a post about Les Beatles

There’s been a big hoo-har this week about the new Beatles box-set – They’ve cleaned up all the albums and taken out all the extraneous sounds and pops and clicks and bum notes (i.e. everything that gave the songs character and charm). The back catalogue is now sterilised and polished and made far too shiny and new for the digital generation. In about 10 years time they will probably add noise and vinyl hiss to all the master tapes so that they can re-package them again and sell them to everyone who already has them, claiming that they now have all the analogue warmth of the original reel-to-reel tapes just as they were first heard in Abbey Road studio 1.

[image from Sun boiled Onions by Vic Reeves]

Did you know that back in the times of Les Beatle-mania, Liz Brady entertained The Fab Four? She flirted with them and they played along, she taught them some cute chat-up lines en Français and they dutifully bleated them back: a quartet of mop-topped Mersey-beat parrots. Ringo thumped out a beat on the table and a Pastis-fuelled sing-along was recorded. The boys had picked up a few tips to woo all those sweet mademoiselles they would meet as they toured around the French provinces. And Liz had a baudy little call-and-response number for her next single. They bid her adieu and trooped off in their Beatle-boots. She never saw them again.

In the cold light of day, it would appear Mlle Brady was duped by a gang of faux-Scouse chancers. Those comical accents are more Marx Brothers than Mersey Beat, and the hooky John Lennon just had to get the last word in “Soww Lanng Leeeez!”

Liz Brady – Un Garçon Dit a Une Fille
[this was re-released on Girls In The Garage Volume 10 - Groovy Gallic Gals!]


Pssst! Don’t tell Paul, but Françoise Cactus loves Ringo, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! It’s understandable, Françoise plays the drums. Ringo plays the drums too. Françoise thinks they could connect over rhythm methods. Just don’t tell Paul, he says Ringo’s not even the best drummer in The Beatles.

Stereo Total – Ringo, I Love You

Pssssssst! Definitely don’t tell Paul, Françoise loves Yoko too.

Stereo Total – I Love You, Ono
[buy Stereo Total: iTunes | Risi-Bisi Popshop]

Jupiter, King of the Planets

Look to the south-east, somewhere in the twilight sky, and you will see Jupiter, the brightest star in the night sky. Jupiter: king of the planets, a vast and violent world of swirling hydrogen and helium gases. Jupiter: home of Fred, "the marvellous Kosmonaut".

Gazing through my telescope late last night, I thought I saw a small object breaking free from Jupiter's torrid, stormy atmosphere...

It was 1981 when Fred first visited our planet Earth. A gang of kinder-popettes saw him land and welcomed him. He couldn’t understand their Deutscher Kauderwelsch, but he sensed their enthusiasm and felt like an outer-space rockundroll star as they chanted his name "Fred vom Jupiter, Fred vom Jupiter" and confessed to how he made them go all weak-at-the-knees.

Sadly he couldn’t stay for long, but when he got home it was as if his life was lonely void, he longed for the attention and the worship he received on Earth as he gazed around at the gaseous emptiness of his home planet.


Die Marinas, those schulmädchen who welcomed him all those years ago have never forgotten him either. They are all in their forties now, but they keep him always in their hearts. Maybe they too have been stargazing, with their teenage daughters, looking up expectantly at the king of the planets. Did they see a tiny speck of light jettisoned from the brightest star in the night sky? They begin a playground chant, and their daughters soon catch the tune and join in...

Die Dorau & Die Marinas – Fred Vom Jupiter
[buy Die Dorau & Die Marinas: iTunes | Amazon.uk]

SETLIST from 25 July 2009

It seems so long ago now, but here’s what we played last month (can you spot the space-themed songs?) – one abiding memory: a guy came up and requested Sarah play a Miss Pain song. Presumably he new…

The next L’Amour Electronique is this Saturday, so come and treat your ears to a late night cocktail of French Bubblegum Pop, Synthesized Sounds and Electronic Music: from Serge Gainsbourg to Stereo Total, The Human League to The Knife, via yé-yé girls, early-electronic pioneers and glacial synth-pop classics.
[see info in the right column, or the flyer at the end of this post]

