Téléphone "Enregistrements Originaux" 1977-1980 (1982 comp)****

So, it was a gap of exactly 40 years between hearing of Téléphone for the first time and buying a record by them, which I finally did last week after a trip to Paris - I have a tradition of getting records by local rock bands in every country I visit. The first time I heard of them was in the summer of 1985 during the first (and possibly best) Greek rock festival Rock In Athens. Which triggers a trip into memory lane; so if you're only want to read about the album, skip the red letters. The festival was part of the celebrations of European Capital of Culture, a new institution conceived by Greek minister of culture, former movie star Melina Mercouri and her French counterpart Jack Lange. As such, it was co-organized by the Greek Ministry of Culture with the help of a French concert promoter - which accounts for the inclusion of Téléphone in a line-up that also included The Clash, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Stranglers, Talk Talk, Culture Club, and Nina Hagen: all New Wave bands either on the rise or at the height of their powers - with the exception of Téléphone, and of The Clash for whom it was the last concert ever. It could never have happened without the support of a progressive like Melina; the governing left-of-center Socialist party wasn't any different to the others when it came to its relation to underground youth movements. In the same year, the first punk LP by Stress was censored, and on November a 15-year old youth was shot by riot police in the aftermath of a big demonstration. Rock concerts of the time invariably ended up in riots and tear gas, and Rock In Athens was no exception. Another dark moment of the festival was the reception Culture Club got: they were booed and pelted with plastic bottles by homophobic members of the audience. Apparently Boy George's parting words to them were: "If I wasn't a nice lady I would have shown you my arse." At the time I was too young to attend the festival, but I followed the relevant news closely. Music writers were ecstatic but mainstream press was mostly derisive. I used to get the Sunday edition of Rizospastis (the official newspaper of the Communist party) for its extensive cultural insert, and was shocked by their vehemently anti-rock coverage; I distinctly remember reading that by inviting a band called The Stranglers, one glorifies violence and anti-social behavior, misguiding and corrupting youths. I was taken aback, because to me the communists were the good guys: they had formed the popular liberation army against the Nazis, fought against the colonels' dictatorship, and were at the forefront of the workers' rights and peace movements. Anyway, things would change pretty soon; in 1987 the KNE (Communist Youth) festival featured a reggae artist (Maxi Priest) for the first time. Unfortunately though, I missed it. You see, I was invited to the event by a girl called Julia who was also my high school's student council president. Short hair, slim figure with big boobs - I didn't know her well but I wouldn't mind getting to know her better. At some point, she introduced me to a slightly older guy who I suppose was her instructor. He starting giving me the speech: similar to that of insurance salesmen, only he wasn't selling anything, he was trying to get me to join KNE. That kept me busy for an hour, after which the rest of our company came back from the music stage at the other end of the festival grounds, raving about Maxi Priest and his band. I was so mad at Julia for luring me in like that and making me miss the show, you can bet I never spoke to her again! Anyway, rock wasn't the capitalist devil anymore. As I've written in a previous post, next year's KNE festival featured Ten Years After. Of course I went with a different company, a bunch of longhairs who weren't into politics, just rock. That also happened to be my first real rock concert.

