Welcome to the ramblings of a man who really should have grown out of listening to "that sort of music" a long, long time ago...A place to share thoughts and photographs on music and related paraphernalia.
The French Power Pop trio Fuzzy Vox have a load of live dates lined up to promote their excellent album "On Heat" including a prestigious show at Le Divan Du Monde in Paris on September 26th. The album was mixed by Pelle Gunnerfeldt,
the famed Swedish producer who brought us the The Hives classic "Veni Vidi Vicious" almost fifteen years ago and the band certainly capture the same energetic spirit and powerful melodic Garage Rock inspired songs of the well dressed Swedes.
Check above for the tour dates or follow them on Facebook for up-to-date news on how to buy tickets. In the meantime here's a fun new video from one of the album's stand-out tracks, enjoy!
So, here we are at the legendary Parisian venue Le Bus Palladium, which oozes music history from it's walls. Located in Pigalle, an area of the city that immediately conjures up a certain decadence, it was originally opened in 1965 at the height of the swinging Yé-yé scene. Once frequented by the Beatles, Stones, Johnny Hallyday, Salvador Dali and Serge Gainsbourg (who even mentioned it in song), it was relaunched in the 1980's and is now a multi-functional venue, night club and restaurant that reminded me a bit of the excellent White Trash in Berlin. Tonight's show was promoted by Olivier Bétard at Black Boots Management under the banner "Back To The 60's" and featured a great line-up of bands, each one influenced by the music of the Sixties but with their own individual style. We had the Modernist Pop of the Paris based French Boutik along with the Northern Soul tinges of The Travellers and their St. Malo compatriots Les Kitschenettes, who take more of the Garage Psych Rock approach. Each band was different enough to make it a well balanced and varied bill, and with the DJ's spinning some suitably cool sounds, it was a really excellent night's entertainment.
The Travellers - Photo by Steve Worrall
The Travellers opened the show at our recent Retro Man Blog night at the Half Moon in Putney, playing as an acoustic duo with vocalist Gemma accompanied by guitarist Robert. The performance highlighted the fact that The Travellers are master songwriters, each track stood up perfectly well in these stripped back arrangements. Tonight they open the show too but this time with their full band line-up of Gemma on vocals and keyboards, Robert on guitar, Fred on the bass and Moses on drums. They are back to a four piece following the departure of rhythm guitarist Gildas, which in a way was a bit of a shame as I thought he added a nice bit of extra depth and muscle to their sound when I saw them at The Lexington earlier this year. Starting off strongly with the brilliant "74 Times" which is followed closely by it's Double A-Side partner "Summer With No Sun", certainly one of the best 7" singles of recent years, with Robert's catchy fuzzed up guitar riff adding a welcome bit of edge. "Miss You Babe" with it's thumping Northern Soul beat leads into the new single B-Side "Don't Look For Me", in which Gemma puts in a great vocal performance.
The Travellers - Photo by Steve Worrall
I was impressed with the powerful "I'll Be There" but then comes a slight blip in proceedings with "One Day", where the band are seemingly playing two different songs at the same time, it reminded me of the old Morecambe and Wise joke, "I'm playing the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order", it's a bit of a mess at first but the band pick it up and put it back on track half way through. They then redeem matters with the superb sultry sounds of "I Can't Stop Loving You", which is one of my highlights of their set tonight. Next up is a cover of Martha & The Vandellas "Heat Wave" which gets more people dancing and then it is the brand new single "Stay". This is another classic song and it's been getting a lot of air-play on various radio shows and podcasts recently, plus to make things even better it's available on lovely 7" green vinyl too. That was the last song and The Travellers are called back for a deserved encore, and in a brave move they play a new song live for the very first time called "Your Love Is Like a Flame".
Gemma from The Travellers - Photo by Steve Worrall
Next up are Les Kitschenettes, I'd never seen them before and only had a few songs from a "Ballroom Bash" compilation so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Well, I was in for an unexpected treat and tonight they blew me away with their colourful, energetic live show. I have seen some great gigs this year and this set will be surely up there with the best of them. Les Kitschenettes are like a French version of Retro Man Blog's favourite covers band, The Transients, except they trawl the Sixties French music archive to pick some often obscure delights.