Verity
John Foxx – Underpass
Françoise Hardy – Ce Petit Coeur
Stereolab – Wow & Flutter
Serge Gainsbourg – La Decadanse
The Knife – Pass This On
Depeche Mode – See You
Add N to (X) – Barry 7’s Contraption
Dominic
Jean et Janet – Je T’aime Normal
Liz Brady – Palladium
Zizi Jean-Maire – Mon Truc En Plumes
Nicole Paquin – Mon Mari C’est Frankenstein
Fabienne Delsoll – I’m Gonna Catch Me A Rat
Stereolab – Space Moth
Brezel Göring – Bad News From The Stars
Jacques Dutronc - Les Metamorphoses
OMD – Messages
Sarah
Farah – Dancing Girls
Ladyhawke – Paris S’Enflamme
Katsen – All Nighter
Data Panik – The Radical
Smarty Pants – Where Is Your Rhythm?
Trouble Vs Glue – No No More
Dan Deacon –The Crystal Cat
Husbands – Hidden Hands
Stereo Total –Miss Rebellion Des Hormones
France Gall – Dis à ton Capitaine
Verity
Ladytron – The Way That I Found You
St Etienne – Like A Motorway
C++ - Dérock‘n’rollisation
Brigitte Bardot – L’Appareil à Sous
Mareva Galanter – C’est Bon
Francis Lai - Samba Savarah (Un Homme et Une Femme OST)
OMD – Souvenir
TGV – Partie 1
Magnetic Fields – If You
Phil Oakey & Giorgio Moroder – Together In Electric Dreams
Neon Neon – I Told Her on Alderaan
Dominic
Michel Polnareff – La Mouche
Cats In Paris – Foxes
Michèle et Ses Wouaps – Wouap-Wouap
Annie Philippe – Pour La Gloire
Christine et Ses Copains – Mon Mini-Croulant
Virginie Rodin – Commando Spatial
Les Bel-Air – Ils Parlaient Dans Mon Dos
France Gall – Laisse Tomber Les Filles
Toss – Da Da Da (est-ce qu'on s'cherche ou est ce qu'on triche?)
Jacqueline Taïeb – 7 Heures Du Matin
Sarah
Ria Bartok – J'y Pense Tout Bas
Sylvie Vartan – De Bonheur
France Gall – Zoï Zoï
Michele Arnaud avec Serge Gainsbourg – Les Papillons Noirs
Momus – Amongst Women Only
The Chap – Fun and Interesting
The Associates – Love Hangover
Miss Pain – Shelf-Location ROM
Blue Minkies – Kevin
Fever Ray – If I Had A Heart
Verity
Kraftwerk – Radioactivity
Serge Gainsbourg – Requiem Pour Un Con
Jocelyne – Nitty Gritty
Françoise Hardy – Et Même
Christophe – Les Marionettes
John Foxx – Europe After The Rain
Jacques Dutronc – Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S’éveille
Pulp – Styloroc (Nights of Suburbia)
OMD – Red Frame/White Light
M – Pop Muzik
Dominic
Bazooka – Dada Dodo (instrumental version)
Isabelle – Amstramgram
Sebastien Tellier – Sexual Sportswear /
French language disque (time, numbers, colours)
Add N to (X) – Total All Out Water
April March – La Fille Sur Ta Moto
Ladytron – Olivetti Jerk
Claire Dixon – Fleurs, Vent
Françoise Hardy – Non Ce N’est Pas Un Rêve
Stereo Total – Je Rêve Encore De Toi
Michel Polnareff – Beatnik
Sarah
Serge Gainsbourg – Dr Jeckyll et Mr Hyde
Les Roche Martin – Les Mains Dans Les Poches
Barcelona – Mirror Man
Soft Cell – Sex Dwarf
Fad Gadget – Ricky’s Hand
Depeche Mode – New Life
Devo – Whip It
Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygene pt.4
Verity
Stereolab – Ping Pong
Mareva Galanter – Les Cornichons
C++ - Comme Dans Les Films
Heaven 17 – Temptation
Simon Bookish – Terry Riley Disco
OMD – Enola Gay
Stereo Total – Villaines Filles, Mauvais Garçons
Dominic
Jacques Brel – Les Filles et Les Chiens
Michel Legrand – Digue Ding Ding
Jacques Dutronc – Sur Une Nappe De Restaurant
Emmanuelle – Le Reel Facile
Kap Bambino – Hey!
Claude François – Eloise
Sarah
Glass Candy – Candy Castle
The B-52s – Planet Claire
Serge et Charlotte Gainsbourg – Lemon Incest
Fat Truckers – Teenage Daughter
Stereo Total – Plastic
Dominic
Liz Brady – Bas Les Pattes
Eileen – Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher
Die Dorau & Die Marinas – Fred Vom Jupiter
Sarah
Datarock – Computer Camp Love
Quintron & Miss Pussycat – Swamp Buggy Badass
Dominic
Trost – Sans Ta Scie
We Are Enfant Terrible – Snap Dragon
Stereo Total – Cosmonaute
Sarah
Orlane Paquin – Le Train de 10h03
Alice Dona – A Trop Repeter Bien

here are our mp3 picks of the night...
Sarah
Fever Ray – If I Had A Heart
[buy Fever Ray: iTunes | Amazon.uk]
Verity

