ and Georges Moustaki’s `Mi’Lord’, had any clout among the fickle indie in-crowd. The album failed to generate the anticipated interest, and several months were wasted in coming up with a sophisticated pop style to complement their take of Lee Hazelwood’s `Tonight’. Released in June 1981, `Tonight’ failed to break into the Top 50. Bowing to pressure from their record company, the Mo-Dettes briefly expanded to a quintet with the addition of a second guitarist, Melissa Ritter, but the line-up became unstable after Ramona Carlier left the band in May 1982; Jane Crockford took over on vocals before Sue Slack took over as singer during the group's last few months. By the end of 1982, the Mo-Dettes broke up. June Miles-Kingston went on to a successful career following the Mo-Dettes, working with the Fun Boy Three, the Thompson Twins, Everything But the Girl, and the Communards; Korris, subsequently recorded a collaborative effort with Belle Star Jennie McKeown, and Ramona married and took the surname Wilkins.

I ripped this a while back for BigScott’s sadly quiet Growing Bored For A Living blog. Presented here in MP3 @ 320kbps

Mo-Dettes; The Story So Far [Expanded]

1.      Fandango

2.      Satisfy

3.      Dark Park Creeping

4.      The Kray Twins

5.      Paint It Black

6.      White Mouse Disco

7.      Bedtime Stories

8.      Masochistic Opposite

9.      Foolish Girl

10.   Norman (He’s No Rebel)

11.   Sparrow

12.   Mi’Lord

13.   Bitta Truth

14.   Two Can Play

15.   Tonight

16.   Waltz In Blue Minor

17.   White Mice

Find the Singles in MP3 here