David Fitzgerald

QU’EST-CE QUE L’AUTHENTICITÉ EN MUSIQUE ? (Je demande pour un ami !) Bob Dylan est-il authentique ? Et Jacques Brel ? (Sans parler des groupes de reprises de musique française ancienne…) Qu’est-ce qui fait l’authenticité d’une icône culturelle musicale ? Est-ce les enregistrements ? Comme des insectes préhistoriques immortalisés dans de la résine d’ambre (ils résinent ! Bof !). Est-ce l’histoire ? Le mythe ? […]

WHAT IS AUTHENTICITY IN MUSIC? (Asking for a friend!) Is Bob Dylan authentic? And how about Jaques Brel? (Not to mention some ancient French music covers band..) What makes a musical cultural icon authentic? Is it the recordings? Like prehistoric insects immortalised in amber resin, (they resinate! bof! ). Is it the story? the myth? the canon?

Today, I’ve been thinking about Gainsbourg.  Following on from my last blog in which we fretted about the existential threat of getting cancelled affecting some of Boum’s repertoire, I wanted to focus on a controversial classic that’s been bothering me for some time now.  Specifically, the song, ‘Comment trouvez vous ma soeur?’ ‘All the girls

A decade of changes So… after a 10 year pause for thought, Boum – especially us English ones – have become dimly conscious of  what the lyrics of all these fabulous French Chansons are about!  Often in the past, being attracted mainly by their exotic and mysterious musical delights, we would put on our ‘vie