Les Kitschenettes - Photo by Steve Worrall
With the exception of a great version of The Castaways' "Liar Liar", it's Francais all the way and even when they cover the Kinks "A Well Respected Man" they attack it via Petula Clark's French version "Un Jeune Homme Bien", it's bloody marvellous! There are only a few tracks that I recognize such as superb covers of Delphine's "La Fermeture Éclair" and the Serge Gainsbourg, France Gall duet "Dents de Lait, Dents de Loup", but I am non-plussed by most of the selection, and like The Transients you are often wondering if they are the band's own songs as they sound so fresh and modern. I've had a lot of fun since their gig tracking down as many of the originals as possible, quite a task as the set varied from weird soundtrack music such as "Rosbif Attack" from the movie "Ne Nous Fachons Pas", to songs by artists I've never heard of such as Guy Skornik and bands like Les Missiles.
Les Kitschenettes - Photo by Steve Worrall
The band are a visual delight, singer Ludo resplendent in black glove and flowing cape struts around the stage while Lucille who shares vocals and adds sax and flute, dances away energetically throughout. The duets work superbly well, particularly on "Shu Ba Du Ba Loo Ba" from Gainsbourg's "Initials B.B." album with Ludo as Serge and Lucille as Brigitte Bardot, and I particularly enjoyed their take on Monique Thubert's "Avec les Oreilles". The band around the live-wire front two are also excellent, a familiar looking bassist, yes it's Fred from The Travellers putting in an impressive double shift, drummer Claude, guitarist Francis and then Mathieu on guitars and keyboards. The already psyched up crowd are sent into a frenzy of dancing as Les Kitschenettes close their set with a wild and crazy version of Rita Pavone's "Il Geghegè". Everyone around me is grinning from ear to ear and calling for more songs, it was one of those very special feel-good shows that will live on long in the memory. A truly great band indeed.
Les Kitschenettes - Photo by Steve Worrall
French Boutik took the stage as headliners and the crowd calmed down a bit to enjoy their slick Modernist Pop. Singer Gabriela is a cool presence up front and she bashes her tambourine and shows off some nifty dance moves, while the band, comprising Serge on guitars, Iky on keyboards, Terry on bass and rather bright suit and drummer Gontrand look like they are enjoying playing their perfectly constructed pop-soul songs. My highlights of their set are the excellent "Chats de Gouttiere" from their first E.P. and the wonderful "Facile", which lifts the atmosphere and gets the audience moving.
French Boutik - Photo by Steve Worrall
They end with a cover of Georgie Fame's "In The Meantime" and a song called "Kazimir" which although is naggingly familiar, I can't quite place, Gabriela explained later that it was a Ska re-working of Madness "Bed & Breakfast Man", they kept the
melody but changed the bridge totally and the words too and rewrote the lyrics about a bar near their rehearsal studio called the Kazimir.
French Boutik - Photo by Steve Worrall
So overall it was an excellent night, the venue was great with superb lighting and sound and all three bands complimented each other perfectly. For more photos of the gig, go to the Retro Man Blog Facebook page and hit "Like" for access to the exclusive Photo Album. Here's a video of each of the bands, to see more videos from the night along with many other bands featured on Retro Man Blog please head on over to the Retro Man Blog YouTube Channel.
