Search & Destroy: Michel Polnareff

And search this. Obviously. Wish there was somewhere I could buy it.

Admittedly, after this his output became somewhat patchy (occasional 45s are worth having)...but, phew, Polnareff's always leaves me breathless.

And you're not getting my copy of the poster either, sorry!!

Fuck yeah! I only discovered Polnareff by accident at a record store near here. I'll have to check out the material you mentioned--I'm mostly familiar with the best-known of his work. Are you into any other semi-obscuro French singers like Jean-Michel Caradec?

Can't you make me a colour copy of the poster, then? Please? That shit needs to be on my wall.

There is no end to the proof of his amazingness, Ned. Surrender to the Polnarevolution.

The poster (or a similar one) comes with his Polnarevolution LP, which shouldn't be too difficult to find. I'll keep my eyes open. I'm not taking it to my local photocopiers, that's for sure....

Don't know Caradec, but try Eric Charden & Julien Clerc for starters.

I second all the recommendations. Funny that's nobody's mentioned his big hit,"La Poupee Qui Fait Non". And my favorites, "Sous Quelle Etoile Suis-Je Ne?" and "L'Oiseau de Nuit"--they're so gushy! I also really like the songs he wrote with Keith Reid from Procul Harum--"Time Will Tell" (Really sick falsetto on that one and isn't that Jimmy Page on guitar? Maybe I made that up.) and "You'll Be on My Mind".

I"ve never heard his soundtrack to Lipstick. I hear it's nothing like the Sixties work, but I wonder if I'd like it anyway.

You know he claimed Ian Hunter totally stole his look in the Seventies, right?
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00000IB4A.08.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Lipstick soundtrack is v odd. One side of kitsch-y disco, one side of mental solo synthesiser squoink noises called "The Rapist"

Polnareff Maniacs (tons of awesome Polnaphotos, Arthur) has a ton of pictures of The Glasses on people, dolls, teddy bears: there's even a page of Japanese fans dressed like him! It's insane. Maybe one of us should e-mail the webmaster and ask if he knows where to find them.

And you have to check out Caradec, Harvey. I think he was only active in the seventies before dying young in the early eighties. Download "Parle-Moi" and "La Colline Aux Coralines" if you can. He has a song called "Epitaphe Pour Brian Jones." I want to describe his music but all I can think is "amazing."

Oh yeah...and The Birds' English cover of "La Poupée Qui Fait Non" isn't half bad. I just heard it recently.

Bugger, I thought I'd never encountered this guy, but Saint Etienne covered the above once, right? And I think Russell Senior might've played the original at a Pulp aftershow in Hamburg in 1995...sounds about right.

So the OPO essential album to look for is..?

And I think Luna covered "La Poupee Qui Fait Non", too.

Thanks for the link, Sarah.

Sarah, I've always assumed he isn't internationally famous due to the xenophobia of Anglo-American popculture. In actual fact, he *is* (or has been) internationally famous in countries (Japan, Korea, continental Europe) where the first language isn't English. Ho hum. The attempt to break him internationally circa 75-76 (a self-titled LP -sung in English!!- on Atlantic & the Lipstick soundtrack) failed, but although the LP has some great moments, he was kind of past his prime by then.

Hotel room? It's all true!

Will investigate Caradec for sure; thanks for the recommendation.

Ah, je l'aime.

I looked for sites on Caradec, but there isn't a whole lot about him besides lyrics and sites trying to sell CDs. I know what songs of his I like, but the lack of a discography makes it hard to get acquainted with albums. Ses Plus Belles Chansons is a good bet, though.

Are there any Jacques Dutronc fans up in here?

Semi-Polnareffian moment.

Have you ever visited: Polnaweb - Michel's own Web site. He used to have this service where he'd send you an ecard, with a personal message & autograph...needless to say, mine didn't turn up.

I picked up quite a few of these in a very unlikely record shop years ago, I remember liking one that was fuzzy guitar freakbeat stuff - I don't think I ever played the rest more than once and now I find out the guy's a genius! How could I not spot that one?

This wouldn't be the first time I've liked stuff from the '70s after things have been generally accepted to have "gone wrong".

Swift answer!

I was kind of referring to his image rather than his music. I'm quite fond of his self-titled English-language LP from 1975, and side 2 of the Lipstick soundtrack LP, which contains an extraordinary side-long bit of Moog-freakery called The Rapist.

"MONSIEUR L'ABBE!"

Hey, YouTube coming through:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyBHQMZcGjs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrlWXhSSgHk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQenXUOV_uI

That "Holidays" track blew my socks off.