Je’taime... moi non plus by Kahuna Kawentzmann
The original verison was the only big international hit for Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. It reached #1 on the UK singles chart in 1969 after it was banned for including some risqué references to kidneys.
Kawentzmann writes:
I
play guitar since I was a kid in Wedel, northern Germany. I wanted to
be like Elvis, he was all over the place, even though he had just gone.
When I was 13 I bought my first electric. Soon I started overdub recording,
first with compact cassette tapes, later with reel- to-reel, because I
didn’t meet kids who would play that oldfashioned Rock’n’Roll,
or any other type of music.
In my last year in school I eventually started a band to play modern Rockabilly/Psychobilly.
This went for two and half years. We were called The Wizards, later
The Swyng Jacks. Then I studied graphic design and recorded Surfin’
strumentals on the weekends.
During the final semesters I revived the Swyng Jacks as a live
band and we started gigging in Hamburg. That band turned into The Looney
Tunes, when we recorded our debut LP for String Records, also from
Hamburg. Two more albums, a small number of 7''s and some compilations
later that band disbanded in 1998.
Then I joined other bands - first The Golden Toast Quartet, who
played great exotic soul jazz, and then I became The Mobylettes organ
player for a year. During this year I also started my longest running
project yet: Kahuna Kawentzmann.
As Kahuna Kawentzmann I have released several tracks on compilations
(Mojo Club, Oriental Club, American Graffiti Revisited, Hair, and
a
45 for Stark Reality in London). You can also write
me a mail to get a copy of my unreleased album The Tiki
& The Guitar. That name was originally my dj-name, and I still
use it when I get to spin surf, exotica, now-sound and groovejazz and
your nearest Tikibar. The next thing that is to be finished is a soundtrack
to a documentation dvd.
Why
the tune?
I recorded Je’taime… because the idea of unusual covers
is to give a different meaning or twist to the tunes. Also the theme of
love is a rare one in surf music. To me it was the goal to get the vibe
when you sit at the beach and just think: I love surfing, I love the sea,
I love life. It’s give and take, just like between sex-partners or
any kind of lovers. The well known original hit-version lies underneath
- mentally, you can’t just shake it off. So when you cover a world
hit you can use that foundation for the benefit of your recording. It’s
all sex, and love and groaning…err… breaking waves?!
Somebody realised a long time ago: Surfing is making sex with the sea.
What picture is more suitable then a guy locked in? It’s real, it’s
not a metaphor.