Although Albatros' discography is full of mellow disco-funk nuggets such as Ha-Ri-Ha or Gran Premio, here comes an especially surprising morodeiconnesque acid disco classic from that italian band involving the million seller Toto Cutugno. Probably one of their most unusual and titilating compositions, alongside the slightly more classic bassline of Santamaria de Portugal...
Singer of L'Italiano, Cutugno is also the kind of man who allowed so many french artists to make a hit by covering one of his melodies that you would barely believe it: from l'Eté indien to Laissez-moi danser, he also composed with Albatros the best thing Ringo probably ever sang, Les oiseaux de Thaïlande (aka Vuelo AZ 504) and its grandiosa synthetic orchestral arrangement.
Mystery remains: as all of these tunes seem to be avalaible only as second hand 7 inches, someone will have to explain to me why the hell is the only "Il meglio" cd fairly avalaible made of awfully sounding cover versions ...
Covering, remixing, recycling: the whole story of indonesian dangdut is inhabited by these elements in a frenetical way. Being in itself an original adaptation and upgrade of traditionnal elements into a pop format, it developped in the 80's an industrial interest in adapting an impressive amount of foreign sources and western billboard hits to local sound and instrumentation.
One of the biggest indo hit, Kopi Dangdut("Coffee Dangdut"), and its 90s version by Campur Dki is actually an adaptation of venezuelian Hugo Blanco's "Moliendo Cafe", a 1961 #1 hit in Argentina. Remaining absolutely unknown in Europe, this version also became a success in Japan, probably due to the work and reputation of producer Makoto Kubota, member of Sandii & Sunsetz, probably responsible of the tr-808 catchy miami-style inserts.
Although the local songs' fate is quite the same (don't expect to ever overview the countless versions of Mabuk Janda) this habit dangdut has to cover international hits sometimes lead to amazing cheerfull high realms of nonsense, like this "Hotel California" version that brings us very far away from the american landscapes and atmosphere, also thanks to an amazing accent.
(check the amazing Journey of dangdut database for similar more or less successfull cover attempts)
Nowadays, the recent trancy dangdut / dugem club production, keeping alive that commercial pop tradition, looks like a steam factory declination of a few beats and loops exactly in the same way as baile funk or reggaeton. More than covers, these tunes are related to a certain piracy remix tradition quite common in a club field: here again, foreign hits get inserted and mashed-up into the local groove, as you will notice in those examples, one latin hit adaptation alongside another tune including a huge sample you'll easily recognize ...
I admit it's a bit of an obvious celebrated deviant horror soundtrack classic, already posted on various other blogs, a score influenced by Goblin in the same way that the movie echoes the Argento's maestria, but I'd like to take the opportunity to mention an amazing serie of rare screenings at the Paris' MCJP, that give us a rare opportunity to overview more than 40 years of ghost-related japanese movies in every details.
Recommended gossips regarding Hausu's production story and its soundtrack maybe be read here.
Also, this lead me to partly track down the traces of one of the co-composers, Asei Kobayashi (who worked alongside Mickie Yoshino and his band Godiego): acting in the movie as the farmer selling watermelons (!), his name may be found in a huge variety of productions, from commercial songs (Suntory whiskey) to 1969 funk bombs like soundtrack for the Toei's Flower Action 009 1, reissued by Solid records.
In the world of anime, he composed for Mahou Tsukai Sally (known in France as Mini-fée), being especially credited for the Mahou no mambo tune, sang by Yoko Maekawa: a fantastic ending theme that was kindly brought to my attention by the encyclopedical Kishino Yuichi, before I include it in a recent podcast here.
I finally also found Kobayashi credited for the composition of that Pin Pon Pan Pajama Man 7", related to a 50s and early 60s Fuji TV children tv program introducing the lovely wild character Deberon that makes the cover artwork so instantly compelling.
Behind the obscure "Bill Wichita orchestra", you will find producer Maurice Tézé (aso responsible for the lyrics of Henri Salvador's Juanita Banana) and Gérard Gustin, both active in the 60s, also especially for people like Sascha Distel.
