Punk Archives: The Mods - 70s Punk Lives On

The old days of stealing equipment, begging for recording time, and getting into fights is over for The Mods, a Toronto punk band from the 70s.

But their music will never die.

The late 1970s band is back, after playing their fourth reunion show at Sneaky Dee’s, a bar and live music hub on College Street. Bassist Mark Dixon, who's turning 50, relished performing for the mix of older and younger fans.

“I didn’t know how this gig would go. I heard the place was kind of grody,” said Dixon, who was unsure if his original fans would enjoy a venue frequented by 20-year-olds.

Yet Dixon was pleasantly surprised with the turnout of 40 and 50-somethings that filled the bar.

Before hitting the stage after the opening band, Modern Superstitions, The Mods reminisced over a pint of beer about their days of rebellious antics on tour, which was part of the punk lifestyle in the 70s.

“When you put young kids together in a van going on tour to Detroit (in 1978), it’s dangerous,” said drummer David “Quinton” Steinberg, 48, who feels like he’s living out of context playing gigs nowadays.

“We were the epitome of perfect travel behaviour,” added a chuckling lead-singer Greg Trinier, 50, who remembers his days of planning hotel-room-trashing after-parties.

The Mods were frequent headliners in Toronto from 1978 to 1979, opening up for bands like The Police and Squeeze. But before the band hit the punk scene, they were just a group of teenage boys fresh out of high school and looking to enter the bar-band circuit.

Before Dixon became the bassist for The Mods, he decided to dedicate himself to the band as the “second fiddler,” playing second guitar full-time after he finished Grade 12. Although at 17, Dixon wasn't satisfied with the band's sound.

“We did cover songs to bands like the Stones and had a couple originals, but they sucked,” said Dixon, remembering the band’s classic rock days.

It wasn’t until guitarist Scott Marks, now 52, started pushing for a more punk rock edge that The Mods changed their style. They had joined the dark side.

Becoming a punk band back then was like coming out of the closet, Dixon admitted. For him, it was like leaving society once you were branded. Yet, The Mods knew it was their calling.

“We saw a punk band called The Jam play and they were so cool,” Dixon recalled. “The way they played and their energy made us change over night.”

Dixon and his band were attracted to the guitar-smashing, head-banging stage performance of The Jam. They could relate to punk, but abandoned the harsh screaming vocals that were characteristic of most punk bands in the 1970s.

The Mods adopted a power-pop punk style, which Dixon described as high pressure music that contains a recognizable tune. This made the band different, since they were more melodic than the other “rude and vicious groups” like The Ugly and The Viletones.

Their edgy sound brought them initial success at The Horseshoe Tavern, a bar and live music venue that promoted New Wave and punk rock in downtown Toronto.

“We continued to move up the ladder after those gigs, and started recording demos for record labels,” said Dixon. The Mods signed on with Airwaves Records, which Dixon considered to be the cutting-edge, avant-garde label of non-mainstream music.

The band released their first single “Step Out Tonight” in December of 1978, and was featured in Filmmaker Colin Brunton’s documentary “The Last Pogo” later that year.

“(The Mods) were tight and fun, with an intense lead-singer and an even more intense drummer…And of course, they’re all nice guys,” said Brunton, the always-will-be Mods fan who documented the Toronto punk scene in his 1978 film.

Dixon and his band also recorded a full-length album a year later. Yet the CD, entitled “Twenty 2 Months,” wasn’t released until 1995.

“Our CD never got out because we ran out of money and never finished it,” said Dixon. “It was hard to be patient when we were young, and two years seemed like forever. We had hoped to hit our ultimate goal over night.”

The band was only in their early 20s when they broke up. While The Mods members joined other bands, Dixon took the opportunity to become a “business climber guy.”

Dixon got a job after answering an ad to be a sales rep that required guitar playing experience. Not long after, he found himself moving to Sarnia to manage the music store Picker’s Alley.

“It was a big step,” said Dixon, who had married six months before the move. “I had always known that if I wasn’t in a band I could work in a music store.”

Yet his punk days were far from over. In 2004, after becoming a father of three, Dixon picked up his bass once more to jam at a New Wave and Punk Rock revival show at The Horseshoe Tavern. That night, The Mods officially reunited and have been playing a gig per year since then.

“At my age, you don’t remember stuff that well,” said Dixon, while chuckling, “that’s why we play all the old songs. If we learned new songs we’d probably forget them.”

The Mods still maintain their 70s energetic edge and iconic lyrics, but are a little less intense after adopting a new, sub-crazy stage performance style. Although Dixon has retired from attending punk concerts, he still loves to play in them.

“You never know if it’s going to be your last gig,” said Dixon, who’s going to keep it punk until his final show.


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