Q: Which came first the “Bon!” or the “Quoi!”?

BOOM! TISH! BOOM! TISH! BOOM! TISH! BOOM! TISH! It’s 1966, and Nino Ferrer’s rhythm-section is coming on like a pair of cavemen with a back-to-basics Kick’n’hi-hat stomp and a dirrrty old bass line. Some jazzy Hammond organ tones give it a bit of lo-fi warmth to counter Ferrer’s ever-so-slightly sleazy vocal stylings, as he lists all the things he keeps losing: his uncle, his sausage, his cousin Célestin, who’s an academician…

Then, 54 seconds in a chimeric transformation takes place: the organist goes off on one and Nino gets gruffer and gruffer, until he has a choking fit and emerges sounding like a Muppet with bad laryngitis:
“la la la la, la la la, la la la la la la, la la la, la la la, la la la la la la la,la la la, la la la, la la la, la la la la la LA, BOFF!!!”

Nino Ferrer - Oh! Hé! Hein! Bon!
[buy Nino Ferrer: iTunes | Amazon.co.uk]

I’m convinced that Fernand Raynaud was the voice of the father-figure in all the French listening tapes I heard at school. I can hear him now saying “Hrm, Je voudrais un sandwich au JAMBON!” He always seemed to have a short-fuse, hence the caps and exclamation of "JAMBON!"

Raynaud’s version is certainly a cover of Nino Ferrer, but it works almost as a response/riposte. Likewise it is credited as a 1966 release. It’s way bigger on production values, though, so it must have come out later that year.

There’s that familiar opening salvo: “Oh! Eh! Hein! QUOI!” then the band drops into a slinky, but primitive, disco passage (about 5 years before disco was even invented). He seems to have roped in his listening-tape family to back him up on the “Oh! Eh! Hein!” bits.

You’ll notice the subtle change in the title: an “Eh!” for a “He!” and a “Quoi!” for a “Bon!” It makes for a much more quizzical vocal, as he looks for his uncle, and his sausage, and his cousin Célestin…

The whole thing sounds bigger, brasher and full-to-bursting thanks to some big, bold brass which just about errs on the right side of comical.

Monsieur Raynaud never quite hits the gravelly mania of Monsieur Ferrer, he just sounds a little more resigned, and ends with a shrugged, raspberry-blowing “BOpppFFF!”

Fernand Raynaud - Oh! Eh! Hein! Quoi!
[this song was re-issued on Pop a Paris Volume 1 which is discontinued]

A: The “Bon!”

Nino Ferrer wrote it, though apparently he dismissed it as something of a novel throw-away song. Bring on the majorettes...

SETLIST from 25 April 2009

Finally managed to get the setlist from last month typed up. As usual we've each picked an mp3 of a song we played so you can re-live a few brief moments vicariously [look below...].

Don't forget to come this Saturday if you're in Brighton, Free entry all night!
SATURDAY 23 MAY

9pm - 3am

at The West Hill (formerly The Belle Vue)

