Cahiers du cinéma #1: Michel Piccoli

In the 70s, everything in the movies was different, and Michel Piccoli was right at the centre of it all, starring in Faraldo’s Themroc, Ferreri’s Grande Bouffe, or Girod’s Trio Infernal. Inbetween appalling La Bourgeoisie, Piccoli found the time to record his only 7“ on the Adèle label in 1976. On the A-side, L’art d’aimer, he’s transforming some lines from Ovid’s classic seducing field manual Ars Amatoria/ The Art of Love, probably written in the year 1 A.D., into suprême fromage francais, while the B-side takes disco funk from ... well, à derrière, and surely in an unrivaled way, though probably not to everyone’s liking.
The mastermind behind it was composer and arranger Bernard Gérard, also responsible for the delirious shake-shakes in Georges Lautner’s underrated Ne nous fachons pas as well as for the whacked-out adaptation of Gee-l-o-r-i-a – featuring Graeme Allwright, the only guy from Nouvelle-Zélande ever to make the famous Olympia music hall at the Boulevard de Capucine à Paris. Van Morrison didn't stand a friggin' chance.

Michel Piccoli – L’art d’aimer
Michel Piccoli – Alors ... c’est oui?

Bernard Gérard – Rosbif Attack
Bernard Gérard/ Graeme Allwright – Akou

Special extra: Romy Schneider, for many the ultimate fille fragile, en duet with Michel in 1970, and a fine, piano loop driven hommage à Romy by Geneve-based trio Sinner DC from their 2005 album Arkle Parkle Avenue, both beautiful, serious affairs.

Romy Schneider/ Michel Piccoli – La Chanson d'Hélène
Sinner DC – Romy Schneider