Free Secret History of Rock. The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard by Roni Sarig Page B

And apart from his brief return to the pop charts, it was there it stayed.
    In the ‘70s, Walker half-heartedly explored light country pop on forgotten records such as The Moviegoer and We Had It All . He briefly re-formed the Walker Brothers for three albums in the mid-‘70s, and scored a U.K. hit with Tom Rush’s No Regrets . Tracks like The Electrician , a 1978 song about the torture of prisoners in South Africa, proved Scott’s songwriting as strong as ever and marked his advance into a more Bowie/Roxy Music mold.
    For most of the past two decades, though, Walker has quietly concentrated on the solitary art of painting, away from public life. Twice, though, he has emerged with a new recording, and both have been as opaque and unorthodox as any music being currently produced. Climate of Hunter , in 1984, put Walker’s moody, expressive vocals to use in a series of nebulous, ambient songs. And in 1995, Tilt came out of nowhere with an experimental pop opus – at times cinematic, at others industrial – that proves Scott Walker has not yet ceased to develop artistically.
    Will Oldham, Palace:
    Tilt hardly even has a tangential relationship to any thing you could describe in real life, which is pretty cool. It exists absolutely on a plane of its own, but it helps you recognize that there is a musical plane that doesn’t have anything to do with any physical activity, or almost even with the medium itself.

    DISCOGRAPHY
    Scott (Philips [UK], 1967) ; the solo debut, full of terrific material and great singing.
    Scott 2 (Philips [UK], 1968) ; a record that further solidifies Walker as a first-rate song stylist and composer.
    Scott 3 (Philips [UK], 1969) ; an album coming at the peak of his success, but alluding to a more experimental direction.
    Scott 4 (Philips [UK], 1969) ; the start of Walker’s slide toward obscurity, and his most challenging of the early solo albums.
    Till the Band Comes in (Philips [UK], 1970) ; a slight return to former styles.
    The Moviegoer (CBS, 1972) ; the first of a series of forgettable records, with country pop and bland standards.
    Any Day Now (CBS, 1973) ; see above.
    We Had It All (CBS, 1974) ; see above.
    Climate of Hunter (Virgin, 1984) ; a surprisingly up-to-date and challenging return from self-imposed reclusion.
    Fire Escape in the Sky: The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker (100, 1981) ; compiled by Walker devotee, musician Julian Cope.
    No Regrets: The Best of Scott Walker and the Walker Brothers (Fontana [UK], 1992) ; the only collection to include solo and Walker Brothers material together.
    It’s Raining Today (Razor & Tie, 1996) ; an excellent collection with key tracks culled from the first five albums, it’s the only domestically available collection of Walker’s early solo work.
    Tilt (Fontana [UK], 1995; Drag City, 1997) ; critically adored recent return, available domestically on influential ‘90s indie label Drag City.

    SERGE GAINSBOURG
    Beck [from Interview magazine, April 1997]:
    I’ve always been interested in entertainers in other countries who aren’t acknowledged here – for example, the Frank Sinatra of Chile. So I had that kind of appreciation for Serge... [T]he content of his songs was pretty risque – even for France. Which is what also endeared him to me. He expressed himself with such a mixture of disgust and passion. The combination is very tantalizing, and very ‘90s... [Also], I’m rhythmically oriented, and a lot of his stuff was rhythmically based. He was very interested in African beats and Brazilian songs. He worked in many genres, and I do the same thing. He looked at music as a palette.
    Starting in the late ‘50s and continuing for decades, Serge Gainsbourg wrote and performed music – from cool jazz to slick disco, from mannered cha-cha to stylish mod beats – with lyrics that shocked, angered, and thrilled audiences in his native France. With his impeccably crafted songs, full of cynicism as well as humor – Gainsbourg chronicled the