Motives! Chantes de Lutte (Songs of Struggle)
Tactikollectif
LCR-Tactikollectif
Available from Resistance Bookshops (addresses page 2)
Review by Stan Demidjuk
Motives!, in French, means to be or become motivated and on this CD it means "Mobilise!". Motives! Songs of Struggle is a remarkable example of cultural and political action, and solidarity between artists, revolutionaries and the public. It is a vibrant exercise in socialist self-management.
About two years ago, Tactikollectif, one of the numerous neighbourhood collectives that abound in the city of Toulouse, approached their local branch of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), with an ambitious project.
Tactikollectif, which includes members of the urban rock groups Zebda, Fly, the Tox and the neo-flamenco singer Bernando Sandoval, had the idea to record some of the most famous revolutionary songs, adapted and arranged, to suit today's popular musical tastes.
The LCR are very strong in Toulouse and the collective had often worked with the party. They asked the LCR to produce the CD. This meant believing in it and financing it.
The LCR national executive wholeheartedly agreed to participate, splitting the proceeds 50-50. Distribution was managed by the militants of the LCR and the collective.
Two years later, more than 70,000 CDS have been sold at 100 Francs each, almost solely by the two militant networks (and the occasional record shop that sold the CD at cost in solidarity). The CD was such a huge popular success even the bourgeois media could not ignore it, and a flood of interviews and articles have appeared.
Motives! contains a fantastic ska version of the "French Song of the Partisans", a salsa version of the Cuban "Hasta Siempre: Commandante Che Guevara", up-beat renditions of songs from the Spanish Civil War, the Paris Commune, the Nicaraguan Revolution, the Palestinian struggle and the immortal Italian songs "Bella Ciao" and "Bandiera Rossa". All joyfully danceable and soulful.
The history and text of each song appear in the CD's booklet (in French). The dynamic musical presentation of well-known revolutionary songs on Motives! now lead the big left demonstrations throughout France. It is played at every party and progressive club, and regularly heard on radio stations. Zebda's highly politicised albums won four national awards in France last year and it was rated the most popular band amongst French youth.
Tactikollectif write in the Motives! liners notes: "We do not belong to any political party but that does not mean that we refuse political participation. We are adhere to the movement of those who struggle for solidarity between all peoples, for justice and equality for the most disadvantaged. We want to remind everybody that these songs go well beyond just words and melodies. They have accompanied with joy the terrible battles of the past and they remain the hymns of reference for today's and tomorrow's combat. Remain motivated!"