Marie Modiano, the Paris based singer, songwriter, poet (and now author), will be very busy on September 30th as she simultaneously releases two brand new albums "Ram On A Flag" and "Espérance Mathématique" and her debut novel "Upsilon Scorpii" all on the same day! I saw Marie perform as part of a special Scandinavian weekend event at La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris last year and was captivated by her performance. I snapped up a copy of her album "Outland" at the merchandise stand and although it has since become one of my favourite albums of recent years, it was slightly disappointing that so many of the great songs she played that night were actually new and unreleased at the time. But now the long wait to hear those songs recorded is finally over and we also get the bonus of the second album too. The Event in Paris was curated by Swedish Singer-Songwriter Peter von Poehl and orchestrated by Martin Hederos, who not only appeared on stage with his own band, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, but also with Marie and Peter too. Equally as busy was the excellent drummer Ludwig Dahlberg (ex-International Noise Conspiracy and Mattias Hellberg's White Moose) who played brilliantly during Marie and Peter's sets and then rocked out with his band Free Fall. You can read a report and check out photos of that great weekend on the Blog here.
So, onto the new albums and Marie Modiano is once again reunited with Martin Hederos and Peter von Poehl on the English language "Ram on a Flag", which follows on perfectly from "Outland". With lyrics and music by Marie except on three tracks which are co-written with Peter von Poehl, the album was recorded at various studios in Sweden and features Marie on vocals and piano, Peter von Poehl on guitar and vocals, Martin Hederos on piano and organ, Christoffer Lundquist on bass and saxophone, Jens Jansson played drums and percussion and Thomas Ebrelius on violin and viola. Just like its predecessor "Outland", the album is a stunningly orchestrated piece that is organic and uncluttered and has a slight tinge of melancholy. Similar to Martin's old Soundtrack of Our Lives colleague Björn Olsson's current solo music, "Ram on a Flag" is extremely evocative of a coastal landscape, you can almost hear the sounds of seagulls and fishing trawlers heading off into a beautiful sunset. The lyrical subjects of "The Islands and The Skerries" and the stunning "Long Journey on a Rock-Pool Train", with it's swelling gospel choir backing vocals, reinforces that coastal atmosphere even further. My favourite track on the album is "New Wings of Mine", which would make a great choice as a single, and features some seriously impressive, almost Jon Entwistle style bass. "Paper Boots" is a great duet with Peter von Poehl, who also shares vocals on "Shutters of Sand" which is an epic track that builds nicely to a crescendo. The album ends with "Twilight Rhapsody", a beatifully simple piano based song that highlights Martin's admiration for Erik Satie and would be appeal to those that appreciated Soundtrack of Our Lives "Tonight". So, "Ram on a Flag" is a really impressive follow up to "Outland" and thoroughly recommended if you enjoy the orchestral side of The Soundtrack of Our Lives, David Sylvian's more accessible work, Kate Bush and other similar emotionally engaging music.
The second album "Espérance Mathématique" is a collection of Marie's poems put to music by Peter von Poehl and was recorded and mixed in Paris. It's a spoken word album with Marie reciting her poems in French over music performed by Ludwig Dahlberg on drums, Nicolas Mathuriau on percussion, with the string section of Zach Miskin and Marielle de Rocca Serra. All other instruments are by Peter von Poehl and the string arrangements are by Martin Hederos. Of course, my understanding of the album, if not my enjoyment, is hampered somewhat by my not speaking French, so I cannot appreciate the poems themselves, but I can certainly enjoy the wonderful delivery from Marie and of course the music itself. What springs to mind first of all are the two great Serge Gainsbourg concept albums "Histoire de Melody Nelson" and it's more musically diverse follow up, "L’Homme à tête de chou". So, an impressive double hit of albums from Marie, with both complimenting each other perfectly.
Marie with Martin Hederos & Peter von Poehl, Paris 2012 - Steve Worrall
Marie Modiano is the daughter of French author Patrick Modiano and originally started out as an actress, studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and appearing in films such as "La Vie Privée". She then began peforming as a singer with a folk-jazz-pop group that included Grégoire Hetzel (piano), Daniel Yvinec (bass), and Arnaud Lechantre (drums). In collaboration with Hetzel as her producer and co-writer, she released her full-length debut album in 2006 on Naïve Records entitled "I'm Not a Rose", which included the single "C'est dur l'Amour". She then collaborated with Peter von Poehl and Martin Hederos on her 2008 follow up, "Outland", some of which was recorded at Svenska Grammofon Studion, the Gothenburg based studio run by Kalle Gustafsson from The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Then in 2012 l’Arbalète/Gallimard published a book of Marie's poems "Espérance Mathématique", on which the new album of the same name is based.
