- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- The five wide-ranging artists featured on Contact: Sounds of Mod are Bob Dylan, Bobby Vinton, Chad & Jeremy, the Yardbirds, and the Dave Clark Five.
Contact: Sounds of Mod (Various Artists) (1968): The five wide-ranging artists featured on this album, having one song apiece on each side are listed right on the cover: Bob Dylan, Bobby Vinton, Chad & Jeremy, the Yardbirds, and the Dave Clark Five. “Mod” is the name of a subculture that developed in England around the time of the British Invasion, with its roots going back even further; the quintessential Mod bands are the Who and the Small Faces. Purists would contend that of the five, only the Yardbirds have anything to do with Mod, with Bob Dylan and Bobby Vinton being American artists. But that doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the album. The two Yardbirds songs alone are worth the price of admission, with “Heart Full of Soul” (1965) being one of their signature hits, and “The Train Kept A-Rollin’ ” being one of my very favorite songs no matter who is playing. The Bob Dylan songs are also special; this is the original version of “All I Really Want to Do” that was an early hit for both the Byrds and Cher (the two cover versions actually competed with each other on the charts), while “On the Road Again” (not the Willie Nelson song) is an album cut that comes from the “electric” side of Dylan’s fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon” was originally released by British singer-songwriter Jonathan King and is a true delicacy from the 1960’s if you ask me; besides this version by Bobby Vinton, Chad & Jeremy also recorded the song.