A highly controversial track, layering its caricatural cannibal lyrics on an exotica fuzzy instrumental, that gives us the opportunity to reopen an uncomfortable specific dark folder in the library of french chanson production. Through the years, indeed, the country developped a collection of silly visions towards what was at the time the colonial world and its inhabitants: a wide range of songs, sometimes simply based on a bunch of exotic clichés, but also sometimes more openly offensive. You know, "oh, the funny black people ..."
Although link may be obvious with the blackface practice, this tune also has to do with a countless amount of typically french gauloiseries that could be grouped under the Michel Leeb banneer. It includes, in no particular order: open odes to sex tourism, pathetic couscous song attempts (including Gotainer's advertisement), a unique example of 8bit racism, that was shamelessly broadcasted on the N°1 tv channel during the late 80s (accent imitation attempt + mix of djellabas and guys cleaning dustbins + of course the scooter in the story was stolen). Oh, and obviously him, our most unbearable uninhibited specimen.
On another level, there is also a controversy going on regarding the children's song Mamadou avait mal aux dents, in this case typically representative of an ambiguity that nobody will ever probably be able to solve: basically, according to lyrics, Mamadou has bad teeth, has lice, has no shoes and is fat. What a vision. But people who give him advice are actually his parents. Not Michel Leeb. Mamadou transforms the adult's wise advices into surrealistic things (toothpaste on bread, marmelade on his shoes). He might be seen as nuts yet creative in the rebellious way that makes children love him. Reports have been made that some children named Mamadou also love this song. Others have been persecuted. Please, comment.
You might also check that commercial production, trying with full force to transform a highly criticized advertisement character into a positive heroïc figure (according to the lyrics), in a desperate attempt to hide the company's original mistake.
Also, let's recommend a detailed article related to the release and distribution of the compilation "le beau temps des colonies", angry with reasons, but also concluding that the topic might be a good opportunity to "launch a socio-cultural work in anthropology applied to the imperial gesture".
Due to yearly circumstances, a slightly delayed yet accurate reblogged tune by this cutely discreet british band, whose hits like Everybody's got to learn something or covers by Zucchero (!) maybe hide other kind of oddities and a general taste that deserves attention (for more, check HERE). Penetrating the charts didn't preserve the band from splitting, though, after their third album. Quite a schizophrenic team who didn't commit only one, but at least a second whammish Xmas song, None of them entered their best of, reissued recently. WHY ???
Successful both as a composer and music producer, Christian Bruhn did not only score the music for films he's often known for in his long career, but also wrote 2000 nearly songs for stars such as Johnny Mathis, Roy Black, Freddy Quinn, Peter Alexander, Katja Ebstein and french singer like Mireille Mathieu, France gall etc...
In the 70 and 80, he worked primarily on televisin series for which he created various distinctive soundtracks: remember his work on the series "Wickie"(72), "Capitain Future"(74), "Sinbad"(76), "The Red Zora and his gang"(79), "Timm Thaler"(79), "Silas life"(81), "Jack Holborn"(85) or "The door Wichert next"(86). Through these works was developped a good mix of synthetic German disco and funky contemporary music.
"My Dear Fans, Now that we are back in contact, As a gift from me to you, please check below for 3 free music downloads from my new album, "Lost Opera... Found," which will be released in 2010. Kimera, with love"
Know it and spread the word: the four-octave range grandiosa diva is generously back in full force. Since she decided to retire from the public lights of show business after the (luckily solved) kidnapping affair of her daughter Melodie in 1987, she never lost her love for music, though. And if it sounds more or less quite the same, it also sounds definitely as good as it used to.
The man behind the sound of the original 1984 million-selling album was John Fiddy, producer and major figure of library music with his Sonoton catalogue.
Blamed and almost criminalized at the time by most of classical music lovers, although it was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, the product of his laboratory may now appear in many ways as stunning as the woman's make-up creations and sense of costume or scenography: epic, colourfull, extatic. As an eighties upgrade of Walter Murphy's disco king work, it is of course also close to the fields of Rondo Venezziano (although Gian Piero Reverberi was composing and not covering). From whom, in case you didn't notice, Daft Punk copied as usual everything.
On these crazily hot summer days, it sounded logical to highlight another pleasant fresh nugget from the land of commercial music dedicated to Pichon Kun, very popular mascot of Daikin, a company specialised in air conditioning systems.
