The Day After The Sabbath 144: La Sayona [Hard Rock, Prog & Psych Venezuela 1969-1978]

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If you haven't had the chance to see my previous post a few days ago, take a look for an exclusive interview and music presentation with '70s French band, Arsenic (link).

In other news, I have just created an Instagram account (link) so if anyone would like to get updates on all things TDATS over there, then feel free to follow.

Welcome to volume 144, a document of heavy psych, hard rock and prog from Venezuela in the years 1969 to 1978. This brings 15 new names to the blog, with tracks taken from 7 singles and 8 albums. If anyone would like to suggest more acts for a 2nd Venezuelan set, or can offer any corrections / improvements in my information please feel free to contact me in the comments or by email, as always.

There are now 8 Latin American themed volumes:  43: General | 84: Brazil 1 | 89: Mexico 1 | 104: Peru 1 | 136: Argentina 1 | 144: Venezuela 1 | 151: Bolivia | 118: Chicano Rock

The artwork for this volume is based on 'La Sayona', the spirit of a woman with a horrific past, who is cursed to wander the streets at night as a warning to men to remain faithful...

The Love Depression 1968

I can recommend three '60s psychedelic albums for further listening (The Love Depression, Ladies W.C. and Impala Syndrome) although they they do not appear in this set. Another almost-made-it record I would recommend checking out is the self-titled album from Panal (1973), which uses some cool heavy guitar and Hammond, and may appear later. 

There were very few hard rock bands, and almost no hard rock albums released in Venezuela in the '70s. As was often the case in countries where such types of music were less likely to get record label support, the few heavy bands around at the time only had singles, sometimes with the hard rocker being on the b-side. One clear exception to this is the album released in 1970 by Grupo Pan, i'm pretty sure this was the first LP to offer some proper hard rock in the country, and for a few years, the only one! Progressive rock bands seem to have had more luck getting LPs made in the later-seventies though, and there's four tracks in this set from prog albums.

Primer Festival Rock de Venezuela
poster

A good way to start this is mentioning Venezuela’s first ever rock music event of national attention, “Primer Festival de la Canción Rock in Venezuela”, also known as “Festival de las Flores” in 1970. Held on Saturday June 13th in the Parque del Este in Caracas, three of the bands included in this volume played at the festival: The Worst Emotions, Tsee Muds and Sky’s White Meditation.

The festival was organised and promoted by Caracas radio DJ personality Santos Calixto Escalante “Cappy” Donzella. Partially inspired by Woodstock as so many festivals were at the time, Cappy wanted to give voice to the young rock generation of Venezuela, and the lineup was exclusively made-up of all the best underground bands in the country that he could enlist.

Sky's White Meditation in 1970 at
“Primer Festival de la Canción Rock”

There’s a good page of information about the festival at vtactual.com (link) with a number of videos, including Sky’s White Meditation’s singer Gustavo Corma recounting his memories of the festival coming to a premature end (link), when the National Guard of the Forth Republic [1969- 1974] broke it up violently, using the excuse of nakedness after only a few of the festival goers stripped-off. The Guard probably would have used some other excuse if not this one, as that reportedly oppressive regime saw the rebellious spirit of underground rock as a threat, which has so often been the same story in other countries around the world.

Another personality in Venezuelan rock worth mentioning is Rudy Marquez and more will be said about him later, he has a great voice and sung with a large proportion of important '60s rock bands such as Los Demonios Del Rock, Los Dangers, Rudy y Los Twist Cats, Los Impala and Los 007. In the '70s he became one of the most successful pop singers in the country, but was still involved with heavy bands, either singing with them, employing them as backing groups for his solo stage shows, or behind the scenes as a producer etc.