67 Buckingham Place, Brighton

here is a map

Verity
France Gall – Ne Soit Pas Si Bête
Claudine Longet – L’Amour Est Bleu
Baby Birkin – Mélo Mélo
Stereolab – Eloge D’Eros
Depeche Mode – See You
Add N to (X) – Revenge of the Black Regent
Music From Mathematics (played by the IBM 7090 Computer) – Fantasia
Dominic
Liquid Vega – In:The:City
Serge Lama – Girls… Girls
Serge Gainsbourg et Brigitte Bardot – Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus
I Monster – Who Is She?
Marie Laforêt (avec Gérard Klein) - Le Vin de L’été
The Passions – I’m in Love with a German Filmstar
Bertrand Burgalat & Robert Wyatt – This Perfect Night
Galatasaray Lisesi – Zazie
Stereo Total – Je Rêve Encore De Toi
The Guinea Pig Killers – The Lady and The Pigman
Sarah
Dauerfisch – So Gut
Katsen – Island in an Island
Noisy Pig – Magic Pee
The Chap – Fun and Interesting
I Monster – No Nice Strippers (The Full Seven Inches mix)
Orlane Paquin – Le Train de 10h03
Liz Brady – Partie De Dames
Verity
France Gall – Laisse Tomber les Filles
The Human League – Love Action
Sandie Shaw – Pourvu que ça dure (Long live love)
Françoise Hardy – Comment Te Dire Adieu
Stereolab – Ping Pong
Michel Polnareff – Dans La Maison Vide
Vox Dei - Terroriste
Jacques Dutronc – Mini Mini Mini
Mareva – Les Filles C’est Fait Pour Faire L’Amour
OMD – Souvenir
Au Revoir Simone – Shadows
Dominic
John et Jehn – 20L07
Trost – Sans Ta Scie
Serge Gainsbourg – Le Poinçonneur des Lilas
Johnny Halliday – A Tout Casser
Brigitte Bardot – Ce N’est Pas Vrai
Gabriel Yared – La Poubelle Cuisine
Jacques Brel – Amsterdam (Live à l’Olympia, Paris 1964)
Adèle – Je Ne Veux Plus D’Accordeon
Jacques Dutronc – Le Responsible
Chantal Goya – Tu M’as Trop Menti
France Gall – Der Computer Nr.3
Add N to (X) – Adding N To (X)
Sarah
Farah – Law Of Life
Holy Fuck – Milk Shake
Dan Deacon – The Crystal Cat
Bobbie Marie – ???
France Gall – N’Ecoute Pas Les Idoles
Sylvie Vartan – Ballade Pour Une Fugue
Serge Gainsbourg – Ford Mustang
Ria Bartok – Ecoute Mon Coeur
Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygene (pt.4)
Verity
The Knife – Silent Shout
Yazoo – Don’t Go
Goldfrapp – Train
Neon Neon – Dream Cars
Stereo Total – Je Suis Nue
Michel Polnareff – Y A Qu’un Cheveu
Super Furry Animals – Inaugural Trams
Serge Gainsbourg – Marilu
Jacques Dutronc – Les Cactus
Françoise Hardy – On Dit De Lui
Mareva – Pourquoi Pas Moi
Dominic
Jacques Brel – Les Filles et Les Chiens
Dani – Sans Asterisque
Michel Polnareff – La Mouche
Cats in Paris – Loose Tooth Tactile
Die Dorau & Die Marinas – Fred Vom Jupiter
Chantal Goya – Laisse Moi
Jacques Dutronc – On Nous Cache Tout, On Nous Dit Rien
Johnny Halliday – Noir C’est Noir
Claude François – Hip Hip Hip Hurrah
Eddie Mitchell – Et S’il N’en Reste Qu’un
Sarah
Stereo Total – Complex Mit Dem Sex
Brigitte Bardot – Bubblegum
The Blue Minkies – You Make Me Blush
Peepholes – My Traps
Les Georges Leningrad – Monster Klaw
Trouble Vs Glue – Chinese Posters
Brezel Göring – Ich Bin So Süchtig (mit Christiane F)
Christie Laume – Rouge Rouge
France Gall – Poupée De Sire, Poupée De Son
Ultravox – Dancing With Tears in My Eyes
Verity
OMD – Enola Gay
M – Pop Muzik
Patrick Wolf – Vultures
Add N to (X) – Metal Fingers in My Body
Yelle – Je Veux Te Voir
Dominic
Stereo Total – Wir Tanzen Im 4-Ek
Silicon Teens – You Really Got Me
The Human League – Sound Of The Crowd
Serge Gainsbourg – Requiem Pour Un Con
Space – Magic Fly
Sarah
Sebastien Tellier – Divine
Luke Haines – Off My Rocker…
Devo – The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise
The Human League – Circus Of Death
John Foxx – 20th Century
Verity
The Normal – Warm Leatherette
Stereo Total – Tas De Tôle
Plastic Bertrand – Ça Plane Pour Moi
Dominic
Pussycat – Aucune Fille Au Monde
Baby Birkin – St Tropez
We Are ENFANT TERRIBLE – Snap Dragon
Sarah
Trans X – Living On Video (’85 remix)
Fad Gadget – Ricky’s Hand
Soft Cell – Say Hello Wave Goodbye