Christophe - Les Marionettes
[buy Christophe: iTunes | Amazon.fr]
Domnic
We Are Enfant Terrible – Snap Dragon
[buy We Are Enfant Terrible direct from We Are Enfant Terrible]

Houston, we have a problem...

Our apologies, it seems we've been ultra-popular this month and have exceeded the bandwidth our webhosts allow us for mp3 storage.

This means if you click on any of the mp3 links you will get an ERROR BANDWIDTH EXCEEDED message, instead of some sweet musique.

Please bear with us, and hopefully everything will be back to normal in the next couple of days.

love and electronics
xxx

Mere Pawns in the Great Space Race

Earlier this week NASA celebrated the 40th anniversary of putting some good wholesome American men on the moon. It was one giant leap for mankind, and one great big Nerr-Nerrr-Ner-Nerrrr-Nurrrrr to the Russians who had, until now, been lapping the USA in the great space race.

But no one spared a thought for the lonely cosmonaut, sitting in his rocket, orbiting the moon, watching the live footage on his miniature control panel. He thinks of his girlfriend down there on earth, as he whistles a forlorn little ditty into his Soviet-issue tape recorder…

Sometime in the early-90’s, a Berlin flea-market trader flogs a batch of old Soviet reel-to-reel tapes to Brezel Göring, he uncovers the crackly long-wave radio noise-laden humming of the love-sick cosmonaut, and Françoise Cactus pens an ode to all the long-lost space-men drifting out there in the cosmos.

Stereo Total – Cosmonaute
[buy Stereo Total: iTunes | Bungalow Popshop]

As the NASA moonwalk transmission came to a close, and the end credits rolled, a celestial melody of early electronic music wafted gently from the speakers. The French had hi-jacked the broadcast a little late in the day, but the spotlit-Moog majesty of this song lingered like the grainy shot of the Stars and Stripes flapping gently in the lunar wind.

Jean-Jacques Perrey & Gershon Kingsley – Pioneers of The Stars
[by Perrey & Kingsley: iTunes | Amazon uk]

ps. We will be dropping in these and more space-y music at L’Amour Electronique tonight:

1st Man in Space

It was 40 years ago today, Neil and Buzz went to visit the man in the moon. But we heard a rumour from ground control that Phil was the first man in space on his street.

Over to you Dr. Fox...


We'll try and dig out some more space-race music this week if we have time, stay tuned.

SETLIST from 27 June 2009

Sarah was away, so we called upon French mademoiselle Estelle to take over her DJing duties. She told us rumours that were rife about French popstars when she was young (like the one about Sheila being a man...)... We grew tired of conservative Clash fans and risked a lynching by playing Nouvelle Vague's cover of Guns of Brixton... Then Estelle had to go home early after one too many Pernods (oh dear)...

Here's what was played.