Tracks

01. La Fe Perdida - Lady Lola (1971)

           single

02. Trampas - Siéntelo (1975)

           from album Trampas

03. Grupo Yerro - Cleptomano (1972)

           single

04. Grupo Geyser - Oyeme Guajira (1971)

           single

05. Rudy Marquez and Bacro - No Tengo a Nadie (1972)

           from album Volumen II

06. Aguafresca - Juntemonos (1972)

           single

07. Tsee Muds - This Natural Place (1971)

           from album 2001 Juvenil

08. Grupo La Piel - Yaguazo (1973)

           single

09. Spiteri - Don't You Look Behind (1973)

           from album Spiteri

10. Sky's White Meditation - Magia 1a Parte (1971)

            single

11. Aditus - I.J.K. Espacio Para 3 (1977)

           from album A Traves De La Ventana

12. Grupo Pan - Daicy (1970)

           from album Grupo Pan

13. Sietecuero - Rojo Sangre Y Negro (1978)

           from album Rojo Sangre

14. Worst Emotions - You Gotta Understand & Busco Un Camino (1969)

           single

15. Estructura - El Regreso (1978)

           from album Mas Alla De Tu Mente

The Bands 

La Fe Perdida

La Fe Perdida - Lady Lola (1971)
This set starts with an excellent slice of heavy, doomy psych. I love the swagger of this track and it is certainly up there as one of the best heavy songs from the country in the early '70s. This band created just a few singles. The singer and guitarist is Frank Quintero from Caracas, who later went on to success in jazz and world music, and is still performing now. Drummer Iván Velásquez played with many underground acts such as Gladys and Vytas Brenner. Keyboardist Rafael Medina played with acts such as Joseph and Una Luz, and supervised the 1971 scene compilation “2001 Juvenil”, on which the Tsee Muds track in this volume appeared. Frank Quintero made a youtube interview in 2022 (link).

Trampas s/t 1975

Trampas - Sientelo (1975)
Next up is this rocking little instrumental from this San Mateo group who evolved from a band with a series of earlier singles, "Expresiones Del Alma". This is the kind of thing that makes Latin rock so refreshing, varied percussion and an upbeat horn section does not commonly appear in much of the rock on this blog, but South American bands can always be relied on to do it well! They made their stage debut on May 23, 1975 at the "Primer Concierto Resuelto de Venezuela", held in Maracay before more than 10,000 people and from that initial step they gained followers due to the originality of their music.

Grupo Yerro - Cleptomano

Grupo Yerro - Cleptomano (1972)

Here's a lumbering concoction of riffs which counts as another of the heaviest in this comp, much of the heaviness comes from the loose, unpredictable changes in this track which make it really cool. Grupo Yerro was formed at the beginning of the '70s by Enrique Lorenzon (lead vocals), Pedro Vilela (guitar - played on many further albums for artists such as Nancy Ramos, Medoza and Guillermo Carrasco), Jesús Lugo (guitar), Carlos Laporte (bass) and Oscar Rodriguez (drums). Like many similar Venezuelan bands of the time, they only recorded four songs, on two singles, between 1971 and 1972.

Grupo Geyser - Oyeme Guajira

Grupo Geyser - Oyeme Guajira (1971)

Time for some fuzz! You just have to love the classic use of fuzz guitar and Farfisa going on here, a reliable combination proven by many a psychedelic band, then add the Venezuelan groove and it's even more of a winner! Their sound was based on a mixture of rock with Latin rhythms and some blues. They released many 45s between 1970 and 1973, these being their total recording legacy, achieving success with the singles Oyéme Guajira (1971) and Superlombriz Atómica (1973). The group broke up at the end of 1973. The compilation “Grupo Geyser - Singles 1970-1973” was released by Pharaway Sounds in 2022.

Rudy Marquez
Volumen II - El Vals Del Padrino LP

Rudy Marquez & Bacro - No Tengo a Nadie (1972)

Here's a rare occurrence on the blog - a live recording. This is a rather rocking cover of a Santana classic ("No One To Depend On" from Santana III). Rodolfo “Rudy” Márquez Van Stenis is one of the most important singers in pop and rock music in Venezuela. He began his career in the early sixties as part of fundamental rock groups such as Los Demonios, Los Dangers, Los 007, Los Impala and later The Hornet’s, spanning the complete time period from rock n’ roll, to psychedelia to hard rock in the country. He later achieved his biggest commercial success as a solo singer in the pop charts.

In 1972 he released the LP “Volumen II - El Vals Del Padrino”, and side 2 of that record is dedicated to a live show, from which the track included here is taken, which is reputedly Venezuela’s first ever officially recorded and released rock concert. During that show he was backed by a band called “Bacro”, Rudy's awesome vocals and Bacro's rocking skills ensure another winner!

Bacro

Bacro was formed in 1971 by José "Joseito" Romero (lead guitar), Luis Emilio Mauri (bass), Ender Parra (rhythm guitar) and Gabriel Quintero (drums); the group was characterized by its heavy sound and instrumental skills, especially those of Romero, who is considered one of the best guitarists to emerge in Venezuela. His recorded ‘70s work was limited to Spiteri’s album (coming up here soon), Tsee Muds (also included here), Rudy Márquez’s Volumen II LP (included here) plus a few other contributions to some records.

