Homage to M. Gainsbourg: Michael Stipe- L'Hotel Particulier (2006) Serge Gainsbourg - L'Hotel Particulier (1971)

Francis Lai - Un homme et une femme(1966)

I don't drink alcohol. But I still enjoy going into licenced premises in the morning. That smell, the sense of possibility (which, by lunchtime, has already dissolved in amber- another gone day). So, I'm sitting in The Parrot, cradling a diet Pepsi, thinking about going outside for another fag (what luxury that was, we took for granted- indoor smoking! Watch V for Vendetta - in the fascist  dystopia of the future as imagined in 2005 they were still allowed to smoke in the pub!) Anyway, I'm  thinking along these tangential lines when my friend Jim swings in on his crutches, the urgent and muscular leaning out of keeping with the little shuffle of his feet. And just behind him is the man I've come to meet...
The man I will refer to as Kartoshka is about fifty. He has a  worn and tired face, weathered and pock marked. His hair is cut in an old fashioned way and he is wearing a sports jacket and old fashioned high waisted trousers and an open necked shirt. He could be a lecturer or a senior social worker. But close up he's more deadbeat. Cuffs frayed, shirt slightly soiled.
I'm surprised when he orders a coffee and he notices- 'I haven't drunk for years now... but I chain smoke'.  The accent ? what accent, it's not foreign at all. It's a neutral M4 corridor accent.
'Mr Kartoshka I presume' I say as we shake hands.
He smiles...he tells me his real name but asks that I don't disclose it.
He won't let me take his picture.
We spoke about music (Bossa Nova) and movies (Nouvelle Vague)  and football (Cruyff, Riquelme, Blokhin and Messi - though maddeningly he says that his favourite player was Sacha Prokopenko). And, of course, about blogs.In the past I've been involved in fanzines, music, football. Some poetry too. I was late coming into the blogging thing. About 2009... I hadn't been doing much on the creative side, and one day I realised that it was an ideal medium for me to just get back into the habit of rattling off a few ideas...
Almost 2 years now since he jacked in the blogging. No plans to start again, moved onto other things, he's writing a play about Nilton Santos, it's coming on slowly. He's got problems with his joints...he's cut down on collecting (records, books, magazines...)
This, he said, was his most popular post : http://kartoshka167.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Francis%20Lai

Serge Gainsbourg- Initials SG (2002)

Le Poinçonneur des Lilas (1958)
Intoxicated Man (1962)
La Javanaise (1963)
Chez Les Yé-Yé (1963)
Couleur Café (1964)
Qui Est In Qui Est Out (1966)
Docteur Jekyll et Monsieur Hyde (1966)
Bonnie and Clyde with Brigitte Bardot (1968)
Ford Mustang (1968)
Initials B.B. (1968)
Requiem Pour Un Con (1968)
Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus with Jane Birkin (1969)
 L'Anamour (1969)
69 Année Érotique with Jane Birkin (1969)
Sous le Soleil Exactement (1969)
Ballade de Melody Nelson (1971)
La Décadanse with Jane Birkin (1971)
Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M'En Vais (1975)
L'Homme À Tête de Chou (1976)
Marilou Sous La Neige (1976)
Sea Sex and Sun (1978)
Aux Armes et Cartera (1979)
Dieu Fumeur de Havanes with Catherine Deneuve (1980)

 Ugliness is in a way superior to beauty because it lasts...Gainsbourg

                                                                     

 http://d01.megashares.com/dl/ituglOX/Serge Gainsbourg- Initials SG.part1.rar
 http://d01.megashares.com/dl/wcvAsr8/Serge Gainsbourg- Initials SG.part2.rar

Serge Gainsbourg- Histoire De Melody Nelson (1971)

The late, lamented Joao Kartoshka  had this up on his excellent blog, but the link is dead now (does anyone know what happened to Joao himself?). 
Anyway, here's what JK wrote:
Serge Gainsbourg (1928 –1991)- Histoire de Melody Nelson(1971) . When driving his Rolls Royce , a middle aged man knocks a 15 year old girl off her bicycle. Naturally, in the world of Gainsbourg, this leads to seduction and romance.

