7/30/2015

Sublime De Luxe - Donne-Moi Ton Corps Juste Pour Le Sport - Flamophone ‎781.807 - 1979

Claude Puterflam was the Le Système Crapoutchik singer and founder of the Flamophone label as well as Studio Gang. Jean Schultheis was a drummer, keyboardist and songwriter on everything from jazz to psychedelic rock, and even made a Tele Music library record. Sublime Deluxe was their first collaboration. Chose Molle, or Soft Thing, is a pretty deadly version of Wild Thing. But, the real winner here is the B side. Donne-Moi Ton Corps Juste Pour Le Sport, roughly translated as Give Me Your Body Just For Sport, has a gross title, but is one of the best Plastic Bertrand rip-offs.


7/28/2015

Too Much - Silex Pistols - Pathé 2C 008 14575 - 1978

It appears that a repeat of Plastic Bertrand's success was attempted here, as two people who worked on An 1 were hired to make this record. Two thirds of the Belgian latin-disco trio 'Two Man Sound' Yves Lacomblez and Sylvain Vanholme have writing and production credits on this record. The third member of 'Two Man Sound,' Lou Deprijck, who is allegedly responsible for the vocals on Ca Plane Pour Moi due to an absent Plastic Bertrand wasn't brought in for this record I assume because the label wanted to try a female vocalist angle. Cathy and Cherry Pickels, pictured on the sleeve, wrote the lyrics and sang on this record. Apparently the nickname 'Cathy Too Much' was where the band name came from.

A few lines of Silex Pistols, when poorly translated, say something along the lines of:

"Crazy rock'n'roll girls,
We're the cops to Dan Mac Roll"

I'm not sure what this Dan Mac Roll reference means exactly, but Dan Mac Roll is the singer credited as Dan Dee on one of the (if not thee) first Belgian punk records, Chainsaw's 'See Saw.' Also, Lacomblez mentions that the name 'Athanase' is spoken in the lyrics because he was a real punk and he offered them food if they'd put his name in the song.



7/27/2015

Andy Cameron - I Want To Be A Punk Rocker - Klub Records 03 - 1978

Andy Cameron had a football hooligan comedy act and recorded Ally's Tartan Army because Scotland qualified for the world cup. I assume he recorded I Want To Be A Punk Rocker because he was not a fan, as some of the lyrics are:

"I want to be a punk when their music is forgotten
I'll still be there to strangle Johnny Rotten"



Tjot Idi & De Stipkes ‎- Ik Wil Punk - CBS 5848 - 1977



I wonder if any kids bought this and made it all the way home before looking at the back cover. Because if that didn't trigger severe buyer's remorse, then playing the record certainly would have.










De Kuffers - Ik Wil Punk! - Safety Pin ELF 65.129 - 1977

The ELF catalog number would suggest this was actually an Elf Provinciën release, but there are other instances of this Safety Pin label logo with completely different catalog numbers and on different labels, all of which seem to be under the Dureco or Dutch Record Company umbrella.

Ik Wil Punk (I Want Punk) ain't so bad, considering the other output by the writer/producer Adrianus Klaris.



7/23/2015

Los Juveniles - Punk Mi Kier Punk - GM 001 - 1978

The band name and the graphics seem promising, but the outfits do a better job preparing you for what the record sounds like.


Cherry Vanilla - The Punk - RCA PB 5053 - 1977

Cherry Vanilla was brought from the US to the UK by The Police's manager, had her former US band members replaced by Sting and Stewart Copeland of The Police, and was supported on tour by the Police.


The Police - Fall Out / Nothing Achieving - Illegal Records IL 001 - 1977

"This was one of the first songs Stewart played me. What they [the songs] lacked in sophistication they made up for in energy. I just went along with them and sang them as hard as I could. No, it wasn't false punk. I mean what's a real punk? Our first record was entirely a tribute to Stewart's energy and focus. The band wouldn't have happened without him."
—Sting, 1993

"It sold purely on the strength of the cover, because of the fashion at the time. Punk was in and it was one of the first punk records – and there weren't very many to choose from. The average punk had every punk record that was available and when the next one came out which was the Police record, he bought that, too. But still I think it was a good record, so it did more than the average punk single."
—Stewart Copeland, 1979

Rick Chauvin & Les Symboles - Bande D' Abrutis - Trema 410 145 - 1980

 In 1980, Yan Sheridan took on the Rick Chauvin alias to sing 'Bande D'Abrutis' or 'Band of Morons.' The song borrows a part from Michel Sardou's 'J'Habite En France' and appears to be complaining that the French are dumb for taking holidays out of country.





Gerard Saban - Super Cool Et Un Peu Punk - Philips 6172 246 - 1979

This single is from Gerard Saban's 'Cinemas' LP, on which he looks very similar to Bob 'The-Joy-Of-Painting' Ross. Translated as 'Super Cool And A Little Punk' this song completely overestimates both how cool and how punk it is. He also does a song called 'Une Fille Genre New-Wave' or 'A New-Wave Kind Of Girl."
 

7/17/2015

Anatole Frantz - Scandale - Sonopresse 2 S 008-16614 - 1978

This record gives credit to Tony Barthele, who seems to have been a library music composer for Patchwork. This was also an alias for Daniel Faure, credited on some Montparnasse library music as well as some neo-classical and some disco soundtracks. Both songs are great, Scandale is the tougher of the two, and the chorus melody of 'Le Monde Est Fou' (The World is Crazy) reminds me of Ca Plane Pour Moi slightly.