Dominic
Liz Brady – Un Garçon Dit a Une Fille
Boy From Brazil – Le Claquer De Doigts
Les Hou-Lops – Blue Jeans sur Le Plage
Jenny Rock – Hooray Pour Johnny
Gillian Hills – Rentre Sans Moi
Zouzou – Tu Fais Partie du Passé
Bertrand Burgalat – Albo
Schneider TM – The Light 3000
Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan – Electronic Movements: Syncopation
Claude Dubois – Je Tourne
Silicon Teens – TV Playtime
Verity
Kraftwerk – Ohm Sweet Ohm
The Human League – Empire State Human
Deux – Game & Performance
Anne-Marie Peysson – Qui Ne Risque Rien
Marie Laforêt – Manchester et Liverpool
Michel Polnareff – L’Oiseau de Nuit
Magnetic Fields – Smoke and Mirrors
Soft Cell – Bedsitter
The Knife – Pass This On
Depeche Mode – See You
Estelle
Christophe – Les Marionettes
Jenny Rock – Douliou Douliou St Tropez
Pulp – Le Roi des Fourmis
Patrick Coutin – J’aime Regarder les Filles
The Teenagers – Homecoming
St Etienne – La Poupée Qui Fait Non
Vanessa Paradis – Be My Baby
Alain Bashung – Osez Joséphine
France Gall – Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son
Dominic
Karo – Sur Ta Moto
Minouche Barelli – Boum Badaboum
Les Surfs – Je Ne Suis Pas Trop Jeune
Marie Laforêt (avec Gérard Klein) – Le Vin De L’été
Leonard Cohen – First We Take Manhattan
Françoise Cactus – You Can’t Put Your arms Around a Memory
John et Jehn – 20L07
Die Perlen – Jeudi Noir (Tony Punk remix)
Michèle et Ses Wouaps – Dam Dam
Les Elegantes – Mon Soldat
Verity
Jacques Dutronc – Les Playboys
Stereolab – Ping Pong
Pete Shelley – Homosapien
Serge Gainsbourg – Un Poison Violent, C’est Ca L’amour
Erasure – Chorus
Mareva Galanter – Pourquoi Pas Moi
Hot Butter – Popcorn
Deux – Dance With Me
Estelle
Michèle Torr - Dans Mes Bras Oublie Ta Peine
Les Rita Mitsouko – Marcia Baila
Daft Punk – Da Funk
Claude François – Alexandrie, Alexandra
Nino Ferrer – Oh! He! Hein! Bon!
Jacques Dutronc – J’aime Les Filles
Les Chausettes Noires – Daniela
Jane Birkin – Melo Melo
Joe Dassin – Dans Les Yeux D’Emilie
Dominic
Claude François – Eloise
Zizi Jean-Maire – Mon Truc en Plumes
Jacqueline Taïeb – Bienvenue au Pays
Françoise Hardy – Je Pense à Lui
Jina Miko – Dum Dum
Serge Gainsbourg – Initials BB
Charlotte Leslie – Les Filles C’est Fait Pour Faire L’amour
Verity
France Gall – Cet Air La
Françoise Hardy - L'amour Ne Dure Pas Toujours
Serge Gainsbourg – Lemon Incest
OMD – Red Frame/White Light
Jean-Michel Jarre – Magnetic Fields pt.2
Stereolab – French Disko
Estelle
Daft Punk – Harder…
Felix Da Housecat (feat. Miss Kittin) – Madame Hollywood
The Mogs – Kelly Blame (French vocal)
Nino Ferrer – Mirza
Divine Comedy – Europop
Dominic
Annie Philippe – C’est La Mode
Large Number – The Number People
Michel Legrand – Digue Ding Ding
Stereo Total – Supergirl
Emmanuelle – Le Reel Façile
Michel Polnareff – La Mouche
Nouvelle Vague – Guns Of Brixton
Verity
Vanessa Paradis – Joe Le Taxi
Serge Gainsbourg – Requiem Pour un Con
Brigitte Bardot – Everybody Loves My Baby
Goldfrapp – Satin Chic
The Droyds – Take Me I’m Yours
Sandie Shaw – Pourvu Que Ca Dure
Jacques Dutronc – Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi
Estelle
Monique Thubert – Avec Les Oreilles
Hervé Vilard – Fais La Rire
Alain Bashung – Gaby Oh! Gaby
I Am – Je Danse Le Mia
Dominic
Jacques Brel – Amsterdam (en public, Paris Olympia, 1964)
Fabiene Delsol – I’m Gonna Catch Me a Rat
Brigitte Bardot – Gang Gang
Les Bel-Air – Ils Parlaient Dans Mon Dos
Verity
Magnetic Fields – (Crazy For You) But Not That Crazy
Yazoo – Don’t Go
The All Seeing I – 1st Man In Space
Jacques Dutronc – Les Cactus
Dominic
The Chap – I Am Oozing Emotion
Françoise Hardy – Ce Petit Coeur
Stereo Total – Holiday Innn
Neil Young – Sample + Hold
Brigitte Bardot – Contact
Verity
Bis – Love Will Tear Us Apart
OMD – Enola Gay
Human League – Sound Of The Crowd
France Gall – Nous Ne Sommes Pas Des Anges
M – Pop Muzik
Le Tigre – Deceptacon
Dominic
Baby Birkin – St Tropez
Ronnie Bird – Chante
The Tornados - Telstar


mp3s for your listening pleasure
Estelle chose
Patrick Coutin – J’aime Regarder les Filles
[buy Patrick Coutin: iTunes | Amazon]
Verity chose
Deux – Dance With Me
[buy Deux direct from Deux!]
Dominic chose
Jacqueline Taïeb – Bienvenue au Pays
[buy Jacqueline Taïeb: iTunes | Amazon]