Please trust that the lack of informations on composer Yumiko Ito, or arranger Yoshihiro Shimoda, is not the result of any summer lazyness... There are basically no infos avalaible online on the team who produced this 2003 Utata Uta EP. I might get another Pastis, though...
In the land of commercial music, Hideki Naganuma is mainly known as a videogame composer who scored some tunes on the Jet-Set Radio soundtrack (a Sega Dreamcast now cult game that didn't reach commercial success in its time despite great reviews).
Although this corporate fellow was already familiar with a kind of acid-rockish big beat & baggy-techno sound, his work the Sonic Rush DS soundtrack suddenly appeared highly boosted, pleasantly tough, catchy and frenetic, full of ghetto vocals cut-ups, edgy riffs and overvitamined beats. A specific taste was added by the fact that it was nicely crushed through the DS nasty sound engine, resulting in a no-bass / full midrange abrasive harshness.
OST was released on cd in Japan under the name Original Groove Rush. don't wanna be blacklisted at the japanese border by uploading that kind of things... But maybe could you discretly have quick look:
Ok the space Fantasy video has already turned up on almost every asian pop related possible blog, but a holy internaut finally uploaded the Ponchak killer material that I was expecting to find since years, with no hope except maybe taking a flight to Korea, which Cartilage Consortium's economy still sadly can't afford so far.
The encyclopedia of pon-chak mp3 appears also here courtesy of Exp Etc, where you could have a look for more.
First time I heard about Ponchak was actually more than 15 years ago, scrutating a Tokyo guide of the Popo Color zine, mentionning Takeshi Nemoto's collection of this obscure korean music tapes intended mainly for truck drivers, kind of mad obsessive cheap techno megamixes built on a few repetitive synth patterns, sometimes all along the 30 minutes of a tape side.
Initially specialized into wedding music, with a very popular audience, E pak sa is historically seen as the king of the genre, who managed to become one of these shooting superstars in Japan circa 1996, for a time that belongs to the rules of japanese fashion turnover. At that time, Sony had the strange idea to organise a collaboration with other crazy popular figure Maywa Denki, which ended up in an improbable EP released in 1997.
Although the last years may have sometimes looked like a low tide after his japan conquest, the wind is now blowing again on european and us youtube users accounts: it's more than time for spontaneity, excentricity, and honesty at their highest level to strike back into the charts, and E Pak Sa to get the new crown he deserves.
He 's been a hot ticket in the sixties, and launched the career of his wife as the Beatnik Queen Beauty 1966. Then, inspired by Roswell affair or ELO, he 's been cooking a commercial music in aSpace-Disco Supermarket style.
He's not the best of all, but he 's worth rediscovering, as his music was quite innovating at this time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- " L'été s'ra chaud l'été s'ra chaud, Dans les t-shirts dans les maillots, L'été s'ra chaud l'été s'ra chaud, D'la Côte d'Azur à Saint-Malo, L'été s'ra chaud L'été s'ra chooooooooooooooo "
"Je suis une allumette ! Allume ! Je suis une allumette ! Je brûle ! Je suis une allumette ! Allume ! Je suis une allumette ! Rien qu'une allumette ! "
He also perpetrated scores for french sci-fi tv shows, with his friend Guy Mattéoni . His mixture of supermarcket sound gimmicks, spanish castanets and killer disco bass was a shock for the boy i was, sitting in front my tv.
2 records relevant of the now-sound of 1984 France !
--- "SMURFIN' KIDS" = promotional 12" for K-WAY raincoats, produced by PUBLICIS. Interesting commercial attempt to surf - smurf ! - on the 1984 cooool. Though 2 details spoil the cool: the over-cool lyrics, and the mistake on "smurf": "smurf" exists only in France & Germany - it's actually "popping" ! READ THAT
Smurfin kids
Smurfin kids -instrumental
--- "LE CLUB - ATTENTAT À LA COULEUR" = very schön fluo cover, with discreet evocations of graffiti culture ! LE CLUB was an early 80's band which made 3 12". Again here, the lyrics want so much to play on a cool attitude that it spoils the intention: http://www.bide-et-musique.com/song/4670.html French people will note Alex Bauer on guitar and Manu Katché on drums - and Nelly Co-Quat singing: she was one of the dancers in the film "Marche à l'ombre".
These 2 records are related by their use of nearly the same chords & beat.
