Jun 222011
Mr. Brand New Cadillac himself, Vince Taylor, who took his second-rate ’50s rocker act from England to France, throws down the gauntlet in this vibrant Scopitone!
His challenger is hometown favorite Johnny Hallyday, France’s answer to early rock ‘n roll, thereby tainting the man’s work with a possibly unfair third-rate status. See if Johnny’s got what it takes to steal a victory in this Mach Schaudown…after the jump!
Hmm… well , Hallyday definitely wins the prize for art direction — Townsman Machinery, are you seeing this? — but come on, those Vince Taylor dance moves are dynamite! Why have I never seen anybody hold on to the lead guitarist’s headstock during a furious solo before? That stuff is gold!
Vince Taylor by a wide margin.
HVB
I was thinking Taylor’s music sounded a little tame and inauthentic until I heard Hallyday’s. Oy! Give me Plastique Bertrand anyday. That mirrored floor sequence was really weird. Actually the whole mirror concept is kind of weird. Are they trying to make him seem even more narcissistic?
I’m also wondering what Taylor was like live. Could he and his band actually play competently while doing the posing? The art direction here is very interesting, but I prefer the starkness of the clip where he does Shakin’ All Over.
Let’s face it – the French have never been particularly convincing as rockers. Oh, there have been a few interesting oddballs like Gong (a top favorite of mine – deal with it) and Les Rita Mitsuoko, but for the most part their efforts have always seemed somewhat off. By the way, Plastic Bertrand was Belgian, not French.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BggXhzUhZ94
I was counting the seconds until the pince nez came out. I knew he was Belgian, but he’s singing in French. I also thought I knew that his first name was spelled Plastique. I think I’m pince nezzing myself here.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uB-0D-gV8mY/SlqOdSYRpVI/AAAAAAAAWnE/pNmHF_ms5ws/s400/plastic+bertrand
Vince wins by a mile.
The only thing I can add is, Hallyday loses points for 1) miming a guitar part that isn’t even close to being on the record, and 2) the song being about 50% too long.