Bacro also had a repertoire of their own songs, composed mainly by José Romero, that were to be part of their debut album, but the group split up at the end of 1972 and Romero traveled to Europe and continued with various spots in bands and albums beyond the ‘80s in England, Spain and back in Venezuela later.

Aguafresca - Juntemonos

Aguafresca - Juntemonos (1972)
Here's a funky single with those infections Latin rhythms and lots of upbeat guitar hooks, from a mysterious act that I can find no information about at all. This single seems to be their only release, on the  prolific "Top Hits" label, a great label to start with when looking for any kind of vintage Venezuelan music. I found evidence that this song was also included on a 1973 Top Hits compilation called "Canciorema" [Top Hits – TH-1075] but that didn't shed any more light on the band. If you know anything more about this please drop me a line!

Tsee Muds at “Primer Festival de la Canción Rock” 1970

Tsee Muds - This Natural Place (1971)
Here's a good slow-burner from a band that made some very rocking tunes, that has appeared on the blog before in volume 50 (link). When I made that one 11 years ago, I was less thorough in my searches, and there was less info to be found on them back then too.

Tsee Mud... Bacro... LSD
Shadoks Music (2012)

They were closely connected to Bacro. The common members between them being guitarist José Romero, mentioned previously, and guitarist Ender Parra. In 2012 the Shadoks label made a very cool compendium of both these bands called “Tsee Mud... Bacro... LSD” (link), plus another early José Romero band called LSD.  You can read a lot more about the history of all three bands in the liner notes for that release, in which singer Rudy Marquez is mentioned again, as he produced Tsee Muds' only single, and various members of the bands played for his live shows. The other members of Tsee Muds were Jesús Toro, who drummed in early psych band The Love Depression, and Gustavo Calle, who appears to have played in USA and Spanish bands later, according his Discogs entry.

(The) Tsee Muds had 3 songs officially published during their short existence, shared between a single on the Top Hits label, and tracks on the scene compilations: “2001 Juvenil” (1971 - RCA Victor) and “Top Hits Vol. 3” (1972 – Top Hits). 

Grupo La Piel - Yaguazo

Grupo La Piel - Yaguazo (1973)

Here's a half-time segue into pure Latin percussion, with a hint of rock and brass instrumentation woven-in. Discogs describes the attributed writer of both sides of this single thus: "Venezuelan musician and composer. also known as Totón Sánchez Azopardo (or TSA), or Doctor (Dr.) Sánchez Azopardo, or just Sánchez Azopardo."

I'd be tempted to think that this is some kind of soundtrack / library type music, although the flipside (link) is some orchestral pop with vocals, more band-like but could still be a studio-only project of composer Totón Sánchez Azopardo.

Spiteri

Spiteri - Don't You Look Behind (1973)

Here's a stomping riffer with some flute. Spiteri Formed in London by the brothers Jorge and Charlie Spiteri together with José Romero (of Tsee Muds. Bacro etc - guitar, vocals), José Manuel Arria (bass, flute), Bernardo Ball (drums, percussion) and Rubén Correa (flute). This group was made of veterans of the '60s and early '70s such as Los Claners, Los Memphis, Sangre, Nasty Pillow and Los Impala.

'Spiteri' LP - 1973

They released the album 'Spiteri' in '73 and performed in Germany and different cities in England, playing in significant rock venues such as the Marquee Club in London. However, in 1974 the original group split due to some member's difficulties in obtaining sufficient work permits (reference: rockhechovenezuela.com). In 1975, Jorge Spiteri reformed the band with a group of mostly English musicians. For two years they performed in different cities in England, but without recording any more albums. Finally, the band split and Jorge Spiteri continued in England, playing in another band with some experienced Venezuelans, "Ananta", then having most success with the group Mañana and their only album “Amor” (1981).

Sky's White Meditation

Sky's White Meditation - Magia 1a Parte (1971)

Here's some good heavy blues with harmonica. SWM participated in different events, including the “Primer Festival de la Canción Rock” as mentioned in the introduction. They only recorded one single, and split in 1972. They were formed in Caracas in 1968 by Jairo Zuleta (guitar – later with Vytas Brenner and Fernando Yvosky), Rafael Henríquez (bass – and recording engineer on over 50 records), and Vicente "Kasino" González (drums – later of “La Misma Gente”), who were joined by Gustavo Corma (vocals – later of ‘90s alternative rock band “Seguridad Nacional”). Then Adib Casta (guitar – previously of Los Claners and Ladies W.C.) joined.