Martin Hederos, Marie Modiano, Ludwig Dahlberg, Paris 2012 by Steve Worrall
The albums "Ram On A Flag" and "Espérance Mathématique" are both released on September 30th by Nest and Sound Records and on the same day, Marie Modiano's first novel "Upsilon Scorpii" is published by l’Arbalète/Gallimard.
French Boutik will support DC Fontana at the New Untouchables Zoo Zoo Club night on Friday July 27th at The Blues Kitchen in Camden. French Boutik are an exquisite pop shop moderniste: exhibiting only the finest melodies, this Parisian ensemble has their musical hands firmly on the pulse of our future while keeping their feet grounded on dance floors of the past. Theirs is a unique vision of modern French Pop where elegance and schizophrenia collide to generate a distinctive female vocal driven outfit of many harmonic faces. Buzzing and popping with powerful guitar and percolating organ, the amusing and troubling sounds perfectly represent French Boutik's timely marriage of English and French pop. The resulting songs here are social portraits peppered with irony, and delivered with a sophistication not unlike The Kinks, Jacques Dutronc or XTC.
The band will release their highly anticipated debut E.P. on Copase Disques featuring 4 fantastique, self-penned songs by this groovy Parisian based French-American outfit. The diverse tunes include a tongue-in-cheek rave-up style ode to alley cats (Les Chats de Gouttière), a darkly humorous satire of a paranoid war supporter (La Vedette), a spirited and joyful defense of public misbehavior (Le Clope), plus one English composition, the histoire vraie of a substance abusing acquaintance (New Bossa). The E.P. features songs composed by raffiné guitarist and vocalist Serge Hoffman, fellow native Parisienne drummer and backing vocalist Zelda Aquil, and lead vocalist (and only non-Frenchie) Gabriela Giacoman, plus Elián Yvars de Montreuil on bass and backing vocals, and in-house sono engineer, Mad Iky, on keyboards. Et voila...the sound of Pop Moderniste, La French Boutik is open for business and ready to offer you its selection of the finest quality pop Française! You can watch a Preview Video Here, enjoy!
...(continued)...Suddenly Martin appears at the side of the stage, makes his way round behind drummer Fredrik Sandsten and takes his place behind the keyboards. It's business as usual, the band relax and off we go. A 5pm start is probably not the ideal time for The Soundtrack of Our Lives full-on Rock & Roll juggernaut of a performance. In fact I was expecting one of their successful acoustic sets, especially as this has been a very civilised weekend held in the beautiful setting of La Gaîté Lyrique, an old theatre now converted into a venue and exhibition hall. But no, although Ebbot
brandishes an acoustic guitar for the first few lines of opening number "Throw It To
The Universe", it's discarded pretty quickly and there followed a blistering set that plundered their extensive back
catalogue. They took the rather laid back Sunday afternoon crowd by the scruff of the neck and shook them out of their slumber. On the new album, "Throw It To The Universe", the title track and tonight's opening number, is on the surface a self referencing number full of bravado,
but there is a twist as the realisation dawns on you that this is actually a
"say hello to say goodbye" message as the band have announced they will
split at the end of this year. It also cleverly incorporates the riff to early single "Firmament Vacation" as it fades out and they repeat the trick tonight seguing into their classic anthem. "Firmament" was their original statement of intent, a line in the lyrics gave the band their name and it fits in well with the theme of "Throw It To The Universe".
Next up is "Where's The Rock?" (ironically retitled "Where's The Hits?" on the set-list), starting off with a flamenco style riff then it's into the wonderful "Still Aging",
from the band's breakthrough 2001 album "Behind The Music". "When We Fall", carries a hint of melancholy and after the show I notice that it has also been re-named on the set-list, this time as "When We Fail". It's a bit disheartening, sure the band are being playful, but when you take in the songs' lyrics, with lines such as, "somebody told me we're like strings in a chord made to carry on, with the same old song", you wonder if they have just got disillusioned with the music scene and just want to finish it all before things get too stale. The melancholic mood is quickly shattered though as the huge riffs from raucous "should-have-been-number-One-single-around-the-world "Big Time", ring out around the venue.
