Yesterday afternoon, the record shopkeeper handed me a cardboard box, the size of a 12" record sleeve, with a look on his face implying that he knows. he knows. he knows about MUSIC's unconditional love for The Smiths and wanted me to listen to this little gem he received in the morning.
Browsing through the colorful sleeves as if nothing had happened, I eagerly wait for the turntable to be free.
Inside the cardboard boy was a black and white 12" cover of The Smiths's (as I predicted) I Started Something I couldn't Finish, which is not the interesting part, so I flip the record and past Pretty Girls Make Graves is a superb version of Some Girls are Bigger then Others, recorded live in London in '86. Apparently it was the only time this song was performed. I thank the guy behind the counter and pay for the music. leave.
This take on the song is mellower, almost bossa, and sounds like a Cherry Red Record production of that era, and it is way superior to the recorded version on The Queen is Dead.
Some Girls are Bigger than Others (live '86) - The Smiths
At Music, we have an unconditional love for french new wave, as you might know if you own the issue 0 of the fanzine.
Marie et les Garçons are from Lyon, they were formed in 1975 and toured with the likes of The Clash, Police and french bands like Téléphone and Bijou. They were discovered by Michel Esteban and Lizzy Mercier Descloux and invited to record their debut album in New York, it was produced by John Cale. But the band split up when the "garçons" from the band discovered dance music and decided to record a disco album that made it to the US charts but never gained commercial success.
Here are two versions of the same song: Re Bop. The first one is a catchy rock'n'roll tune that loops on the same sentence, a very upbeat take on surf music. It was released in france in the late seventies.
The second one, Re Bop Electronic was on the B-Side of Garçons's debut album, "Divorce", released on Ze Records. It is featured on the great "Ze Records Story (1979 - 2009)" compilation (Strut Records). This version is darker and could sound like a clean french Suicide single, the analog instruments transform the song completely, making it as cold as the lazers of the long gone Palace.
Re-Bop - Marie et les Garçons
Re-Bop Electronique - Garçons
Tokow Boys manipulate the clichés of the eighties as precociously as if they were holding dynamite. The gang of five serve us an explosive mix of laconic slogans and child ballads, on analog beats and heavy bass all mixed up with perverse carelesness. When the band split up, two of their members carried on with music and formed Luna Parker, who peaked french charts with the single "Tes états d'âme, Eric".
I just got a 7" at this great record store and extracted this track. It is the B-Side of their first single "Petite Rockette". Throbbing lyrics on ambiant music.
Swinging Pool - Tokow Boys
the firstsecond edition of MUSIC will be in collaboration with musician Charbel Haber, who will share his primary record collection with us, the sound that got him into making music. We met him at his flat in Beirut to gather all the images we needed to have so as to create a visual identity that is close enough to the former Scrambled Eggs, La Chambre, X-mas Eve Family Massacre front man.