Aditus - A Traves De La Ventana LP 1977

Aditus - IJK Espacio Para 3 (1977)

Here's the only band in this set that is still playing, current website here. One of Venezuela’s earliest progressive rock bands, they made one single and two albums in the seventies so they are right there with only a handful of other prog bands who can say similar in the country. In the band's 2022 incarnation, they still have two members from the ‘70s: George Henríquez (keyboards, vocals) and Valerio González (drums, percussion). The other members who worked on the 1977 album “A Traves De La Ventana”, from which our track here is taken, were Alvaro Falcon (guitar – previously of The Love Depression and later of the US band “Junk Mail” along with ex-Bacro guy Luis Emilio Mauri, and UK-based band “Ananta” with other Venezuelan rock veterans Ilan Chester and brothers Jorge and Charly Spiteri), and lastly Sandro Liberatoscioli (bass).

Grupo Pan LP - 1970

Grupo Pan - Daicy (1970)

Grupo Pan began in Caracas in 1969. They released the album “Pan” (1970) in which they fused hard rock sounds with Latin rhythms, with a strong use of percussion and wind instruments. After numerous changes in formation, they recorded further singles  “Caliente/Dices” (1972) and “Canción para un stranger/Comunícate” (1972), and after participating in various festivals and concerts, they split in 1973. Initial members were Carlos "Nene" Quintero (rhythm guitar, percussion, voice and prolific music figure in many later bands), his brother Jesús "Chu" Quintero (voice, rhythm guitar, bass – later of Ofrenda and “La Retreta Mayor”), Rubén "Micho" Correa (guitar – later of “Tinajas”), Gustavo Colón (drums), Alfredo Padilla (percussion), Armando Carlos Guerra (trombone), David Azuaje (trombone), César Mongue and Henry Kamba (trumpet).

Sietecuero - Rojo Sangre LP (1978)

Sietecuero - Rojo Sangre Y Negro (1978)
This track begins with an evil fuzz lead. The band were all young at the time of making their album "Rojo Sangre" (1978) so didn't have much previous musical experience. Sietecuero remained active for a short time and its members continued their careers in more renowned groups or as soloists, especially Giordano Di Marzo Migani, who became famous in ‘90s Venezuela as “Yordano”, after a song of his was used as the theme for popular TV drama “Por Estas Calles”. The band was made up of Alberto Slezynger (keyboards), Yordano Di Marzo (vocals, guitar), Evio Di Marzo (drums, percussion, vocals, guitar), Rafael Figliuolo (bass), Bartolomé Díaz (guitar, cuatro, coro), Totoño Blanco (congas, voice) and Alberto Borregales (percussion). They mixed rock and jazz with a predominance of Latin rhythms. After recording their album in Puerto Rico, Bartolomé Díaz left the group and Pedro Matute joined as guitarist.

Worst Emotions in 1970 at
Primer Festival de la Canción Rock en Venezuela

Worst Emotions - You Gotta Understand & Busco Un Camino (1969)
This is both sides of the band's single, the opener with a heavy riff that reminds of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and the mellow 'Busco Un Camino'. This band formed in 1968 with Rafael "El Mejicano" Peñalver (lead guitar – previously of Los Dangers), José Luis Pérez (vocals, guitar – previously of Los Delta), José Nahon (bass, backing vocals) and Vitto La Manna (drums, backing vocals). Initially they used the name “The Worst”. In 1969 Rafael Peñalver left the band and César Sánchez Bello joined (guitar, flute, backing vocals – previously of Los Bonnevilles) and Carlos "Charlie" Amaral (keyboards, backing vocals).

Worst Emotions - You Gotta Understand
(b/w) Busco Un Camino (1969)

With this change they became “The Worst Emotions”. They participated in different important events, including the “Happenings 1 - Summer Of Love” concert in Valencia, 1969, along with Los Rangers, LSD and Strawberry Candy Experience (link). They are another of the bands that played the "Primer Festival de la Canción Rock en Venezuela" in 1970 along with some other bands in this volume. They recorded one single “You gotta understand/Busco Un Camino” (1969) and split soon after in 1970 due to personal differences and academic pursuits, becoming one of the first cult rock bands of Venezuela. "You Gotta Understand" reached no. 3 in the national charts.