That's followed by the shimmering "Freeride" and then the fan favourite "Galaxy Gramophone" with it's powerful psyched-out landscapes. "Grand Canaria", from debut album "Welcome To The Infant Freebase", proves that Fredrik Sandsten, is without doubt the best drummer in contemporary rock music. I sincerely hope that Fredrik can find a vehicle for his extraordinary drumming skills after Soundtrack call it a day. Sweden's unofficial
national anthem is next, "Instant Repeater '99" then "Speed
Of Light" which is in turn followed by the complex "Second Life Replay" from the double album "Communion". Probably their most well known single, "Sister Surround" ramps up the atmosphere even further and they close the set with the warm glow of "What's Your Story?". The band are called back for an encore and they storm through a superb version of "Mantra Slider".
Then it's all over, and I think sadly that this could be one of the last times I get to see the band in all its thrilling and vibrant live glory. But there are still six months to go, and maybe a chance to catch just one more fix of the greatest live band I have ever seen. Talking to the band after, it seems they are enjoying the recent gigs, guitarist Ian Person told me that the show in Copenhagen the night before was one of their best, that Ebbot reverted back to his wild and crazy Union Carbide Productions days and the gig was packed and steaming hot. Maybe the pressure is off a bit following their decision to call it a day and they can just enjoy each show as it comes. The impending split is sad news of course, but then if they end on a high with a great new album and the door being left slightly ajar to the hope of future collaborations, then that can only be a positive thing. In fact watching Martin over the weekend with his superb display of orchestral and acoustic arrangements, and playing, not only with Soundtrack, but Marie Mondiano and Peter von Poehl too, you are reminded that Soundtrack were always a band full of six extremely talented individuals.
Not only that, but Hederos is now also working with the Jazz super-group Tonbruket and has an impressive body of work with collaborative side-projects such as Hederos & Hellberg, with Mattias Hellberg, and also with Nina Ramsby. Mattias, as we saw the day before, has his new band Free Fall, and has already worked on the soundtrack of the Swedish TV series "Upp Till Kamp". Maybe a parting of the ways was inevitable, if only to free up some time for all this outpouring of individual ideas and talent. There's more - Ian Person has already released an excellent solo album as Diamonds In The Rough, and then there was his stunning soundtrack work on the IFK Gothenburg documentary movie, "Fotbollens Sista Proletärer" (you can read an interview with Ian about this on the Blog here). Kalle has his work as a Producer and running the Svenska Grammofon Studion. Ebbot is also much in demand as a Producer as well as running his own Club Revolution No. 9 in Särö outside Gothenburg.
Ebbot will also release his own solo album "There's Only One Of Us Here" on Kning Disk Records on June 06th. So, although The Soundtrack of Our Lives may end there will be plenty of exciting twists and turns to follow with each band member in the future.
All photos copyright Steve Worrall 2012.
You can see more photos of the gig by "Liking" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page.
This weekend special, curated by singer-songwriter Peter von Poehl, was part of the ÅÄÖ! Swedish Music Festival being held at La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris by "l’Institut Suédois". Although von Poehl was the main star of the show, he was almost over-shadowed by the astounding musical talents of Martin Hederos. Martin, not only carried out his main role as keyboard player with The Soundtrack of Our Lives, but also played with, and arranged the orchestration for both Marie Modiano and Peter von Poehl. In fact, the only break Martin had over the two days, was to watch from the sidelines as his Soundtrack of our Lives colleague, and ex-Nymphet Noodlers bandmate, Mattias Bärjed, took to the stage with his new side-project Free Fall. As Free Fall also include Nymphet Noodlers' bassist Jan Martens, I was half expecting Martin to join them on stage for a run through of "Beautiful Day", but he manages to catch a well deserved break.
