"La bise aux hippies"
La Bise aux hippies - B.B. en duo avec Sacha Distel December 1968.
On New Year's Eve 1967, French TV broadcast a special colour programme devoted to B.B. - 'Le Bardot Show'. Years before its time, it effectively consisted of a collection of video-clips, which made an incredible impression on the French public - who have the chance to revive their memories, as the show is now available on video. Of the dozen songs she sang, nearly half were specially commissioned. They were released first of all on the soundtrack LP, "Brigitte Bardot Show", which was where disc-buyers first heard that quintessential Bardot vehicle: Serge Gainsbourg's "Harley-Davidson". This celebration of an unusual variation on the eternal triangle - woman, love and the motorcycle - had been delivered on TV as Bardot perched, legs astride, on a Harley, conjuring up all sorts of mental apparitions for impressionable male viewers. Adding to the sexual appeal, Bardot was pictured on the sleeve of the LP (and the spin-off EP) virtually naked, but carefully masked by a layer of wrapping-paper. Fans declared the design a masterpiece.
Gainsbourg himself recorded"Harley-Davidson" in later years, while a more unusual cover of the song came in 1987 from the boldly-named post-punk outfit, the Bollock Brothers. But that wasn't the only outstanding number in the TV show. The steamy Gainsbourg/Bardot duet "Bonnie & Clyde" also won much applause, and was released as the title track of a Fontana LP and EP, both reprising numbers from the two artists' back catalogues. Another duet should have been included on that Fontana LP: "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus". At the end of 1967, Gainsbourg (who was enjoying a brief affair with Bardot) penned the ultimate statement of eroticism for the couple, which they duly recorded that December. But after the two lovers split up, Brigitte and her German millionaire husband, Gunther Sachs, insisted that the track should remain in the vaults. Gainsbourg had no choice but to agree. It wasn't for another year that he revived the song, this time recording it with the English actress Jane Birkin in London - and scoring a worldwide hit (and scandal) in 1969. Brigitte must have realised that the novel taste of international success that brought Birkin as a singer could have been hers.
In 1986, Bardot eventually gave her permission for the original recording to be released. Slightly remixed, it was issued as a 7" and 12" single - and was virtually ignored by the public, who were perfectly happy with the existing Jane Birkin version. With its original mix, the Bardot/Gainsbourg duet finally appeared on the complete CD set of Gainsbourg's recordings in 1989.
In December 1968, Bardot's TV show was broadcast in the States. The programme's U.S. sponsor, Burlington, prepared a promo album for the occasion, titled "Special Bardot". It's been a highly sought-after record ever since, as it includes a Bardot/Sacha Distel duet, "La Bise Aux Hippies", which has never been reissued. In addition, thre were two English-language recordings with Serge Gainsbourg (also pressed on a French export single): "Bonnie & Clyde" and "Comic Strip", on which Bardot handled a response vocal that had been sung by an English session singer on the original French version.
BB TIMELINE
1934: Born 28 September in Paris, France. Father is Louis Bardot
1952: Makes screen debut in Le Trou normand. Marries Roger Vadim
1956: Appears in classic film, Vadim's And God Created Woman. Salary: $15,000
1957: Divorces Roger Vadim
1959: Marries Jacques Charrier
1960: Birth of son, Nicholas Charrier
1962: Divorces Charrier
1963: Works with Jean-Luc Godard in Contempt
1965: Appears with Jeanne Moreau in Louis Malle's Viva Maria. Appears as herself in one scene only in Dear Brigitte with James Stewart
1966: Marries Gunter Sachs
1969: Divorces Sachs
La bise or le bisou means kiss: French friends and acquaintances exchange kisses on alternating cheeks upon meeting and separating. Two people introduced by a mutual friend may also faire la bise, particularly kids and young adults. The number of kisses and the side that the kisses start on vary by region and by other factors that are more difficult to pin down. * Two bises (one on each cheek) is the most common, exchanged between family and friends of all ages as well as between people of the same age who are introduced by friends or family. * Three bises is common in Provence. In addition, a friend of mine in Rouen gave me three bises the day I arrived and the day I left, but only two during the week in between. * Four kisses are exchanged in Nantes. This may sound confusing - it is! In my experience, the best thing to do is just hold still and let the French person do the bises; whenever I try to anticipate how many kisses or which side to start on, I mess it up. :-)