King Louis And The Memphis Maffia - The Fuzz On My Bag - Monopole S.1813 - 1978

Someone at Monopole (correctly) thought it would be a good idea to take the music tracks from Ex-Hole's 'Kick Of Stone,' rearrange and remix them slightly, then lay down some snotty vocals about running from the police, a.k.a "cruising 'round the city with the fuzz on my bag" (I assume he meant 'back,' just like I assume they didn't mean to misspell 'mafia' in the name.) The finishing touch was simply to set a synthesizer on 'annoying' and make a police siren. The B-side is the same song sans vocals.

For the sake of comparison, and because it's a great song, Ex-Hole 'Kick Of Stone.'

De Bumpers ‎- Wini Wini Punk - Telstar 2609 - 1977

The best thing about this record is definitely the sleeve. The song starts out with some gang vocals say something to do with punk, then quickly disappoints, turning into an oom-pah tuba, Hawaiian slide guitar song sung like it was meant for a singalong TV show with the little ball bouncing from word to word. It's actually a cover of Wini Wini Wana Wana, a Yves Roche penned Hawaii novelty song. It appears that the Bumpers performed this song on television and it looks like their interpretation of a punk look was to wear makeup and have messy hair.

Noregs Punklag ‎– Du Er Eit Svin! - Self Released PS.EN - 1977

Apparently the first punk record in Norway was by a parody group. Comedy music trio Prima Vera called themselves Punk Council and did a 'God Save The Queen' cover, loosely translated into 'You Are A Bastard,' on one side and on the other side a cover of the Who's 'I'm a Boy' called something like 'I Just Sit Here Bored.' Prima Vera included both songs on their RCA LP of the same year.


Rubberen Robbie ‎– Geef Mij Maar Drank - CNR 141.465 - 1978

Four years after Catapult's "Let Your Hair Hang Down," the group called it quits. Its members went on to make 50 or so more records of various parody music flavors under a handful of different names. The first was as Rubberen Robbie whose first single translates as Give Me A Drink and discusses the ups and downs of drunkenness via a reasonable facsimile of Ca Plane Pour Moi.



David Peel & Death ‎– King Of Punk - Orange Records Ltd. ‎– ORA-700 - 1978

Hippy makes punk record. Decades later makes web page, declares list of favorites.

Favorite Band or Musician: David Peel & The Lower East Side
Favorite TV show: The Simpsons
Favorite movie: West Side Story
Favorite book: 1984 -- George Orwell
Favorite sports team: Bonghitters
Favorite food: Ice Cream




Charlotte Julian ‎– Bazooka Boum Boum (La Reine Des Punks) - Sonopresse ‎– 2S 008-16605 - 1978

Not satisfied with a mere safety pin earring, Charlotte Julian also had to be pictured with them in her hair. Who are we to judge? The song title declares her the queen of punks. It seems that the lyrics tell a rags to rhinestones story of a poor girl being transformed into a punk rock singer by a rich impresario. She's instructed to be nasty and scream when she sings, and she's dressed up in pretty safety pins, but then the story takes a turn:

I sang in the capitals,
And I made all casinos
With my rhinestone with my feathers
Charleroi in Pamplona.
Everywhere crowds, frantic.
But when I asked for my money,
The impresario said, Pardonk?
We do not pay the queen of "ponks."

7/14/2015

De Strangers - Punk - Omega International ‎18.197 - 1978

Another parody of Ca Plane Pour Moi. Some choice lyrics translated poorly into English:

Then you're a punk
you'll punk
then you scream "punk punk punk punk punk"
then you want punk
oe oe oe oe
then you punk punk


Ask you guys not out
punks are really crazy
and why now so vulgar
so greasy and tacky?
it is clear - that is obvious
It is these men but to do
oe oe oe oe to the punks moolah

Pros:
- the number of times the word "punk" is used in the song
- the props they used on picture day

Cons:
- not enough wacky sound effects

Plastichke - Ca Gaze Pour Moi - Omega International ‎36.512 X - 1978

A parody on unemployment to the tune of, and with some original musicians who recorded Ca Plane Pour Moi. The lyrics seem to be about the unemployed sleeping and drinking away their benefit cheques. One line translates as "I am the king of slackers." Apparently the song caused a bit of controversy, as the Brussels unemployment association said it gave them a bad image.

Grand Jojo - S.O.S - Vogue ‎VB.540 - 1978

Francis Deprijck who composed and recorded Ça Plane Pour Moi basically recycled that hit to write this, but this time with the help of Grand Jojo, a 42 year-old comedic sing-along artist. A poor translation of the first verse is pretty interesting though:





Someone stole my little bitch
She was kidnapped
I alerted the cops, the FBI, the KGB
I warned the Pope, the Vatican and the Consul
Who replied: "Leave us alone, it makes bubbles!"


Ome Jan En Punkgaaf - Het Punklied - Philips 6012 758 - 1977

Apparently, this translates from Dutch into "Uncle Jan and Cool Punk - Punk Song" and even better, the song was written by Pierre Kartner, a.k.a Father Abraham of so many Smurfs records. I don't understand the lyrics, and I really wanna know what's getting bleeped. This is about as punk as it looks.
 

Bobby Ranger - Punke Punke - Monopole S.654 - 1978



After a string of what look like mostly vocal pop singles under the Bobby Ranger moniker,  a 32 year-old Aloïs Verhoeven wrote and recorded this Flemish parody for Monopole. The music's not bad, but the singing is about as punk as Bobby's turtleneck. I wish I could understand the lyrics.