Estructura band

Estructura - El Regreso (1978)
This set ends on a prog epic that builds to a big finale with some galloping riffs, and it's the only cut to feature female artists. Estructura were another of Venezuela’s early progressive acts. They originated in Maracay in 1977 with members Marisela Pérez (lead vocals), David Maman (keyboards, vocals, main composer), Antonio Rassi (lead guitar, composer), Agni Mogollón (bass, vocals, composer), Domenico Prioretti (drums), Walton de Jongh (percussion, special effects) and María Eugenio Ciliberto (rhythm guitar, acoustic, lyricist). 

Estructura - Mas Allá de Tu Mente LP
1978

Their debut LP was “Mas Allá de Tu Mente” (1978); going with a similar “epic story” concept to Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Center of the Earth or Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. Radio presenter Gustavo Pierral was tasked with narration of the story parts and a choir was also used, directed by Rubén Velasco. In a live setting they played with explosions and special effects on stage, along with a forty-member choir, breaking new ground in the Venezuelan rock scene.

They recorded a second album in 1980, self-titled, before splitting. I can gladly recommend it as equal to, or maybe better than, the first album, with better production and a heavier guitar sound verging on metal at times!

Gracias por leer,
¡hasta la próxima!
Rich

references

hippitoysuschatarritas | rockhechovenezuela | aditusonline

vtactual | carloszerpa

------------------------------------------------

Related posts:
The Day After The Sabbath 43: Transfusión de Luz [first Latin American collection]

The Day After The Sabbath 84: Liberdade Espacial [first Brazilian special]

The Day After The Sabbath 104: Onsta la Yerbita [first Peruvian special]

The Day After The Sabbath 118: La Fuente del Ritmo [Latin and Chicano rock]
The Day After The Sabbath 137: Tierra del Fuego [Argentina part 1]

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TDATS 143: Arsenic Interview With Bertrand Repellin [French Rock 1978]

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Arsenic in 1977

When researching French bands for the recent TDATS volume 141 (link), I discovered a number of good late-'70s bands that fused hard rock, garage rock and a little new-wave punk attitude. Many of these bands originated in Lyon and the surrounding area, and one of the best was Arsenic, who made a single album that had intriguing cover art. Judging by the name of the band and the album cover, I had a gut-feeling I was going to like this record. There was very little useful information that I could find about Arsenic aside from the printed album details, so after purchasing the album and making some investigations, I made contact with original guitarist and singer of the band, Bertrand Repellin. 

He has very kindly answered a few questions about Arsenic, with help from the rest of the band including guitarist Jérôme Savy, and I am very happy to post them here for volume 143. The story is an interesting one with ups and downs, one of which I found quite shocking regarding the band's manager, the real stuff of rock n' roll lore indeed!

Arsenic in 1980

The album and band is simply named Arsenic, and was released on a small French label called Verseau, about which more will be revealed below. The album has a good variety of sounds, ranging from the hard rock of the opening and closing tracks, a great come-down ballad in Three Days With The Flip, to some rocking n' rolling blues with Sweet Mary and even a few touches of electronica in Emergency Exit and Mister X's Dream. I particularly like the way the album succeeds in using a wide variety of different instrumentation, tone and mood, from one song to the next. Heavy guitar, Moog, bottle slide guitar, acoustic guitar, blues piano & harmonica, multiple forms of percussion, it all works and keeps the album sounding fresh right up until the end.

Front and Back LP cover

             Track list and timestamps

             00:00 - A1 - Nameless
             02:35 - A2 - Going To London
             05:32 - A3 - I Feel So Happy
             08:17 - A4 - Tipsy Girl
             10:59 - A5 - Emergency Exit

             14:12 - B6 - Mister X's Dream
             16:58 - B7 - Sweet Mary
             20:32 - B8 - Three Days With The Flip
             24:27 - B9 - Never More

Interview with Bertrand Repellin

Bertrand in 2022

Q1. Hi Bertrand, firstly thanks very much for doing this! What sparked the formation of Arsenic, and why did you decide to specialise in guitar?

Bertrand: The history of the group Arsenic is unusual because we met at the age of 12 (1972/73) in the same class in a school in Lyon. We came from middle class families, not all of us particularly music lovers, but we quickly shared our taste for the pop-rock music of those years. Our friendship and our beginnings as musicians were practically built together, and the idea of forming a music group came quickly, almost before we learned any instruments.