There's a song on the new Soundtrack of Our Lives Album called "Where's The Rock", well I think Mattias might have taken it with him to Free Fall. With recent TSOOL albums concentrating more on lush orchestration, maybe Bärjed is using Free Fall to express his undoubted love for Classic and Heavy Rock. As Free Fall take the stage for their first appearance outside Sweden, it is clear that heavy riffs are the order of the day. They take the Bluesy Rock of Led Zeppelin to another level and Vocalist Kim Fransson, certainly has an impressive Robert Plant style of singing. Underpinning the relentless riffing is Jan Martens' wonderfully fluid bass playing, a style I've always admired. He was, after all responsible for one of the best bass riffs ever on "Pole Position" from the Jan Martens Frustration days.
Free Fall - Photo by Steve Worrall
Drummer Ludwig Dahlberg, who has previously played with The (International) Noise Conspiracy, actually runs Martin Hederos close for most appearances over the weekend. He proves his versatility by pounding out the beat with Free Fall, but then also showing a defter touch with the more laid back sounds of Marie Modiano and Peter von Poehl. The band storm through a selection of so far unreleased tracks, such as "Power & Volume" and "World Domination" and they leave to a rousing send-off from the crowd.
Following Free Fall is Peter von Poehl with Martin joining on piano and
keyboards. I was not aware of von Poehl before this weekend but he is
obviously very popular in France as he gathered a large and very
respectful audience. Maybe the use of his song "The Story of The
Impossible" in the 2010 Vanessa Paradis movie "L'arnacoeur" has helped.
Dividing his time between Malmö, Berlin and Paris his music seems to
reflect this nomadic lifestyle and Martin Hederos' lush arrangement of
the assembled string and woodwind ensemble is perfect. Martin also
appears on his new album "Big Issues Printed Small" and that should be well worth checking out. The Saturday night draws to a close with Peter being joined on stage by Kim from Free Fall, Marie Modiano and Ebbot from The Soundtrack of Our Lives for a chaotic but fun run through of Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'". Click the title and you can see a video of this on the Retro Man Blog YouTube page.
Peter von Poehl - Photo by Steve Worrall
It was Martin's work with another ex-Nymphet Noodler, vocalist Mattias Hellberg, that for me first highlighted his talents outside of Rock music. Their Hederos & Hellberg side-project consisted of stunningly effective, minimalist cover versions, stripped down totally to piano and voice with the occasional acoustic guitar and harmonica. The Stooges played in the style of Erik Satie if you like. And on the Sunday afternoon his beautiful piano playing is to the fore as he joins Peter for an acoustic set in the beautiful surroundings of the traditional main room. Peter is a very engaging performer and the audience pack the room, filling every possible space. At the end of the performance, still strumming his guitar Peter suddenly leaves the room and Pied Piper style, leads the audience through to the main venue where both him and Martin take the stage with Marie Modiano.
Peter, Marie, Kim & Ebbot - Photo by Steve Worrall
Whilst Marie Modiano is a French singer-songwriter she qualifies to appear at this Swedish festival due to her collaboration with von Poehl and also it ties in with the fact that her excellent second album "Outland" was recorded at The Soundtrack of Our Lives Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenburg. The ubiquitous Martin Hederos also plays on the album along with Soundtrack of Our Lives bassist Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm. Again, Martin's superb orchestration and arrangements bring the songs to life especially on the numbers from "Outland". Marie's Jazz tinged folk music also has an almost Scandinavian melancholy that mixes well with the French chanson style of some of the songs. There's also a Bossa Nova feel that reminds me of Nouvelle Vague, another band who like Hederos & Hellberg, perform cover versions in a totally unexpected style. The Single "The Islands & The Skerries" is a beautifully swaying number and "Twilight Rhapsody" brings to mind the simple piano and voice arrangement of Hederos & Hellberg. However, the highlights of Marie's set for me are the run of three songs from "Outland". Starting with "Last Early Spring", (click title for video), leading into the wonderful "The Hunter" and followed by the stand-out track, the sublime "Searching For Pearl". It's a superb, enchanting performance, and I am hooked.