As for Téléphone, I hadn't heard of them prior to 1985 - or since. At the time, their inclusion in Rock In Athens lineup ensured some coverage by Greek state radio and TV (not that we had any other kind). I wasn't impressed by what sounded to my ears as second rate New Wave, and that was the impression I had of them, until recently. Then I heard people mention them as "The French Rolling Stones" and thought maybe I should give them another chance - it's been after all 40 years, and my musical taste has evolved. So when I found this limited yellow vinyl reissue at a Paris record shop, I told myself it' do as a souvenir from our latest Paris trip. This compilation was initially released in 1982, and contains tracks from three LPs released between 1977 and 1980. Their eponymous debut (1977) almost justifies their reputation: "Hygiaphone" is pure Chuck Berry rockabilly, "Dans Ton Lit" sounds more like New York Dolls, and "Flipper" is a 6-minute long funk rocker. "Téléphomme" starts off as a bluesy ballad, but after 3 minutes turns into a hard rocker reminiscent of Rory Gallagher. From Crache Ton Venin ("Spit Your Venom", 1979) we also get four tracks, or is it five? "Ne Me Regarde Pas / Regarde Moi" consist a single track in the LP tracklist, but were split for the 7' single and are presented here apart: the former is power pop reminiscent of The Knack or Sniff'n The Tears, the latter an aggressive hard rocker. "Fait Divers" is rousing pub rock, while "J'suis parti de chez mes parents" is another straight-up rock'n'roller, and "Tu Vas Me Manquer" is among the best punk/funk hybrids not written by Ian Dury. The original vinyl LP had a transparent plastic outer sleeve; when it was removed, the inner sleeve revealed that the band had posed in the nude - the clothes were only painted over the naked photos on the outer sleeve! Judging from the tracks included here, Au Cœur De La Nuit (1980) is far less aggressive: "Le Silence" is acoustic blues, while "Laisse Tomber" is a more electric take on blues and soul. "Pourquoi N'Essaies-Tu Pas?", on the other hand, rocks as hard as their older stuff - a bit like Some Girls-era Stones, actually. The song selection for this compilation provides a good balance between rock, blues, punk and funk. 12 tracks, 6 on every side, is also a good number for a vinyl LP. It's not the ultimate Best-Of, though, as it omits some of their more popular singles ("Anna", "Metro C'est Trop", "La Bombe Humaine", "Argent Trop Cher") in favor of album-only tracks. What counts, nevertheless, isn't what's missing but what's there - and, based on that, this is one hot piece of Francophone rock'n'roll! There's been a limited reissue on yellow vinyl last year, but original copies are easy, and cheap enough, to find online.

**** for Hygiaphone, Dans Ton Lit, Fait Divers, Tu Vas Me Manquer, Téléphomme, Laisse Tomber, Flipper

*** for Ne Me Regarde Pas, Regarde-Moi, Le Silence, J'Suis Parti De Chez Mes Parents, Pourquoi N'Essaies-Tu Pas?

Kyoto Record Stores

As you may know, I make a habit of mapping out the record store situation in every city I visit, at least to the extend permitted by the length of my visit. I did spent enough time in Kyoto to visit most of its record shops (as well as many food markets, Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, Zen gardens, tea houses, and.. and...) BUT unfortunately most of my notes were erased. Either by a malicious note-eating virus or by a clumsy swipe of my fingers on my mobile screen. I figured nevertheless that it wouldn't be right to bypass Kyoto because it is an amazing town which you must visit if you can; and may I make a suggestion? in tourist guides you'll find a multitude of historic and cultural sites -mostly temples- and you'll want to visit them all because they all look gorgeous in the photos (and up-close, too, make no mistake) but you'll wear yourself out if you try. Choose three or four temples and diversify your experience by spending more time in the food market, the "geisha district" Gion with its quaint wooden houses, visit the Arashiyama bamboo forest, the informative and entertaining Samurai and Ninja museum, and of course as many record stores as you can. I'm telling you, Japanese record stores are a whole other level. So let me try to piece together a guide to Kyoto's record stores using the photos I took with my mobile and whatever memories still linger on 3 months after the fact:

