LACQUER MASTER Jane Birkin/Gainsbourg JE T'AMIE Demo LP

$

106

WOW.

----circa 1969----

An original Master Recording of the

"Sexiest song ever recorded"

Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg "Je T'Amie...Moi Non Plus"

Original Black Lacquer Master/Demo Recording circa 1969 Warner Bros (75 Rockefeller Plaza NY,NY on label).  Exceptionally rare studio demo/master of what has been called the "sexiest song ever recorded".  These "lacquer masters" were cut live as the musicians played.  Lacquer masters are aluminum disc center with black lacquer recording surface.  Blank (no grooves - just lacquer) 2 hole backside on this one - (center hole for playback and offset hole for recording device) please see photo.   Usually bands would play the song a few times in the studio - each version creating a master, and then they would pick the best master version for editing, demo, promo and, eventually, duplication/release on vinyl.  Masters usually have just 1 song per disc.  This Lacquer Master Demo is indeed 1 song only...the worldwide hit ...  "JE T'AMIE...MOI NON PLUS".  This song was banned across most of europe.  US radio wouldn't spin it either..  I have no idea how many masters of this track were cut during the session (how many times they played/recorded the song).  Not a lot.  1 to 4 was typical.   I don't own the actual released version to compare against this one.  I am assuming (based on where I got this disc and what else was with it) that this is a lost version - NEVER RELEASED and probably heard by about 20 people ever.  It may be the master for the released version - but that is improbable.  It is certainly similar.  It could be a lacquer studio dupe of the released master for exec demo.  Again, I do not know.   Either way it is 1 rare disc.  Recorded at 45 rpm - highest quality.  Playback is 45 rpm and disc is 10".   I have spun this 1 time ever for an audio check and to verify the label description as authentic.   IT IS THE REAL DEAL...complete with moaning...

Condition:  Plays Clean.  No Skips.  Some scratches to lacquer.  Couple audible pops/flaws and light background noise, none of which cause skip or groovelock.  Could stand a cleaning maybe.  I ain't touchin' condition.  Label has faint mottling - please see photos.  Grade is VG+.  Outstanding for age.  Original white sleeve is torn up but will be included.

Important note for bidders:  After speaking with several individuals across the country regarding the sale of these master recordings (we have several for sale this week starting Sunday) I have found that I cannot just auction off the discs.  I am in legal possession of them but I do not own the rights, and therefore, cannot sell them.  I can, however, give them FOR FREE to the high bidder.   What, praytell, are you bidding on?  You are bidding on my storage services!  (This is how masters are moved legally - I don't need the wrath of WB).  I have stored this master for about 8 years now, along with the others, in climate controlled storage/non-smoking home.  Who ever pays us the most (read-winning bidder) for our exemplary storage services will recieve the Birkin/Gainsbourg master as described - for free!  The legal rights to the song, however, belong to Warner Bros, Jane and Serge.  You cannot lawfully reproduce this for sale without their permission.  You can play it and freak out, but you can't release it yourself and make money.  This is for your personal collection.  This will be the centerpiece.

You will never see this again unless you win. 

Good luck. 

Please check my feedback and bid with confidence.  Quality goods, accurate descriptions, professional packing and rapid shipment.  All items ship within 48 hours of completed payment.  If you have any questions please ask.  Please check our other "items for sale" as we are slowly selling off 30+ years of cool stuff.  Thanks for looking and take it easy.

Shipping/handling includes insurance, tracking and delivery confirmation. 

If you don't already know...here's what you're getting into...

The original LP Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg (also known as Je t'aime... moi non plus) is an album featuring duets and solo performances by Jane Birkin and her lover, Serge Gainsbourg. It was released in 1969 and included the worldwide hit "Je T'Amie...Moi Non Plus", which achieved its fame for its salacious lyrics against a background of female moaning and groaning, culminating in an orgasm at the song's conclusion (this led to rumours that it is the result of the couple actually engaging in sex during the recording of the song – although it hardly would be possible to record a song that way).

In January of 1969 (after DeSade but before Prince) a song exploded in the face of an unsuspecting pop universe -- "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus." The singer-provocateur: Serge Gainsbourg. Partner in crime: English actress (Blow Up ) and hearthrob, Jane Birkin. The effect: mayhem and scandal. The magnitude: somewhere between Elvis' censored pelvis and the tragedy at Altamont. Journalists, world politicians, even the Pope condemned the song as immoral. There were calls for stricter censorship, the review of pop lyrics. The single was banned in Sweden, Spain, Brazil, and Britain. The Vatican implores the Italian government to banish it. Philips is forced to stop pressing the disc. The slack is however, instantly taken up by various black market firms. It appears in 8 languages including Japanese. And with every shrill denunciation comes increased sales, exceeding 2 million by winter's end. Gainsbourg is one of Europe's biggest pop acts.

Bardot felt that «Je t'aime... moi non plus» was too daring and prevented it from being released. Gainsbourg, of course, found someone else.

British actress Jane Birkin was not at all put off by «Je t'aime...moi non plus». She made her mark in world cinema three years earlier in Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blow-Up. Her part in film was small, but featured nudity that was extremely daring by Anglo-American standards.

«Je t'aime... moi non plus», version Gainsbourg-Birkin was released in 1968. Canal+ journalist Marc Toesca described the reaction to the song as follows: "Surprise et succè en France. Mais les soupires et halètements provoquent un scandale... chez nos prudes voisines anglais." The outcry was such that the original label in England, Fontana, dropped the record despite its being number 2 on the charts. A small company, Major Minor, immediately bought the rights and saw the song climb to Number 1, the only French song to ever do so.

Here in the States, there was never a question of putting the song on the radio. It may have been the era of free speech and free love, but not on the American air waves. It wasn't the lyrics to the song that caused the trouble - after all it was sung in French, but one listen to even a breif passage and you'll understand!

ENJOY!!!

OKAY!!!...Sounds like somebody knows whats going on...just recieved this email:

Je t'Aime was recorded at Marble Arch Studios in London onto magnetic tape. While 'direct to disc' cuts were the norm before the WWII and the development of tape, and some tiny audiophile studios continued the practice in the seventies and eighties, recording to tape was standard practice for all studios until the advent of digital technology. Can you imagine the Beatles cutting Sgt Pepper direct to disc, live in the studio? What you have is a lacquer master (or acetate as they are also called) made in the US under licence from Philips, cut from a copy of the original tape, from which the metal work for the vinyl disc would be produced. Space is limited for further discription of the mechanical process, but suffice it to say it includes electroplating the lacquer disc with silver. I hope you find this enlightening and you are encouraged to look deeper into the art of record production. Feel free to include this message on your listing.

THANKS SO MUCH for the info.  AWESOME.