Marie Modiano & Martin - by Steve Worrall
Then it's over, and you realize that Martin now has to gear up for The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Amazing, three sets with three different Artists in one afternoon! A quite staggering feat and I was thinking he must be exhausted, surely he needs a rest. But it doesn't seem there will be any time. The lights dim and Ebbot takes the stage alone with an acoustic guitar and starts to strum the beginning of the title track of the new album "Throw It To The Universe". Then one by one the band take the stage and the song bursts into life. But hang on, something is missing, the keyboard riff...Ebbot looks around bemused, as do the rest of the band, they play on, looking at the empty seat by the keyboards, Martin is not to be seen...! (To be continued...)
You can see lots more photos of all the bands and artists over the Weekend by "Liking" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page.
I like to do a bit of Rock 'n' Roll tourism when I'm travelling, visit various music related landmarks, venues, shrines, album cover and photo locations amongst other things. It's all very well immersing yourself in musuems and galleries, I like that too, but every now and then I just want to have a break and see where Sid stabbed Nancy (allegedly...), where Dave Davies stuck a knitting needle through his amp or which ancient Neolithic burial mound Julian Cope used as a recording studio. I'm fascinated, not just by music history, but the geography too, I've gazed at the beautiful ceiling paintings of the Sistine Chapel but I've also seen the graffiti covered walls of CBGB's, no prizes for guessing which had the most profound effect on me...!
Here's some landmarks from a couple of recent trips to Paris, if you have any similar Rock tourist tales then please send them in, I would love to feature your favourites too.
Serge Gainsbourg doll in a store in a Gallery in Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
Probably first on most music fan's itinerary in Paris will be a visit to Père Lachaise Cemetery, to see Jim Morrison's grave. Sadly, the famous bust of Morrison that was once on the grave has gone, long since stolen by some over zealous fan and the grave is pretty unassuming now. Morrison died in a Paris apartment in 1971 but I still think it a bit strange that he was not buried in California as The Doors always seemed so synonymous with the place.
Jim Morrison's grave, Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
Jim Morrison graffiti, Pont Alexandre III, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
Père Lachaise is also where you can find the grave of the Little Sparrow, Edith Piaf. I recently saw the fantastic movie "La Vie En Rose" about her troubled upbringing and sad demise, it's well worth watching, especially for the remarkable portrayal of Piaf by Marion Cotillard. Piaf's life was remarkably bleak, abandoned by her father to live in a brothel run by her mother, she was raised by kindly prostitutes, who nursed her through terrible health problems including temporary blindness at one point. She sang for money on the streets of Pigalle and was spotted by a nightclub owner to perform in front of wealthy clients, a nightclub owner who was later to be murdered by gangsters. Piaf's life continued with a catalogue of unremitting darkness, her only daughter died of meningitis aged only 2 years old and her true love, boxer Marcel Cerdan, died in a plane crash. After being involved in a car crash herself she became addicted to pain-killers and alcohol and died from cancer at just 47. It is a remarkable story, but despite it all she grew to become one of France's most revered musical icons.
Edith Piaf's Grave, Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
My personal quest to visit Serge Gainsbourg's grave in the Montparnasse cemetery was finally realised last month. I'd already visited his house on Rue Verneuil, which you can read a report on here, but was disappointed to find the cemetery closed. I had to go back and made sure I got my timings right this time and it was well worth the trip. Montparnasse is a beautifully kept cemetery, and it is full of graves and shrines of some serious cultural heavyweights such as Guy de Maupassant, Simone de Beauvoir, Baudelaire, Samuel Beckett and Jean-Paul Sartre. I find it quite fitting, if some might say ironic, that Serge is buried amongst such illustrious company. He has, in his own irrerevant and anarchic way, made probably just as much impact on French popular culture.
Serge Gainsbourg's grave, Montparnasse cemetery, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
The grave is covered in interesting bits and pieces, from cigarettes, to drawings and photos and strangely enough, a full cabbage - in tribute to his concept album "L' Homme À Tête de Chou" or The Man with the Cabbage Head.
