Wait, what? How's that for a head-scratching post title! I came across this video a while ago—a French band from the late 70s called Killdozer (no relation to the noted American group of the same name), doing a pretty blazing cover of the Countours' R&B classic: "First I Look at the Purse". The song was later (1970) covered by the J. Geils Band, whom this Killdozer sorta sounds like, only... French-ier. Actually, as much as I love me some old J. Geils records (surprised?), I have to give props to Killdozer for the trace amounts of punky sneer they bring to the mix. Maybe this is what the Saints or Ivy Green would've sounded like had they been on Motown.
I just wasted five minutes looking for info on French Killdozer, and all I really learned is that they had a couple albums, and also have a song about Fela Kuti. It's not as good as "First I Look at the Purse", but you can check it out here. If you see the Killdozer record with this song on it at the WFMU Record Fair this weekend (for $2 or less, of course), please buy it and think of me.
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