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Here we go again - toutes les biens choses sont trois!
It’s been almost three years - high time for another mind boggling addition to the French Cuts series as requested in dozens of letters every week.
Here are some excerpts from one of them: „Hi there at Panatomic ... I copied them for all of my friends ... it’s so easy because there’s no copy
protection on your discs ... looking forward to part 3 to earn a little extra money so I can buy more records of my favourite group Aerosmith ...“ - Thanks, Michael!
To our serious Frenchpop lovers:
It was well worth the wait - another diverse collection of musical styles: freakbeat, funky rock, psych-pop, r&b, Brazil and yé-yé.
You got your popular heroes, rediscovered lost gems and a few contemporary bands that capture the spirit of the sixties and take it to the present... It’s nice to see that
the French music of the period isn’t solely appreciated by a small number of nostalgic nerds but has actually had an impact on contemporary music.
At the moment a promising French documentary called „Bardot A Go Go“ is being made on the subject.
But back to this record: A robot voice (with a French accent!) starts the countdown and the orchestra takes off with a melody that every German who has watched TV in the
last 30 years will recognise at once. „Raumpatrouille Orion“ and the „Peter Thomas Sound Orchester“! The instrumental theme of this cult series is widely known -
less known the superb vocal version from Swiss singer Virginie Rodin.
How about a Trip to Brazil with Brigitte Bardot: „Tu Veux Ou Tu Veux Pas?“ Her up-tempo interpre-tation of Wilson Simonal’s classic „Ne Ven Que Vao Ten“ is both funky and
funny. You might recognise the melody from still another version of this catchy tune, featured in the Brazilian movie „City Of God“.
We continue with an r&b tune by Erick St. Laurent. „Le Temps D’y Penser“ (co-written by Monty) sounds like a faster fuzz-drenched version of „Good Times“ by Nobody’s
Children with a Richard Kent styled sound which forces every mod crowd to dance and has been sampled by Blur’s favourite DJ Andy Lewis of Blow Up Club.
Another singer of Swiss origin is Larry Greco (born Roger Dugalier) who started his career as a rock’n’roll singer in 1963 but had switched to r&b by 1965 - as you can
clearly hear in „C’est Fini, Bien Fini“.
In the early sixties, France was ruled by a trio of rock’n’roll heroes: Johnny Hallyday, Dick Rivers and Eddy Mitchell (rock’n’roll heroes obviously couldn’t have
French names). Eddy Mitchell started in 1959 with a rockabilly band first called Les Fives Rocks and later Les Chaussettes Noires. In 1963 he left the band to record his own
songs and also cover versions of classics like Vieille Fille (Spinning Wheel) by Blood Sweat & Tears. Unfortunately, his soul phase wasn’t as commercially successful
as was his time as rock’n’roll singer.
Claude Francois, lovingly called „Cloclo“ by his numerous fans, was born in Egypt while his father helped to build the Suez Canal. At age sixteen, he was awarded a gold
medal for the 100 meter sprint by president Nasser himself. When the family returned to France, he quickly became a very popular singer and covered several Motown songs.
Here he does a much groovier version than the original „I’m Alive“ written and performed by Tommy James and the Shondells (an inspiration for the dancing girls he later
had in his shows - the Claudettes). Claude Francois led a turbulent life and died in his bathroom in 1978 of an electric shock.
1968 Pierre Roustang filmed a documentary called „Les Teenagers“ that shows teenagers and their lives in several places all over the world. Thierry Vincent played the piece
that accompanies the scenes in Munich - it is called „Munich Party“ and contains lots of the typical handclapping of that time - because Bavarians just clap their hands
and the girls go ... the German title „ The Sexual Revolution“ - was probably for commercial purposes...
The next song is a classic - everybody knows Neil Diamond’s „I’m a Believer“ or at least the then more popular version of TV’s first casted beat boy-group The Monkees.
Not everybody knows that Erick St. Laurent recorded a French version in 1967: „J’ai cru à mon rève“ (I believed in my dream).
The first contemporary band on this record is called Notre Dame. They are from France and their song is „Sur Ton Respondeur“ (on your answering machine). She’s not there,
but he doesn’t give up calling and calling again - did you know that EC’s burocrats are pushing a new law to prosecute stalking at the moment? Freedom seems to have been
a short period in the 1960s.
Frank Alamo, who was the son of a big French TV set manufacturer, decided to become a singer against his father’s will. He adopted his stage name from the John Wayne film
„Fort Alamo“, was signed by Celebre and Barclay and had a number of hits. The „king of cover versions“, he did „Sweets For My Sweet“ (Biche, ma Biche), „I Wanna Hold Your
Hand“ (Je Veux Prendre Ta Main), „The Leader Of The Pack“ (Le Chef De La Bande) and „Happy Together“ (Heureux Tous Les Deux) as featured on our compilation (the song was
made famous by The Turtles, but written by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon, bass player and drummer of the Boston area group The Magicians). After three successful years he
turned his back on the music business and became a press photographer.
Born in Viêt-Nam, Eric Charden started out as a folk singer. But after a while he couldn’t resist the possibilities he had with modern pop music: he blended pop,
funk and soul and added some groovy strings. The result was „Petite Fille“.
Ooh - lalalalaah!
In the 1950s, there lived a young man in Nice, capital of the Côte d’Azur. His name was Hervé Forneri and when the teenager heard the magic words Coca Cola,
Rock’n’Roll and Jukebox, he knew what he wanted to be. He adopted the name of his idol Elvis Presley’s character in the movie „Loving You“ - Dick Rivers - and set out to
become a rock’n’roll star with his band, Les Chats Sauvages (The Wild Cats). In the 1960s, he saw the signs of the times and, like many of his colleagues, changed his
musical style accordingly. His song „Via Lucifer“ has nothing to do with classic rock’n’roll. On the cover of the 45, his face is printed on a chestnut leaf that
coincidentally resembles a marijuana leaf...
