As part of the ‘Vrije Radicalen’ you can listen to ‘Under the Lemontree #7; A new episode of an adventurous series of pioneering programmes in which the focus is on the conceptions ‘sphere & flow’. Under the Lemontree takes listeners on a musical journey. Tonight we will offer you a Tour de France-special within the concept of this programme. The start is in tropical Germany. Along the way we will dive into French history and will arrive on the right through related and non-related song titles. Finally we will tour via several auditive stages among which the feared mountain stage unto final destination Paris. This broadcast is in the spirit of the Tour almost fully dedicated to music from France. But then again there is a German band you just cannot get around.
It doesn’t matter in which language you search for music with or of the Tour, you will always end up with Kraftwerk. This is just because of their passion for cycling and their record (2003), a tribute to the 100rd ‘Tour de France (only the record had some delay….). This is why we will give the starting shot in a German setting. Mr. Coconut is no less a person than Uwe Schmidt, composer, musician and producer of mostly electronic music, better known as Atom (- Heart). The merengue version of Kraftwerk’s Tour de France is a very danceable.
In 1903 at the age of 26 Géo Lefèvre was the organiser of the first Tour de France. He recapitulated what was going on. The train played an important part.…
We will cycle with Bourvil; actually André Raimbourg, not just a singer but also actor and comedian. You can hear this in his version of ‘A Bicyclette’. It is like you keep sliding of his bike. Raimbourg worked with French film celebrities like Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Louis de Funès.
Each Tour had its own composition. This started early on in history. Frédo Gardoni was singer and accordion player. He accompanied Maurice Chevalier amongst others. One of his highlights was the official Tour song in 1932. Gardoni played in several films during the thirties.
‘De weg der tijden..’ is a free translation of the song of the Les Ogres de Barback which was founded in 1994; two men, two women, all of them multi instrumentalists and brothers and sisters! Their lyrics are about life in France, politics, love… They produced their first record ‘Rue de Temps’ themselves.
Guitar player Django Reinhardt made countless records, sometimes with violin player Stephane Grappelli. France has always been popular with American jazz musicians. Most of them stayed in Paris and the ideal was to record tracks with some guests. The ‘All Star Sessions’ were recorded between 1935 and 1939 with famous stars like: Barney Bigard, Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins and Rex Stewart. On ‘Out of Nowhere’ you will hear tenor saxophone player Coleman Hawkins.
Robert Crumb (mandolin and banjo) is crazy about old music. That is why he is involved with Les Primitifs du Futur. This band focuses on accordion and ‘Musette’; a traditional French music and dance style.
The bike of Yves Montand is beautiful. Montand, actually an Italian named Ivo Livi, ended up in France after his parent needed to flee Mussolini. He worked as nightclub singer and that is where he adopted his alias. Montand played in countless films. The music for ‘La Bicyclette’ is by Francis Lai; another French celebrity.
What happens in a brothel can be heard on the CD ‘Au Bordel’, with the cheeky subtitle: ‘Souvenirs de Paris’. Amongst the musicians we will find outsiders Ernst Reijsiger and Lol Coxhill. ‘Assez’ means ‘basta, enough’. Deliciously slow played and sung.
Paroles… Paroles is originally an Italian duet, sung by Mina and Alberto Lupo. The French version by Dalida and Alain Delon might be even better known. The song was not only a hit in France but also in Japan and Canada. Later on Delon sung it again with Céline Dion (1996), during a New Years’ programme… All those words…
Michel Fugain studied medicine at first, became assistant of film director Robert, got to know Michal Sardou and started to write songs with him which were performed by Dalida amongst others. His big band, Le Big Bazar, existed of twenty-six people, eleven musicians and fifteen dancers. The beautiful ‘Une belle histoire’ was also sung by Ann Christy and in our country sung by famous Dutch singers like Paul de Leeuw and Gerard Cox. But the sphere of the original is inimitable.