mp3s for yr listening pleasure
Verity: France Gall – Ne Soit Pas Si Bête

Dominic: Galatasaray Lisesi - Zazie
Sarah: Katsen - Island in an Island

next L'Amour Electronique this Saturday

Monsieur Dutronc is pointing at you! Yes, YOU!  He wants you to come to L'Amour Electronique this Saturday.

Once you're there, you can enjoy 6 hours of the finest in French Pop, bubblegum hits, synthesized sounds, and electronic bleeps and tones.

SATURDAY 23 MAY

9pm - 3am

at The West Hill (formerly The Belle Vue)

67 Buckingham Place, Brighton

here is a map

It is free entry, in case you need any more persuading.

Creepy Crawlies pt.2

In part 1 we introduced you to a few of the hairy little beasties that make us come over all squeamish. Our French dictionary interprets creepy crawlies as bestioles, though I am rather taken with Terrifiante Rampante which is the answer a free translation website just fed back to me.

Last time, Polnareff declared himself King of the Ants, then had a change of heart and turned himself into a fly. Well we have some news for you Monsieur Polnareff, here comes Mister Tovey to usurp petit Michel. Frank Tovey aka Fad Gadget, beating his chest and beating his wings, preying on spiders, dive bombing colonies of ants, heading up his filthy cloud of evil, beady-eyed flies.

Fad Gadget – King of the Flies
[buy Fad Gadget: iTunes | Mute Bank]


But what’s that looming out of the blood red sky? Huge clanking metal wings, glassy eyes and hydraulic legs.

The Magic Fly has timewarped out of the Space disco seventies to do battle with the King of the Flies, rockets firing up, it blasts straight into the vast black humming cloud. A million insects pelt and buzz the lumbering iron thorax, swarming the mirrored eyes turning them to an iridescent shimmering black. Lasers fry hairy little legs and singe tiny translucent wings – it’s raining flies, run for cover!

Space - Magic Fly
[buy Space: iTunes | Amazon]

Are you itching and scratching yet? Did you know, if a flea were scaled up to human size it would be able to jump over the Eiffel tower? That’s a scientific fact, apparently, and it’s also a topical fact for this here blog too [bonus points for yr scribe]. Back to regular sized fleas now:“Here come the fleas, they’re at your knees…” Yep, the circus is in town.

Ladies and Gentlemen! Marvel as they perform their feats and tricks to a White Noise electronic sound storm created by David Vorhaus, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson

White Noise – Here Come The Fleas
[buy White Noise: iTunes | Amazon]

Back in 1967, the Kingsley’s beloved family dog was quarantined with a nasty infestation of the Spanish flea variety. Gershon Kingsley called upon his erstwhile collaborator Jean-Jacques Perrrey, and together they zapped those lice with a few volts of the old pioneering Moog-tronica. Those fleas they danced an urgent samba and fled the retriever’s shaggy coat.

((( BOING BOIIIINNNNG BOIIIIIINGGGGGG )))

Perrey & Kingsley – One Note Samba–Spanish Flea
[buy Perrey & Kingsley: iTunes | Amazon]

You know, once you get les puces, they spread all over the house – in the carpet, in your bed, sucking your blood when you’re fast asleep.
Tomorrow you’ll wake up feeling like you slept in a Parisian flea-pit, and you’ll be itching like mad.

Les Puces – Demain
[if anyone can find a copy of 'Girl Group Power- Histoires De Filles: Quebec 60's Go-Go Music', please let me know!]

That’s all for now, night-night children, don’t let the bed bugs bite.