Arsenic in 1977

I decided to learn the guitar, an emblematic but also practical instrument, another (Jérôme) also turned to the guitar. Another (Christophe-Pierre) who had tried the snare drum, chose the drums, another (Pascal) whose father played the organ in church, chose the keyboards. Another (Thierry) offered to play the bass, and here was Arsenic. It's worth noting, when recalling the genesis of the group, that our strong musical identity was forged thanks to this. The music, the spirit of Arsenic, that of a "real" band, is the fruit of this early meeting, this common learning, and this great friendship which has linked us, and still does today.

Arsenic in 1977

Q2. What inspired the name “Arsenic”?

The name was found quite quickly for what it represents, its sound, its simplicity, and its international readability.

Q3. What musical scenes and artists were the newly-formed Arsenic enjoying and listening to?

We were still children at the beginning of our meeting, each one had varying culture & musical tastes. For some of us, it was the records of our big sisters and brothers. Pop, rock, rhythm 'n blues, mainly English and American. In addition to the "old" rock & roll classics, our references were the main big bands of the time such as: The Stones, Beatles & The Who, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Creedence and Led Zeppelin....and all the bands present at the Woodstock festival. We had to wait until we were a bit older to get parental permission to go and see these bands live! Our musical tastes and influences grew over time, and as we matured, each of us developed our own preferences in rock, pop, progressive rock, blues and country rock...

Arsenic on stage

Q4. Did Arsenic play any gigs or festivals that you can tell us about? 

For the anecdote, our first public performance at 14 years old was a concert for an association of deaf and hard of hearing people, where we were asked to turn down the volume that was judged too loud! Then, we really started to perform at the age of 15 (1976) in various venues in Lyon with mainly a repertoire of covers (Stones, Beatles, Chuck Berry, classic rock...) and some early  original compositions. We quickly moved-on to only playing original titles.

Q5. Which bands were playing along with Arsenic at these shows?

Between 1977 and 1980 we played in larger venues in the Lyon region, notably in front of a university amphitheatre full of 1200 spectators for the release of our record. Otherwise, we often shared stages with important French bands, Rock or New Wave, when the city of Lyon was named "Capital of Rock" by the press. For example, a night concert in an ephemeral but mythical club, the Rock and Roll Mops (link), with the leading French bands of the time, like Téléphone, Bijoux, Ganafoul, Jacques Higelin, Starshooter....

[Editor: Here's a few quotes regarding the Rock and Roll Mops club in Lyon. "...a group of enthusiasts led by the Demonet brothers tried to create a place dedicated to rock: this would be the mythical adventure of Rock'n'Roll Mops, which opened its doors in the spring of 1978."

"The Rock'n'roll Mops will consist of three rooms: one with 800 seats, another with 250 and the last one which will be able to accommodate a hundred people, all spread over three floors with lots of nooks everywhere […] It will be the sanctuary of hard and soft rock, the home of blues and country, the haven of new wave and blues rhythm. Other music will certainly find its place there, it's up to them […] Local groups, refine your riffs, check your balance, polish your brass, the Lyon scene awaits you”."

"Two months of intense and memorable concerts saw Jacques Higelin, Telephone and the Lyon groups Starshooter, Electric Callas and Marie et les Garçons take to the stage. The place is transformed into a temple of rock and new-wave and attracts a young and numerous audience."

Facing administrative closure the same year it opened, Electric Callas, Marie et les Garçons, Bijou, Starshooter, Telephone, Ganafoul and many others took the stage for the final show at the Mops.]

Q6. How did Arsenic get recorded by the Verseau label?

We were able to make this album thanks to a meeting with Farid ZaÏche, a personality from the Lyon artistic scene. He noticed us and became our manager, and quickly proposed to record and release an album by creating his Label, “Verseau”.

 The band with Farid ZaÏche (on right)

Q7. Could you please confirm the band members of Arsenic who recorded your self-titled album, and tell us about the guest musicians like Noel and Antoine, mentioned on the album?