A great thing about it is that most record stores are bundled within walking distance to each other, pretty close to the famous Nishiki Market. You may want to start from Kyoto-Kawaramachi Station; here, you'll find the local Tower Records branch on the 9th Floor of the Kawaramachi OPA department store - it was weird for me at first, but one gets used to it: record stores in Japan are very rarely storefront businesses, instead you'll find them either situated within shopping malls, or more often in apartments within office or even residential buildings. Now this branch of Tower Records may not be as massive as, say, the 8-story one in Shibuya Tokyo (I'll tell you more about it on another post) but it's still quite big by the criteria of 2025. Lots and lots of new LPs (¥ 4000-7000) and CDs (¥1500-3000). That's not nearly as expensive as it looks; at the time of my visit ¥1000 was worth roughly €6 or $7. Now, these prices are inclusive tax but there's a neat little trick you'll want to take advantage of; overseas travelers may have the tax deducted from their purchases provided they don't make use of them while they're on Japanese soil - just google it, it's a bit too complicated to explain here. Most record stores will not provide that service, but Tower Records does. Since you're there, you simply must visit the local Book Off store at the 8th floor - it's a used books chain but also carries 1000s of used CDs (¥330-1300), relatively few vinyls but an unbelievable variety of manga comics. 

Starting from as little as ¥110, they make for a fine and cheap souvenir, because what says "Japan" better than Manga? Even if one doesn't speak the language they're nice to browse through for the art - Just check them out well if you're buying them as presents for your friends' kids, because the artwork is often naughtier than one would expect, even for titles that seem to be targeted to the younger teens. Just a few meters further, on the 4th floor of the Takashimaya Shopping Center you'll find Face Records, which is a much more stylish affair. Important Note: in Japan there is No Ground Floor - or, rather, the ground floor is called the 1st Floor, the floor above it is the 2nd Floor, etc. Face carries (mostly used) vinyl, as well as some hi-fi equipment. You'll find Rock, Pop, Jazz, and J-Pop LPs, mostly under ¥2000. For the adventurous, there's a  special offers corner (mostly J-Pop) at ¥100 - that's $0.67(!) for a random vinyl souvenir of your Japanese trip. At the opposite side of the street, inside a gallery connected to the market, there's a shop called Take.J (Ishizumi Shinkyogoku Building 3F, 563 Nakanomachi). Go up the stairs to the 3rd floor and you'll come across a cramped apartment full of CDs (only ¥500-1000). Very good for Rock and Metal, also Soul and J-Pop. And this is the last time I'll be that specific in my descriptions since my notes from here on were erased. 

Nearby, you'll find a shop called Banana Records. I don't remember much about it, except that it's directly above a camera shop (Camera no Naniwa Kyoto Store, 372 Narabutsucho). Here is what internet sources say "A wide selection of LPs, CDs, and EPs across various genres, including rock and jazz. Also small accessories like bags, second-hand clothing, cassettes". Confusingly, it's another shop in the neighborhood that uses the banana logo: Joe's Garage (Fusaya Building 2F, 572 Obiyamach) You'll see the banana sign at street level; then you need to go up the stairs through a place full of bric-a-brac called "chacharhy💗"; only then you'll find the record shop. Decent prices, as I remember, and a wide selection - especially in the field of classic rock.

I can't say I remember any details from my visit to Toradra Record (3rd floor YOGI Building, 456-6 Matsugaedacho) but this is how they describe themselves "Our store always has approximately 5,000 LPs and 3,000 CDs for sale. We handle and sell all genres, focusing on rock and jazz, as well as J.pop, soul, blues, reggae, world music, club music, hip hop, soundtracks, and classical music". Art Rock No.1 is at the 7th floor of an apartment building (Assorti Kawaramachi Nijo Building, 374 Ichinofunairicho). A nice collection of 70s-80s rock, jazz, and J-pop vinyl, and decent prices. Another record store perched high (6th floor) is Jet Set Records. This should be of interest to DJs as it carries more dance/funk/jazz, along with the usual rock stuff. Then to another apartment building (Morris Building 2F, 485 Kami-Honnoji-mae-cho) which hosts not one but 2 record stores: 100000t on the 2nd floor and Workshop Records on the 3rd. The former was a bit messy, while the latter had a nice selection of classic rock, jazz, soul, and j-pop records and CDs, all properly catalogued.