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The song combines exoticsitar-laden sounds (played by Sullivan, performer of „Hashish Faction“ on French Cuts 1) with distorted
guitars and confusing lyrics about a man (the devil) who steals his woman and betrays his friends.
Another young man who was born in the land that Dick Rivers admired, Jack Treese, decided one day to go to Paris for a couple of months and ended up staying there for
the rest of his life. He learned French quite quickly and recorded his first song called „Je Suis Un Éléphant“, a trippy freakbeat tune with organ, echoes
and jungle sounds. The text suggests that he took inspiration from a „French for Children“ book: „I am an elephant, my big ears are flapping in the wind, my trunk tricks
everyone... the birds are singing in the trees...
“Good grades in school brought Jacques Bulostin, who was to become Monty later, an invitation to live with an English family in London. There he studied a lot but also
went to small jazz clubs and listened to Cliff Richard records. When he returned to France, he had made up his mind: he wanted to be a chanteur! Unfortunately, his
father didn’t approve and sent him abroad for a so-called good education. Jacques reluctantly obeyed but started writing and composing songs which he sent around to
many record companies. When his chance arrived, he was ready. He was signed by Barclay and recorded several successes in the years to follow. Here we have „Une Fois“,
one that he didn’t write himself, but it’s a fabulous cover version of „For your Love“ by the Yardbirds.
Now it gets psychedelic: this kind of music was very underground in France as the conservative government wasn’t exactly keen on the influence anglo-american pop culture
had on the French youth. Still, there was a small gallic village... One of the groups that didn’t care were the 5 Gentlemen. They wrote a critical song about the then
super-popular model Twiggy: „Little princess in the kingdom of cover girls, but your big sad eyes are crying“. The main message being that all the fame and money in the
world can’t help you when you’re lonely...
Now, we are proud to present for the second time (see French Cuts 2) the Munich-based group Phonoboy (who got their name from a small portable plastic record player).
They gave us an unreleased version of their hommage to our discotheque „Atomique“ from their highly acclaimed debut album. Like „C’est Ma Vie“ it is a zesty danceable
piece with a stomping sixties feel.
Following up is another con(up-)temporary band from France, Les Terribles. According to their short bio, the band consists of one guitar, one organ, one bass, an empty
cash box, a few mics, several litres of alcohol, diabolo mints, loads of concerts, a few demos and an album on the Dionisus label. To quote their website: „TO OUR
ENGLISH READERS: Story of the group. They got together and then they play music.“ What else do you need to know? It makes you wiggle your foot the minute it starts - try
it!
Claude Channes, who contributed a song to Jean-Luc Godard’s film „La Chinoise“ here contributes his tune „Mon Pote Rallo“ to our compilation. His „pal Rallo“ seems to be
quite a pain in the ass - pardon my French. He drinks loads of red wine, plays guitar in the subway and basically gets on everybody’s nerves.
Régis Barly complains about the „Faux Beatnick“ (fake beatniks, original ones never use a ‚c’): „you listen to English singers, but you don’t understand a single
word. Still, you shout oh yeah!“
In the sixties, she was called „la bombe androgyne“: Dani - singer, actor, model, night club owner and groupie (she went on tour with the Stones, Morrison and Hendrix) -
was a sparkling personality of her time (pretty much like Nico of Velvet Underground). She has had several comebacks and is still active today, recording with, e.g.,
Gonzales and Feist. Her song „H Comme Hippies“ shows the spirit of the post-68 hippie era: „They say you are a florist and you like hippies ... they say you organize
get-togethers for hippies and you exclaim „I love you“ - is it true that you have flowers in your heart?...“
Another talented young lady was born in Tunis - a singer, composer and writer of hits for herself and colleagues like Jeane Manson, Michel Fugain and Eric Charden.
Her name is Jaqueline Taïeb and she is represented here with one of her favourite songs (as she told us) - „Le Coeur Au Bout Des Doigts“. We owe her a very special
thanks, because she gave us addresses and phone numbers of artists we wouldn’t have been able to find on our own. This compilation would not have been the same without
her help - thanks Jaqueline, you’re the best!
The next piece was finished just in time for this record: „Blow Up“ by Janea Et Alfa (from Popshoppers) shares not only the title with the famous Antonioni movie. The
groovy frenchpop tune deals with a photographer who takes juicy pictures of girls...
One of Jaqueline Taïeb’s friends, Michel Fugain, commenced his solo career in the sixties but his greatest success began in 1972, when he founded a group of 11
musicians, dancers and singers and called them Le Big Bazar. They toured France for four years and were immensely successful. „Allez Bouge-toi“ (come on, move!) is an
intoxicating blend of rock, funk and latin elements.
For the second time here, Eric Charden: „Amour Limité Zéro“ is a sad love story „I’m lost without you, I lost myself without you, memories are overwhelming,
I’m lost without you...“ Lyrics aside, it is a strong garage track with north-west punk guitar riffs - which means lots of oomph.
Finally, an absolute anthem for both early electronica and French beat lovers to end this trip: the trippy „Psyché Rock“ by Pierre Henry. If you think you’ve
heard it before, you’re not altogether wrong; it has been sampled and remixed millions of times, most notably by Fatboy Slim. There is a rumor that Matt Groening
wanted „Psyché Rock“ as the theme for his Futurama series. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the rights (we did - he he!) - so he had Christopher Tyng compose a
similar tune. Very similar, if you ask me.
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So - that’s all for now.
Á bientôt
Martin Hemmel
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