All serious students of David Bowie know that Vince Taylor had a role in Ziggy Stardust mythology. Vince was an American who moved to England at a young age, became a rock n' roller before the Fab Four hit the radio waves. Eventually, he became a mega-star in France and had a series of hit songs/EPs. He also went insane for a while, which at this point, David Bowie met him somewhere in London, and Vince went off about God, and therefore the long link from religion to rocking. More than his music, Vince Taylor had a strong visual image that was extreme and highly sexual. Watching old film clips of Vince and band on YouTube, is a combination of a Kenneth Anger film and a visual interpretation of the entrance of hell, through a rock n' roll performance. Clad in black leather and heavy chains around his neck, Vince even outdid Elvis with his hips, which seems to be more made out of flexible rubber than bone.
To be honest, his actual singing is just average, but the whole package is the real deal, the real art. Vince Taylor and the Playboys are a combination of classic Gene Vincent and genius Eddie Cochran. The 18 songs on "Le Rock C'est Ca!" is a snapshot of how a French sensibility eroticizes the rock n' roll imagery. Mostly a collection of French EP's released in the early 1960s, this is music that will go will with the photographs of Swiss photographer Karlheinz Weinberger, another European sensibility who understood the visual and erotic power of rock n' roll. Musically not as important as Gene Vincent, but visually and presence: Essential rock n' roll.
No comments:
Post a Comment