Category: Brigitte Bardot

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#011 – Buzzcocks – ‚Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)’ (United Artists Records, ’78)

Hello friends,

congratulations, you have nearly made it all the way through with bands starting with a ‘B’ … unless there is a great combo whose first letters are ‘Bw…’, ‘Bx…’ or ‘Bz…’. Or unless I come to the conclusion that The Byrds are better than sliced bread …. you wait and see until the next episode comes in!

Strange though, but I find it rather hard to find something interesting to write about a band which is as well known as The Buzzcocks are. I mean, basically everything has already been said about them, hasn’t it? At least there isn’t pretty much that I could add, I found.

So let’s concentrate on the song, shall we? When googling around a bit, I learnt that Pete Shelley was bisexual, and he had written the tune in late 1977 about a guy called Francis, apparently someone he lived together with for 7 years.

Obviously, not being bisexual myself, I always had women from my past in mind when listening to the song. Quite a lot of them, in fact. When I was younger, you see, I used to fall in love rather easily, and consequently I was easily disappointed when things didn’t turn out the way I had imagined them to turn out. I won’t try to tell you that I always dreamt about marriage whilst having something that ended up in being just a one-night stand. Or a two night stand, if such a term exists. But either way, I usually had high hopes and wanted more. A relationship, to be precise. But there were women who – I think the correct collocation is – ‘just wanted my body’ apparently. Not that I ever had much of a body, mind you, which might or might not show you how desperate these girls might have been.

So back then I often listened to today’s tune and thought to myself, when being in despair again: ‘Oh, he’s sooooo right, our Pete, I should not have fallen in love with (insert typical German female forename here)”. But the funny thing is: today, after decades of distance, I would do it all again, I think: there are no real regrets by and large … perhaps it is just because back then the fun ruled out the sorrow and the feeling of being rather unrequited afterwards. Who knows …

mp3: Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)

So, in conclusion: no, I’ve never fallen in love with someone I shouldn’t’ve … at least not yet!

But did you?

Take good care,

Dirk

JC adds…….

I’ve written about this song on a number of occasions over the years.   I slotted it in at #23 in the 45 45s @ 45 rundown back in 2008, and wondered out loud if there really were 22 singles better than it. Its most recent appearance was in October 2020.  Here’s some of my thoughts from then as an addendum to Dirk’s musings.

“One of Pete Shelley’s greatest attributes as a songwriter was the ability to write about situations that could be taken by every listener as being completely applicable to their own lives. There can’t be any of us out there who could give the answer of ‘No’ to the question. It particularly appealed to my teenage sensations, when the girl(s) of my dreams were way out of my league, preferring the company of those a couple years older or those who weren’t total bookworms. It didn’t help that my tastes in music weren’t universal…..

But as the years have passed and relationships have come and gone, it’s very clear the song can apply at any time in your life and needn’t be about unrequited adolescent relationships that lead to severe bouts of self-pity. “

So, while Dirk might say No…..I have to say my answer is Yes.

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#010 – Brigitte Bardot – ‚Harley Davidson’ (Disc’Az, ’67)

Hello friends,

yes, yes, yes, I know what you all think: “now that he has realized that only a handful of people care about his stupid 111 singles nonsense, he’s pulling the old ‘if-everything-else-fails-big-tits-will-do’ – stunt”. Oh, you couldn’t be more wrong, you disbelievers! Alright, I admit Brigitte Bardot probably never was an ugly duckling, but that’s not what counts here and now. This lady has a spectacular voice and this record proves it, fact!

I can’t tell you all too much about its background, apart from the fact that the song was composed by Serge Gainsbourg, the old ladykiller. Also I can’t really tell you why it is that I like it so much – perhaps it is because the French language has always remained a bit of a mystery to me. I never had big problems with learning English in school, but French was a complete disaster, as well in secondary school as in commercial college. To be honest, I probably never got much further than ‘les haricots verts’ and ‘le premier étage’. Now, I think we all agree that this is not enough to enable me a decent retirement at some sunny French coast, but still I am really proud that I managed to add this to my superb knowledge:

“Je n’ai besoin de personne en Harley Davidson, je n’reconnais plus personne en Harley Davidson“.

These obviously are the first two lines of the song, the only ones I can remember. So every time I hear the tune, I sing those two lines perfectly faultless at the top of my lungs. But when it comes to the next bit, the one with the starter, I fail hopelessly, each and every time. So I let Brigitte do the job, hum along with her here and there and dream of riding a cool motorcycle myself (I don’t even have a driving license for these, but no matter). Feel free to do the same:

mp3: Brigitte Bardot – Harley Davidson

You’ll be relieved to hear that this may probably be the oldest record in the series (not that the others are much more contemporary, mind you). Speaking of age, I should add that my copy is a re-release from 1980, and albeit it reads ‘1968’ on the back sleeve, the original was released in 1967. Either way, I think it’s a fantastic tune which definitely has stood the test of time.

Consequently: enjoy!

Dirk