Gainsbourg's 25 year old wife Jane Birkin provided the vocals for Melody, and is also the cover star.

Musical director was Jean - Claude Vannier.

Now acknowledged as Gainsbourg's most influential work, the LP was not a commercial success.

Serge Gainsbourg- Anna (1967)

The soundtrack LP of a 1967 made for TV musical comedy. Gainsbourg maintains his lifelong tradition of associating with beautiful starlets- this time the multi talented Anna Karina.

La Cave Saravah Vol. 1-Une Compilation D'Oeuvres Rares Et Inedites (1966 - 1980)

1. Intro -Pierre Barouh à Aubignan
2. La nuit de mon amour -Pierre Barouh avec Baden Powell, Milton Banana & Oscar Castro Neves
3. La maison du café -Brigitte Fontaine & Areski
4. Ode to maffen -Chic Streetman
5. Ntçe ngani -Pierre Akendengue
6. Le moral nécessaire -Alfred Panou & l'Art ensemble of Chicago
7. For all we know -Marva Broome & l'Art ensemble of Chicago
8. Colopin bombin - Cohelmec ensemble
9. Le tango -Jacques Higelin
10. Ooh la la -Champion Jack Dupree
11. Berimbau - Trio Camara
12. Pause café -Jean-Charles Capon & Pierre Favre
13. Le temps -Michel Roques
14. 80 A.B. -Areski
15. Musique pour publicité - Olivier Bloch Lainé
16. Killy -Nicole Croisille
17. E.D.F. power -Electronic Distorsions of France
18. Piège -Jean-Philippe Goude & Olivier Collé
19. Un homme qui me plaît -Francis Lai
20. Sur un banc, sous la pluie - Dominique Barouh & David McNeil
21. Fille du soleil -Francis Lai
22. Solstice -Catharsis
23. Cyclothimie -Daniel Vallancien & Philippe Maté
24. Outro -Pierre Barouh au Flipper du Bistro le Saint-Jean

In 1966 Pierre Barouh collaborated (as lyricist) with Francis Lai on the score for the Palme d'Or winning movie Un Homme Et Une Femme. He also starred in the movie alongside Anouk Aimée, who he later married. Barouh was a world music enthusiast who had made a film about Bossa Nova with Baden Powell. He bought a mill in the Vendée where he established a recording studio and the the Saravah record label. Sarvah was all about eclecticism and released work by African, folk, blues, and French pop acts. This is a compilation of rarities from 1966-1980.

Pierre Barouh

Here's a link to the soundtrack of Un Homme Et Une Femme (спасибо Joao K).

Les Negresses Vertes- Mlah (1989)

J'ai tendu des cordes de clocher à clocher ; des guirlandes de fenêtre à fenêtre ; des chaînes d'or d'étoile à étoile, et je danse...
I have stretched ropes from steeple to steeple; garlands from window to window; golden chains from star to star, and I dance...
Jean-Arthur Rimbaud.
Can anybody tell me what, if anything Mlah means? For the best part of 20 years I thought it was Milah... The stylistic influences on this record are innumerable, resulting in a fantastically energetic and uplifting hybrid of authentic populist styles . I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was a case of learn as you go, with the group, some of whom were trainee circus performers, being relative novices on their instruments.
Undoubtedly one of the albums of the eighties.
There is a good account of this most interesting band here.
There's going to be a heatwave this summer, and this is the perfect soundtrack for those days when the mercury is touching 37 c.

Stinky Toys-(1977) aka Plastic Faces (released 1990)

Stinky Toys had the distinction of playing on the second night of the 100 Club Punk Festival (September 21st 1976).
Formed in Rennes in 1976 the group was one of the continent’s first punk bands. At a time when major labels were keen to add so called new wave acts to their rosters, Stinky Toys signed to Polydor , but Mixed reviews for their single Boozy Creed in 1977 led to the cancellation of their eponymous album’s release outside France.
The record was eventually released internationally in 1990 as Plastic Faces, and met with critical disdain.

Elli Medeiros- vocals
Denis Quilliard, (alias Jacno, aka Jan Colrth) - guitar
Bruno Carone - guitar
Albin Dériat -bass
Hervé Zénouda –drums