Pop Funk

Serge Gainsbourg - You're Under Arrest (1987) {Mercury Records - Vinyl Replica Reissue 2011 Set, CD 11of12}
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© 1987, 2011 Mercury / Universal | 277 164-8
Rock / Pop / Funk / International / Chanson / French Pop / Synth Pop

You're Under Arrest, Gainsbourg's final album, was another collaboration with American Billy Rush in New Jersey. It's difficult to say what Rush was going for here with Gainsbourg. There's the feeling that Rush was taken with both Nile Rodgers' Chic and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (especially with the "hugh, hugh, hugh" in the refrains). These are overly slick funk tunes that border on both new wave and rap, and seem to leave the subtle ironies of Gainsbourg's demented lyrics behind – which is too bad because this record is a step up lyrically from Love on the Beat.

The Les Humphries Singers was a large group of session type singers that provided a grand vocal choir sound. The group sound was a mixture of pop, rhythm and blues, gospel, soul and early commercial Disco…

No fan of classic funk (or of the "rare groove" school of dance music) will be able to look at this album without starting to drool – the period-piece cover art; the Jimmy Walker hats and bell-bottoms; and the presence of such magic names as Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Bobby Byrd and Clyde Stubblefield (not to mention the insanely funky bassist Bootsie Collins who is better known as a charter member of Parliament/Funkadelic but is also a J.B.'s alumnus) – all of it will lead the perceptive groovehound to anticipate an hour or so of irresistibly booty-shaking funk. And that's exactly what you get: no frills, no synthesizers, basically no acknowledgement of change in the pop music world. From the greasy "Do the Doo" to the CD bonus track, "Mistakes and All," which ends the program, Bring the Funk on Down delivers almost nothing but hardcore, horn-heavy old-school funk (with a couple of brief and uninspiring excursions into ballad territory another James Brown tradition). Highlights include the slowly simmering title track and the archetypal "Born to Groove" but the album is really pretty consistent. The only downside is the absence of Maceo Parker who plays only on the final track. Highly recommended.