Creepy Crawlies pt.1

Following our (not so) recent post about Wasps, here’s one about Creepy Crawlies, or Bestioles, as the French dictionary has just informed me. So if the thought of little leggy critters makes your skin crawl, take a deep breath and read on with caution.

We’re talking little critters like these two clockwork Horrors*, who were wound-up and let loose in Daniel Miller’s studio full of ancient analogue gadgetry.

After a few days Barry 7 was sent in to try and take some control of the situation. The result: some deeply sinister metal-on-metal musik like this:

Spider and the Flies – Spider and the Flies
[buy Spider and The Flies: iTunes | Mute Bank]

We all know Michel Polnareff is a bit of a strange one – Whenever I try and introduce someone to his music, I like to take them through some of his looks to show the whole package: At the start there was little mod-like urchin Polnareff, serenading with his 12-string guitar… Gradually this mutated into the Pierrot/Jagger/Bowie-hybrid wailing goth-glam opera sounds in a white smock dress and those trademark sunglasses… Somewhere along the way, it appears Michel may have been abducted by the P-Funk Mothership, where a freaky transformation took place. On his return to earth, Polnareff unveiled his new ‘look’: a fright-wigged Bowie-meets-Liberace-meets-Elton John bacofoil ostrich from outer-space…

This one’s from back in those mod-ish days, dressed in a black polar-neck, Polnareff proclaimed himself ‘King of the Ants’
Michel Polnareff – Le Roi De Fourmis
[buy Polnareff: iTunes | Amazon.fr]

Nine years later, he changed his mind (along with his image), and decided he was a fly with a penchant for landing on people’s lips… Mmmm, spread those germs.


Michel Polnareff – La Mouche
[buy Michel Polnareff: iTunes | Amazon.fr]



................................................................
*we should also mention that those Horrors have come up trumps with their new album Primary Colours. Goodbye hairspray-goth, hello krautrock-shoegaze.

L'Amour Electronique: Samedi Soir

Yes, it's come round again! The next L'Amour Electronique is this Saturday. Join us for the finest in French bubblegum Pop, Electronic sounds and slinky Synthesized music.

9pm-3am at The Westhill, 67 Buckingham Place, Brighton.

[The Westhill used to be called The Belle Vue, here's a map]

FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Won't you join us?

xxx

[ps. scroll down to the previous post to see what we played last month]

setlist 28 MARCH 2009

Last month we were joined by birthday boy Stuart Lamour (who some of you may know from his good work over at 20jazzfunkgreats). Stuart had done his research and unearthed a nice batch of French and electronic sounds to add some zing to the evening. Much fun was had by all, and we have each chosen a song we played as a gift in mp3 format.

Here's how we soundtracked the evening:

Sarah
Depeche Mode – New Life
OMD – Mystereality
Visage – Damned Don’t Cry
John Cooper Clarke – Beasley Street
The Film – Can You Touch Me
Sebastien Tellier – Divine
Verity
Petula Clark – Mon Bonheur Danse
Stereolab – Lo Boob Oscillator
Dalida – Petit Elephant Twist
The Knife – Silent Shout
Arab Strap – 1st Big Weekend
Serge Gainsbourg et Jane Birkin – Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus
Jacques Dutronc – Les Playboys
Deux – Dance With Me
Dominic
John Foxx – Mr No
Patricia Gallant – La Musique et La Danse
John et Jehn – 20L07
White Trash – Raw Meat
Michèle et Ses Wouaps – Dam Dam
Elizabeth – Je Suis Sublime
Stereo Total – Comme Un Garçon
Curry & Coco – Sex Is Fashion
Henri Salvador – Beta Gamma, L’Ordinateur
Chorus Reverendus – Ne Poussez Pas Mémé Dans Les Orties
Michel Polnareff – TA-TA-TA-TA
Stuart
Appalosa – The Day We Fell in Love
Polyphonic Size – Nagasaki Mon Amour
Brigitte Bardot – Contact
Moonbirds – Astro 9
France Gall – Laisse Tomber Les Filles
Dusty Springfield – Demain Tu Peux Changer
Eileen – Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher
Theme from Ulysses 31
Mathematiques Modernes – Disco Rough
Adam and The Ants – Young Parisians
Sarah
Devo – Time Out For Fun
The Associates – The Stranger in Your Voice
Sparks – Get in the Swing
Mort Garson (Electronic Hair Pieces) – Good Morning Starshine
Les Roches Martin – Les Mains Dans Les Poches
France Gall – Les Sucettes
Sylvie Vartan - Koibito Jidai
Add N To (X) – Plug Me In
Verity
Ladytron – Commodore Rock
Cerrone – Supernature
Sebastien Tellier – L’Amour et la Violence (Boys Noize main version)
Mareva – C’est Bon
Petula Clark – Il y a Tellement de Filles
Françoise Hardy – On Dit De Lui
Magnetic Fields – The Village in The Morning
Deux – Game and Performance
hollAnd – The Lebanon
Jacques Dutronc – On Nous Cache Tout, On Nous Dit Rien
Dominic
Chantal Goya – Tu M’as Trop Menti
Chantal Goya – C’est Bien Bernard
Toss – Est-Ce Qu’on S’Cherche, Ou Est Ce Qu’on Triche? (Da Da Da)
Hiem – Crawlers
Cats In Paris – Loose Tooth Tactile
PixelH8 – Girl Fight
Michel Polnareff – Time Will Tell
Andre Previn – Executive Party (Rollerball OST)
Françoise Cactus – You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory
Stuart
Bill Wyman – Je Suis Un Rock Star
Herman’s Rocket – Space Woman
Daniel Deneuve – La Parisien
Desireless – Voyage Voyage
Phoenix – Funky Square Dance
Sebastien Tellier – Sexual Sportswear
Ronny – To Have and Have Not
Sarah
Glass Candy – Beatific
The Knife – Heartbeats
John Foxx – Burning Car
Soft Cell – Say Hello Wave Goodbye
Pulp - Your Sister’s Clothes
Verity
Michel Polnareff – Y'a Que Pas Pouvoir Qu’on Peut
Serge Gainsbourg – Rock Around The Bunker
Ray Davies (BBC Sporting Themes) – Breezy Bounce
The All Seeing I – 1st Man in Space
Fiery Furnaces – Single Again
Dominic
We Are ENFANT TERRIBLE – Snap Dragon
France Gall – Computer Nr.3
Miss Pain - Kiss Cuddle Torture (MC Fashion Remix)
Dave Rogers - Theme from Cybernoid (ZX Spectrum 128K)
Madeleine Pascal – Dieu N’est Pas Vieux
Michel Polnareff – La Mouche
Stereo Total – Orange Mecanique
Stuart
Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygene (part 6)
Ruth – Polaroid-Roman-Photo
JJ Burnel – Freddie Laker
Grace Jones – La Vie En Rose
Jacques Dutronc – Le Responsable
Sarah
Devo – The Day (My Baby Gave Me a Surprise)
Luke Haines – Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop
The Chap – They Have A Name
Verity
Vanessa Paradis – Joe Le Taxi
Stereo Total – Supergirl
OMD – Electricity
Dominic
De!Nial – Tokyo Dance School
Mad&Moiselle – Chupa Chups
Liz Brady – Hey O Daddy O
Stuart
Die Dorau & Die Marinas – Fred Vom Jupiter
Kraftwerk – Tour De France
Zig Zag – Stop Stop Stop
Dominic
Telex – Ça Plane Pour Moi
Roger Limb (BBC Radiophonic Workshop) – Kitten’s Lullaby

mp3 selections

Dominic: Elizabeth - Je Suis Sublime

Stuart: Herman’s Rocket – Space Woman

Sarah: Pulp - Your Sister's Clothes

Verity: Michel Polnareff – Y'a Que Pas Pouvoir Qu’on Peut