Images from rear cover

Arsenic core band were:

Guitar, Vocals - Bertrand Repellin

Guitar - Jérôme Savy

Bass - Thierry Monod

Drums -  Christophe-Pierre Dupraz 

Keyboards - Pascal Viscardi 

Our guest musicians for the LP recording were:

Bongos, Maracas - Noel Kapoudjian

Bottleneck slide guitar - Antoine Stacchetti

Harmonica - Jean-Yves Astier

Noël Kapoudjian, playing in 'Slaughter and the
Dogs' at UK Rebellion Punk fest c.2014

Noël Kapoudjian was a professional drummer and percussionist of the highest level. He played with various musicians or groups of different styles, rock or jazz. He came to bring his percussions on several titles. He unfortunately passed away a few years ago. Antoine Stacchetti is a guitarist, specialised in baroque folk and blues. He brought acoustic rhythm and bottleneck parts. Jean-Yves Astier was the bassist of the band Ganafoul (link), he played the harmonica part on Never More. These three experienced musicians, older than us, were and are also friends.

They brought a complementary touch on some songs, but never played with us in concert. And we thank them and other relatives for their valuable support, because they had driving licences and cars and often accompanied us and carried the instruments to the studio sessions and concert halls! Some of these older friends, whom we were particularly close to, visual artists, former students of the fine arts, also brought us a rich artistic opening beyond rock and roll...

Arsenic in 1977

Q8. Could you explain "also brought us a rich artistic opening beyond rock and roll" further?

The recording of the album was enriched by the contribution of experienced musicians: Antoine Stacchetti and Geni Detto for the acoustic guitars and their arrangements, Noël Kapoudjian with the percussions... But apart from recording the disc, we often were with friends who were a decade older than us, who were jazz musicians, folk musicians, avant-garde visual artists or both. They liked our youth and our talent, and they introduced us to styles of expression other than rock and roll. Contemporary art in painting, Frank Zappa or John Renbourn in music, for example. It didn't influence our pop rock music directly, but it opened us up intellectually. In fact, even if we were mostly part of the "classic" rock scene in Lyon at the end of the 1970s, more so than the punks and other "new waves", we didn't belong to any fashion or chapel.

Bertrand, 1978

Q9. When and where did you record the Arsenic album?  What are your memories of recording the album, and the equipment you used?

Thanks to Farid Zaïche who managed the whole project, we recorded this album during the summer of 1978 at the Cybernis studio. A 16-track analogue studio isolated in the countryside in the Rhône Alpes region. The electric guitars were two beautiful Fender Stratocasters and a Fender Music Master plugged into a Hiwatt 50W amplifier, with no intermediate effects pedal other than distortion, sometimes, and plugged directly into the console for the clean sounds. The bass was a Fender Precision bass, plugged directly into the console. Orange (?) drums. Keyboards: Grand piano, Würlitzer electric piano and Moog synthesizer. Various percussion instruments by Noël K.

Geny Detto, sound engineer

Q10. What are your memories of other people involved, like producers, engineers etc?

A lot of arrangement work took place during these recordings. Our songs, which were quite "raw", were reworked under the influence of Geny Detto, the sound engineer, and Farid. This careful production gave our songs a more "mainstream" dimension. We improved in precision, melodic and harmonic details, and structures. Were the original interpretations as on the pre-record demo more authentic and representative of pure and raw Arsenic? Perhaps. But our demo tape won't tell us, it has disappeared... 

Geny Detto was an "old-fashioned" sound engineer, guitarist and arranger, having collaborated with Graeme Allwright among others. But we can say that he did a very good job.

1979

Q11. What was the creative process for writing songs?

Our creative process was quite classic. The start of a new song was based on an idea of riffs, a sequence of chords, a theme from one of the two guitarists. The rest was built together in rehearsal. It was up to the singer to find his melodies, the keyboardist, bassist and drummer their parts, the guitarists their solos and their respective interventions always complementary and balanced. A rich alchemy operated thanks to this musical and human connivance that linked us. As a singer, I (Bertrand) wrote the lyrics. We were teenagers, so the themes were either the problems of a young person in society, at school, everywhere. The abstract desire for somewhere else, for an absolute love. The refusal to be ensconced in the reality of society. In the form of poetry that sometimes flirts with the romantic-fantasy (Nameless, Mister X's dream, Never More, Emergency exit).

1979

Q12. Arsenic’s music is very good. "Nameless" is fast and heavy. Did you really want to go to London, like the lyrics in "Going to London", and who was the "Tipsy Girl"?

Tipsy Girl is nobody in particular, probably a girl drunk with the chaotic world around her. The idea for “Going to London” came from our vision of this city as the place for music as we loved it, where it comes from and lives, where the "real" bands are. Like a desire to escape to an elsewhere that we imagine to be better. “Three Days With The Flip” simply tells the story of one of us having a bad trip after consuming "hallucinogenic" substances. Knowing that we weren’t very wise in this respect compared to other bands we knew. Drugs and groupies were not part of our daily life!

