DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski, Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe. So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs!
With Gratitude For Gena Rowlands, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Quarry, Leo Gorcey, Arthur Alexander and Joey Heatherton, Your Splendid Bohemian, Rich Buckland.
DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" - SCOTT WALKER AND SERGE GAINSBOURG: TWO TRANSMISSIONS FROM OUT ON THE EDGE. DOUBLE DOWN!!
What we’re offering today is something completely different: two outlier artists (although one is a French icon) who created off-kilter, out of the box, almost unintelligible nuggets of artistic brilliance. These cuts are linked, not only by the fact that they both feature sinuous bass lines and orchestral flourishes, but that they are produced by artists whose stances were uncompromising, prickly, unknowable - and, touched with stardust.
SCOTT WALKER
Scott Walker, whose rich, deep baritone was first introduced to the world in the early 1960s, with the internationally famous group, The Walker Brothers (they weren’t) - and their hit single “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” When he went solo he faced an uphill battle, trying to gain public acceptance for his dark, and tangled personal visions. I became enamored of his work when I heard his musical evocation of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. By 1970, his solo career went silent. Probably, as a financial imperative, he rejoined The Walker Bros, for some moderately successful MOR cover filled albums.
But, in 1984 Scott’s mojo returned, triumphantly, with the album “Climate of the Hunter” from which this cut, Rawhide, derives. (Don’t worry about trying to figure out the lyrics - just let it wash over you). Against all odds, the “30th Century Man’s” time had come, and there was a whole new generation of acolytes, eager to drink the magic potions Scott was uncorking.
SERGE GAINSBOURG
Serge Gainsbourg’s unique 1971 concept album, Histoire de Melody Nelson, is a suite of songs telling the story of a doomed, illicit romance between a middle aged man and a 14 year old girl named Melody, portrayed by his muse, the dreamy actress and model, Jane Birkin, who also graces the cover.
Produced far before the “Me Too” era, this provocative and subversive pop-music drama was not offensive to the French; on the contrary, it cemented the French chameleon’s iconic status, and the celebrity couple became the subject of much tabloid journalism. His stylish, outlaw decadence generated a fascination that continues to this day.
Gainsbourg, born Lucian Ginsburg, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, was a manufactured creation. He took his nom de musique as a tribute to the English painter Thomas Gainsborough. And, after surviving the German occupation of France during WW2- (he recalled having to wear the Yellow Star, which identified him as a Jew) - he went on to carve out an indelible new identity of swagger, writing and producing over 500 pop hits spanning several genres. He was one of a kind.