Another shop I really liked was Happy Jack. It's on the 3rd floor of a shopping center (Tobee Building 302, 224 Eiraku-cho). Not so big, but had all the things I like; especially 60s/70s rock, garage, psychedelia, soul, jazz, and j-pop of course. Nice prices also. Of course not all record stores are hidden in apartment buildings - these next ones were in the galleries in the market. First, and for me best, was Supermilk Records (495 Nakasuji-cho). At first glance it didn't look like much, but I found some super cool Japanese punk and metal records between ¥300-1000. Also a nice selection of jazz, soul and rap. Now I know I took photos of it, but I can't find them in my mobile anymore - as if the disappearing notes weren't bad enough, now photos go missing too?

 

There were two more stores with an actual storefront: Jeugia is an entertainment store selling vinyl, CD, DVD and other stuff, and Shimizuya which had mostly J-pop CDs and DVDs. I didn't find anything of interest in any of them, and neither did I find something at the last Kyoto record shop I visited, Poco A Poco, an underground shop situated at one of the shopping galleries (Daishinville B1F, Dori Sanjo, Teramachi). Now these are all the record stores I visited in Kyoto, but by no means all of them. This source lists 48 record stores in the city, though I wouldn't know whether it's up to date. Anyway, 48 is a bit too much for most of us, so by cross-checking the previous list with other internet sources and crossing out those inconveniently located, I arrived at this additional list of shops that I haven't personally visited but seem to be worth your attention: First one is Parallax Records, on the next corner to Happy Jack (Shin-kyogoku uta-no Koji Building 2F, 407-1 Sakuranomachi) and specialized in noise/experimental/electronic music, mostly on CD. Hitozoku (above the Morikawa tobacco store, 271-4 Kitakurumaya-cho) specializes in electronic and world music vinyl, mostly used. Vivrant (Teramachi Ayanokoji Building 4th Floor, Teianmaenocho 586) offers "a wide selection of used LPs/45's specializing in Soul, Funk, Disco, Rare Groove, Jazz, Hip Hop etc". Black Ark (Kawara-machi Kaikan 202, 253-1 Ichinomachi) focuses solely on reggae music, used vinyl mostly. Vinyl 7 (492 Shimohonnouji -mae -cho, near Jet Set) seems to specialize in funk and disco. Still in the neighborhood (ION Building 2F, 340-1, Daimonji-machi) one can find Prototype Records (google reviews describe it as "a cool little spot with a decent but limited collection" but also praise its "impressive reggae and jazz section"). Poohyokocho (370-1 Kameyacho) seems to focus on folk and country and Hard Bop on jazz (of course). Its address is Tkaragaike Building 1F-3 ,474 Kami-Honnoji-mae-cho, apparently it's "tucked away in a nondescript building, requiring a small sign at knee height to locate". Unfortunately (or not) Kyoto doesn't have the equivalent of Tokyo's Disk Union which is, like, the Mecca of 2nd hand record stores - you'll have to go to Osaka for the closest branch; it'll take you all of 14 minutes with the shinkansen bullet train. And, let's face it, you're going to Osaka anyway. If not to stay, then at least for a daytrip, as I did. Not enough time for record hunting. But enough to visit the Shogun castle, built by Toyotomi in the 16th Century - way before he switched to making airconditioners and the like. And to eat takoyaki, of course. Basically, I stopped at every food stand and sampled everything I could, all over Japan, and especially in Osaka. It was worth it.