Q13. Why did you choose to sing in English?

The English language was a given for rock bands at that time, with its sound that fits so well with the style. Writing and singing "well" in French is not gifted to everyone, few bands dared to do it, at the risk of "doing french variety".

Jérôme Savy in 2022

Q14. Do you have any favourite Arsenic songs? Can you remember anything about playing any of them, ones which were hard to play, or most fun to play for instance?

Bertrand: I don't have a favourite song. I really see this album as a whole where each song has its own atmosphere, its own quality and its own reason to exist. Difficult or fun? I would say neither, but I don't know anymore, it's far away...

Jérôme Savy: I particularly like “Mister X's Dream” for its guitar parts, the crazy notes and sound of the Moog synthetiser, and the title of this track.

1979

Q15. What inspired the LP cover art? I see that it's attributed to Nicole Besacier and Sophie Dargacha. Did you know these people?

Farid Zaïche was in charge of making the album cover. Once again, we trusted him, as we had no idea on the matter (the idea was still to show something else than five guys in the street...). Nicole Besacier and Sophie Dargacha were two beginner graphic designer friends of his. We didn't really know them. The first project was based on a beautiful female face taken from a magazine, but it could not be retained because of a lack of authorization. The final result earned us some mockery from our artist friends who found it a bit childish. But personally, I like it and I think it fits well with our music, and it makes me think of the title Mister X's dream... But I have to admit that the back cover looks very amateurish!

Q16. What happened after the album was released? Was it widely released or just in limited numbers? 

The album was released in September 1978, with a rather small print run, a few thousand copies? We don't know the exact number that were sold. It was very well-received by the public and the press, but unfortunately only at a local level, as it was not released internationally.

It lacked the next step of wider distribution and promotion with a major company. In fact, we were 17 years old, still at school, a bit too naive, we trusted our manager Farid, without worrying enough about the details of things and the accounts. When one day we asked him for explanations, he didn't really answer, and then shortly afterwards disappeared... It was through the newspaper, with an article and his photo between two Italian policemen, that we learned that he had tried unsuccessfully to hijack a plane from Rome to Tunis, demanding the release of Tunisian political prisoners!

1980

Q17. How much longer did the Arsenic band exist?

After some contacts between us and Farid from his prison in Palermo, we knew that he had been extradited to Tunisia. Then, silence. It is assumed that he was eliminated there... This event broke our momentum a bit, we had trouble bouncing back. We continued until 1981; without Pascal Viscardi, the keyboard player having left the band sometime after the release of the record, but we started again with French compositions, because in the meantime, the record companies had begun to only sign French songs, after the success of the groups like Téléphone and others. But, in spite of the ever-present concert successes, a good evolution of our songs, promising new titles and demos; the absence of a manager, a certain disillusionment and wear and tear took the group's toll.

1980

Q18. What happened after the demise of Arsenic?

When Arsenic broke up, Jérôme joined the group Carte de Séjour (link1, link2). [Editor: Carte de Séjour had success throughout the 1980s]

I (Bertrand) put together a group that didn't last, with Thierry, Christophe-Pierre and a female singer. Then I had various musical adventures and am now a TV sound engineer. Thierry Monod became a lawyer, Christophe-Pierre a show manager. Jérôme is a teacher of modern music. Our strong friendship never wavered throughout the years that followed Arsenic, seeing each other regularly, each having kept the love of our instruments and of music. Unfortunately, Christophe-Pierre has left us, he passed away in January 2019

2017 Arsenic reunion
(l-r) Thierry Monod, Bertrand Repellin, Christophe-Pierre Dupraz (R.I.P), Jérôme Savy

So that wraps it up for volume 143, I would like to extend thanks to Bertrand and the rest of the band for their time and effort in making this volume possible. 

See you on the next one!
Rich

© Richard Sheppard / aftersabbath.blogspot.com

Some more Arsenic commentary can be found at these places:

rock6070.com | francerock70 | rockmadeinfrance.com

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Volume 127: Blue Planet interview with Art Bausch
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Roy Rutanen interview 
Volume 119: Panda interview with Jaap van Eik
Volume 111: Cobra interview with Rob Vunderink

All interviews posted so far can be seen here.

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