Some requests:
- Anna Karina - Pistolet Jo
- Anna Karina - Sous le soleil exactement
'Pistolet Jo' is another track written by Serge Gainsbourg for the TV movie Anna, which I keep getting different dates for, but it seems to be from 1967 or 1966. This is a bit of a novelty track and not my favourite, so I thought I'd also post Anna's extraordinary version of 'Sous le soleil exactement', also by Gainsbourg and from the Anna soundtrack.
I managed to track down two places that sell this movie on DVD (both apparently bootlegs, with no subtitles): Amazon Japan (cover pic below left) and 5 Minutes To Live (cover below right). Although it doesn't seem to be in stock on 5 Minutes anymore. Here's what the back of the 5 Minutes release says:
Released in 1966, this was the first color film ever made for French TV. Starring Anna Karina (of Godard film fame), Marianne Faithfull (who sings one song) & Serge Gainsbourg (who also wrote the amazing music), Anna is a bizarre pop art/comedy/musical filled with vibrant colors strange, hallucinatory scenes and some of the best songs Serge ever wrote. The story is about a man obsessively looking for a woman he saw in a photograph. A truly charming and entertaing movie that any Gainsbourg fan should own.
Doesn't it look and sound like it would be amazing?
From The Yé-Yé Girls Website:
Great French singer and strong personality. She started her career acting in a Jean Luc Godard's movie 'Les Carabiniers' [pictured below].
In 1966, she recorded two singles for Barclay, covering Bob Dylan's 'It's All Over Baby Blue'. Then she came back in 1969 with a new band: 2bis, who became Alpes on their next album. They recorded original improvised rock music, played with home made electric instruments. Wild and strange. They made many albums. Catherine is still singing today, mostly classic 20th century French songs, with her beautiful and unique voice.
Links: Catherine's Official Site - be sure to visit the photo gallery, there are some fantastic 60s photos of her and her above-mentioned bands.
Buy: Catherine Ribeiro - Long Box or Femmes De Paris Vol 3 (or Vols 1-3 + Gentlemen de Paris - better value). Volume 3 of the fabulous Femmes De Paris compilations was compiled by Thierry, who was behind the much-loved Swinging Mademoiselle vinyl compilations. Some exciting news is that Thierry is doing the next Girls In The Garage comp.
From Brigitte's RFI Musique bio:
Shortly after the release of the album "Brigitte Fontaine est folle", Higelin introduced Fontaine to a musician friend of his whom he had met in the army. Areski Belkacem (an Algerian of Kabyl origin who had been born in France) became a close friend of Fontaine's and the pair soon began working together. Fontaine and Belkacem went on to fuse the rhythms and melodies of Arab music with elements of French chanson, creating an innovative repertoire which would pave the way for the modern concept of world music.
Buy: Areski Et Brigitte Fontaine - Le Bonheur
Links: Brigitte's Official Site (warning: it talks to you)
From The British Beat Boom:
One of the "Mod" groups who emerged in the wake of The Who and The Small Faces, they would appear on stage using sound-effect tapes (crashes, bells etc.), large amounts of feedback and wearing custom-tailored Pop Art T-shirts portraying their faces printed within a huge eye.
Read more about The Eyes on Ready Steady Go.
Buy: The Eyes - The Complete Recordings.
I've had a request to repost the France Gall videos I've previously posted, but I'm going to wait until I can copy some better quality versions of them. I should have them up early in the new year!
A very Happy New Year to all of you from Spiked Candy!
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