{"id":7902,"date":"2026-10-01T13:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T12:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7902"},"modified":"2026-10-01T13:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T12:38:19","slug":"shindig-issue-180-the-direct-hits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7902","title":{"rendered":"Shindig! Issue #180 \u2013 The Direct Hits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Straddling mod and the new psychedelia, <\/strong>THE DIRECT HITS\u2019<\/strong> emergence in the early \u201980s breathed fresh life into both scenes.<\/strong> Their ambitious, finely-structured compositions were endowed with energy and excitement, and around them sprung up a cottage industry of fan-friendly product that kept their loyal supporters in the know. <\/strong><\/p>\n

IAN CANTY<\/strong> blows things up with co-founder Colin Swan<\/strong><\/p>\n

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At the end of 1982, Paul Weller left The Jam. As well as instituting his new act The Style Council, he focused more on his Polydor-backed Respond imprint and was actively searching for bands to join its roster. The Direct Hits seemed to fit the profile that he was looking for, but sadly it wasn\u2019t to be. \u201cWe submitted five numbers, which were rejected by Paul, who said, \u2018Your songs are really good, just not my cup of tea\u2019,\u201d laughs Colin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As \u201983 began, The Direct Hits were working on their official debut album Blow Up<\/em> at a studio in Sydenham. The band produced themselves, with Dan Treacy playing piano on \u2018Too Shy\u2019 and \u2018The Old Curiosity Shop\u2019 and even the band\u2019s faithful roadie Colin Robinson managed get in on the act, adding some tambourine. It\u2019s a record that still stands up today as a classic mod\/psych collection, a rare example of how the \u201980s may have actually improved on the \u201960s. This naturally led to a run of dates to promote the LP.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Direct Hits spent most of \u201983 playing mod gigs up and down the country,\u201d recalls Colin, \u201cgradually earning ourselves a good reputation as a live act. By early \u201984, after Whaam! finally announced its plans to release a Direct Hits album, Buckmaster-Swan were crowned by Dan Treacy himself as \u2018the Lennon & McCartney of mod\u2019! In preparation for recording, we set about reviving a couple of old tunes and writing some new ones. The album Blow Up<\/em> was released in the autumn and reviews from mod fanzines and the odd small column in Sounds\/NME<\/em> did just enough to create an interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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