Following on from Terence Stamp, it seemed logical to remain
in the swinging sixties with his former partner in crime, Julie Christie. The
ladies often do better than the gents in this feature, and Julie certainly
racks up more mentions than Terry… although they do both feature in one of the best songs of the 60s, which I'd completely forgotten until Rigid Digit reminded me on Monday...
Terry meets Julie Waterloo Station Every Friday night But I am so lazy, don't want to wander I stay at home at night
After that, anything else will be an anti-climax. Still, there's some great tunes about Julie on her own. So let's crack on with them, shall we?
We begin with a song about Julie’s breakthrough role in
Billy Liar, named after that movie’s star…
Now Gina in the King’s Road
In a raincoat shimmering white
Hands thrust in her pockets
Like Julie Christie might
Half-Japanese are an American art-punk band who have been
going almost half a century. This was their debut single, released in 1975, in
which Julie keeps company with a curious collection of ladies, most notable
Yoko Ono, Shelley Duvall and Angela Bowie… it's an absolute racket.
She talks like Julie Christie
Implied sex and foreign intrigue
It’s the accent that really gets me
She laughs to make me smile
France Gall was the first singer Serge Gainsbourg ever wrote
for. Here she takes a swing at the swinging 60s, trying to settle the old
argument of which was the swingingest: England or France? (This one wasn't written by Serge. Clearly, he would know the answer.)
At which point we arrive at the songs named after Julie
Christie. Of which, I think I found more titular mentions than for any other
Celebrity Jukeboxer so far. We begin with Philadelphia’s Bill Ricchini…
You look just like Julie Christie
And I feel just like Terry Stamp
I like that one. Would have included it in my Terence Stamp Jukebox on
Monday, but I guess I felt Bill was being a bit greedy, trying to feature here twice in one week.
Lorraine Bowen could well be described as a Billy Bragg
protégé – Bill encouraged her to go solo following her time in two 80s bands,
See You In Vegas and The Dinner Ladies. This is one of her most-loved tunes…
And another couple of lost gems from the 80s that I can find very
little info on… don't believe anyone who tells you that you can find out everything you want to know on the interweb.
Following the break-up of All About Eve in the early 90s,
lead singer Julianne Regan led another band called, less memorably, Mice. She
doesn’t sing on track 7 of their debut album though: it’s an instrumental.
Another instrumental, though different instruments were
used, comes from French composer André Popp’s 1974 album, in which every track
was dedicated to a different screen siren.
My choice for today was obvious from the start. It may be from a band you know as well as any of the last few (though god knows I've featured them enough here over the years), but if that's the case, I highly recommend you acquaint yourself with the work of Shirley Lee and Spearmint as soon as possible. Here's one good reason to do so...
She looks like Julie Christie And she's blotted out my past She had it all laid out for me I never stood a chance We took the essence of Felt and Vic Godard And we blasted into space And then we showered down on everyone The whole soppy human race