‘Touch’ is the name of the musical movement from France which engaged itself primarily with electronic and danceable music. One of the most popular and well-known bands from this movement is Télépopmusik. The number ‘Breathe’ with the arty, silent video is their most famous work. Often used as background music on TV or commercials (for example a famous car brand). The number was nominated for a Grammy Award.
And again Kraftwerk. This time to climb mountains. The track ‘la Forme’ was remixed by the now popular again band Hot Chip in 2007.. The number can be found on one of the few Kraftwerk singles, together with ‘Aerodynamik’. Funny thing is that this special single was doing well in Spain: number 2!
Sacha Distel is especially famous as a singer. He had hits with arrangements including ‘Raindrops Keeps Falling on Your Head’. But he was also an excellent jazz guitarist. Marina was written by him and played for Roger Vadim’s film ‘Les 7 pechès capiteux’. The famous French Pierre Michelot accompanied him with drummer Kenny Clarke and two lesser known musicians: Bernard Huin (trumpet) and Raymond Le Sénéchal (organ).
Arrival in Paris with Jo Privat and Didier Roussin. Privat (accordion) often played with Django Reinhardt. He was influenced by the culture of the ‘tziganes’, jazz and bagpipes. The last one isn’t surprising since French folk music has a lot of bagpipes. Roussain was his regular guitarist. Both men often expressed forms of the ‘Musette’. For example Privat played for years in the ‘Balajo’; a Musette club in Paris.
01. Senor Coconut Y Su Conjunto “Tour de France [merengue]” (Hütter/Schneider/Bartos/Schmidt)
cd: El Baile Aleman – New State NSER 9001.
02. Géo Lefèvre – organisateur de première Tour de France
edit
cd: L’Album Officiel – INA 590 666-2.
03. Bourvil “A Bicyclette” (Alquiert/Lorin)
cd: Le Our de France en Chansons – Le Compilation Officielle – LM Music 296.A116.030.
04. Géo Lefèvre ‘interview’ (Lefèvre)
cd : Le Tour de France – L’Album Officiel – INA 590 666-2.
05. Frédo Gardoni “Le Champions de la Route – Marche Officielle du Tour de France 1938” (Cazalis/Gardoni/Jardin)
cd: Le Tour de France en Chansons – Le Compilation Officielle – LM Music 296.A116.030.
06. Les Ogres de Barback “Rue de Temps” (Les Ogres de Barback)
cd: France – World Music Network RGNET 1111.
07. Django Reinhardt “Out of Nowhere” (Green/Heyman)
cd: Django-All Star Sessions – Capitol Jazz 31577.
08. Les Primitifs du Futur “Désaccord Manouche ” (Cravic/Giroud)
cd: World Musette – Sketch Studio SKE 333012.
09. Yves Montand “La Bicyclette” (Montand)
cd: L’Ame des Poetès – EMI 8372832.
10. Various “Assez” (Wal-berg/Stern/Tranchant)
cd: Au Bordel – Souvenirs de Paris – Winter & Winter 910 026-2.
11. Dalida & Alain Delon “Paroles… paroles” (Ferrio/Chiosso/Del Re)
cd: Les Meilleurs 69 – Nikkelen Nelis 0600753322451.
12. Michel Fugain & le Big Bazar “Une Belle Histoire” (P. Dalanoë/M/ Fugain)
cd: Fais Comme l’Oiseau – SMM 501476 2.
13. Telépopmusik “Breathe (radio edit)” (Dumont/Haeri/McCluskey)
promo cd-single – Chrysalis – CDCHSDJ 5133.
14. Kraftwerk/Hot Chip “La Forme – King of the Mountains Mix by Hot Chip” (Hütter/Schmidt)
cd-single: Aerodynamik/La Forme-remixes – EMI 5099950709823.
15. Sacha Distel “Marina” (Sacha Distel)
cd: Jazz Guitarist – Gitanes 980 692-0.
16. Jo Privat & Didier Roussin “Paris Musette” (Privat/Roussin)
cd: France – World Music Network RGNET 1111.