Shakin' Street "Shakin' Street" 1980****

Shakin' Street were formed in Paris in the mid-60s by guitarist Eric Lévi and singer Fabienne Shine. Fabienne was born in Tunisia, moving to France as a child, like so many of the "pieds noirs" did after the countries of the Maghreb gained independence. Soon she embarked on a "career" as a model, actress, and singer. I use the word "career" in brackets, since her biggest claim to fame pre-Shakin' Street seems to be appearing as a... female tree in Roger Vadim’s Barbarella, and joining Led Zeppelin's entourage. Apparently she dated Jimmy Page, and followed the band on tour, not as a groupie but as a fellow musician - according to her bio, at least. Page and Plant encouraged her to form her own band, which she soon did. She must have thought "what do they have that I do not?" and not come up with the obvious answer "one is a virtuoso guitarist and the other has an exceptional voice". Well, Fabienne didn't have a great voice but what she had was a shit-ton of attitude - and sometimes, certainly around the time that punk broke out, that's way more important. Her singing style actually reminds me of a more shouty Patti Smith. Soon, Shakin' Street found themselves at the epicenter of a musical revolution, appearing on the second European punk festival at Mont-de-Marsan (1977) alongside The Clash, Police, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Damned, and Lou Reed, among others. A little-heard LP called Vampire Rock followed. Fabienne somehow managed to get Blue Öyster Cult's Sandy Pearlman to listen to it; he liked it, and that led to a recording deal with Columbia Records and a relocation to San Francisco. More importantly, when it turned out that original lead guitarist Armik Tigrane had sold his guitar to buy heroin, Pearlman arranged for the perfect substitution: Ross "the Boss" Friedman, formerly of punk/hard rockers Dictators. Together they recorded this well-received album, and started gathering a live following, even securing a place in the historic Black and Blue tour, which was co-headlined by Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult. Ross Friedman must have made quite an impression on that tour, because when Ronnie James Dio -then the lead singer for Black Sabbath- was asked to recommend a guitarist for this new heavy metal band called Manowar, Ross "the Boss" was top of his list. The loss of the lead guitarist curtailed Shakin' Street's progress, and pretty soon the rest of the band also went their separate ways. The music on this album isn't easy to categorize; there are elements of punk, heavy metal, new wave, power pop, and AOR. If I had to choose one label, that would be "High Energy Rock'n'roll", as befits a band named after a song by MC5. "No Compromise" makes for a strong opener, a galloping garage rocker with powerful vocals and a short but sweet solo. "Solid As A Rock" and "No Time To Loose" are also fast rockers, with a somewhat more radio friendly chorus, and backing vocals repeating the title creating a nice hook for the songs. "Soul Dealer" is a somewhat slower, with a nice repeated riff, Patti Smith-like vocal delivery, and a B.Ö.C.- like solo by Ross the Boss. Nice percussion bit at the end, too. "Susie Wong" is a poppier new wave number. It's a good song, but it highlights Fabienne's vocal limitations; she's an energetic singer who can shout and scream as well as anyone in the louder songs, but not a great fit for the melodic ones. Really, depending on your taste, her voice can be an asset or a liability. "Generation X" introduces itself with a classic boogie guitar riff followed by Fabienne's bloodcurdling screams. The guitars remind me of Ronnie Montrose while the lyrics seem to reference The Who's "My Generation". "So Fine" has a Sixties swing to it, think The Ramones covering The Ronettes or Beach Boys. "I Want To Box You" starts off as aggressively as the title suggests; generally the trick with the backing vocalists repeating the song title ("box you!") works well - but here it sounds out of place - like a disco chorus on a Motörhead rocker. Certainly it's the heaviest track here, with Ross the Boss going wild on guitar. All in all, this is a wild rock and roll album, not quite garage punk nor heavy metal but something in between. It's very much up my alley, but it's not without its flaws: firstly, as I mentioned earlier, Fabienne isn't the best singer; her passion and conviction shine through, but her voice and technique leave something to be desired. Secondly, it's the songs: while they're energetic, and catchy enough to stick to your brain for a while, they're not particularly original or remarkable. Still, a fun album to play loud, and easy to get hold of, in vinyl at least (not so much on CD). Next time you find a cheap copy at a record fair, don't pass it by.

P.S. The band reunited in 2004 and have been intermittently active since then - or at least were, until 2019. I couldn't find any signs of activity since. Eric Lévi sat out the reunions, focusing on film music and his successful new age project, +eRa+.

**** for No Compromise, Solid As A Rock, No Time To Loose, Soul Dealer, Generation X, I Want To Box You

*** for Susie Wong, Every Man Every Woman Is A Star, So Fine