Serge Gainsbourg's grave, Montparnasse cemetery, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
I've already featured a previous trip to Serge's grafitti strewn house here, but it's always worth another visit to see how the daubings have changed. Still no news on the muted plans to open the place up as a museum.
Serge Gainsbourg's house on Rue de Verneuil, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
Le Grand Rex is a beautiful Art deco venue built in 1931 and located on the Boulevard Poissonnière. Wilco and Noel Gallagher, amongst others, will be playing gigs here in 2012.
Le Grand Rex, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
I'm not a huge fan of classical music, but one composer that really struck me when I was playing in my Junior School's orchestra (before that nasty Punk Rock took hold of me...) was Erik Satie. I just fell for the minimalist piano scores such as the "Gymnopedies" and "Gnossienne" pieces. You can hear his influence on music by Japan, David Sylvian, Gary Numan and Sweden's Hederos & Hellberg. Satie was actually born in the beautiful harbour town of Honfleur in Normandy (where there is now a musuem) but moved to Montmartre in the 1880's.
Erik Satie's House, Montmartre, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
Erik Satie's House, Montmartre, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
Abbesses, the beautiful little square at the foot of Montmartre is the inspiration, title and location of this brilliant video for a classic slice of instrumental Mod/Soul from DC Fontana. Here's a photo of the Abbesses Metro station featured in the film which you can enjoy below...
Montmartre is also the location of a famous photo-shoot of The Smiths by Paul Slattery, Paul travelled with the band in December 1984 for their gig at the Parc des Expositions. I re-traced their steps, taking in the very smart area just below the Sacre Coeur including the Rue Giradon, Rue de L'Abreuvoir and the Place des Quarte Freres Casadesus. These photos and more can be found in Paul's superb book "The Smiths, The Early Years" published by Omnibus Press.
The Smiths in Montmartre, Paris - Photo courtesy of Paul Slattery
Montmartre, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
The Smiths in Montmartre, Paris - Photo courtesy of Paul Slattery
Montmartre, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
The Smiths in Montmartre, Paris - Photo courtesy of Paul Slattery
Montmartre, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
The Smiths in Montmartre, Paris - Photo courtesy of Paul Slattery
Montmartre, Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
If you have any photos of music related landmarks then please send them in and I'll include them on the Blog.
I'm a huge fan of Serge Gainsbourg's music and would rank the "Histoire de Melody Nelson" as one of my favourite concept albums. A trippy, mostly spoken word series of vignettes based on a chance encounter thanks to a car crash in his Rolls Royce, and romance, between Serge and a (worryingly) young lady, breathily voiced on the album by Jane Birkin.
Serge Gainsbourg's House, Rue de Verneuil Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
I had to pay tribute at his house on the Rue de Verneuil in Paris, it's currently looked after by his daughter Charlotte and I heard that there were some ideas to open it up as a museum in the future.
Serge Gainsbourg's House, Rue de Verneuil Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
The exterior is absolutely covered in graffiti of tributes and drawings of varying quality and it's even more striking considering the house is located in the rather posh Saint Germain area of Paris. It's easy to find from the Saint Germain des Pres Metro Station, or a short walk across the river from the Louvre.
Serge Gainsbourg's House, Rue de Verneuil Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
I was really taken by a cartoon likeness of Serge and when I showed the photo to a comic book artist friend of mine he mentioned that it was actually drawn by Joann Sfar, a well known French cartoon artist. In fact Joann directed the superb fantasy biopic Serge Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique) which is well worth watching, particularly for the remarkable performance of Eric Elmosnino as Serge.
Joann Sfar Graffiti on Serge Gainsbourg's House - Photo by Steve Worrall
Serge Gainsbourg's House, Rue de Verneuil Paris - Photo by Steve Worrall
If you have any photos of rock & roll locations then please post them up in the comments, be good to see them. In the meantime here's a bit of Melody Nelson...
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