Dick Dale - The French Connection

Sad to hear of the death of Dick Dale the other day. He was one of the original guitar legends, a player whose work established the guitar as the go-to instrument for rock 'n' roll and anticipated decades of guitar heros efrom then on.

Dale might be remembered as the King of Surf Guitar, but his unique style anticpiated both punk rock and the guitar heroes of the decades that followed.

For a guy present at the birth of rock 'n' roll, he deserved the critical acclaim bestowed on him later in his career. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to see one of the original pioneers live, with a tour of the UK following his Calling up Spirits album.  And it wasn't just a nostalgia act he put on, but a show with all the vigour and edge you could hope for.

Few musicians could be listed as influences on both Frank Zappa and the Cramps. Generations of garage bands have cut their teeth on Dale's tunes, in France as much as elsewhere. His guitar stylings still ringing out in contemporary French bands like La Femme.

   

Dale's Misirlou is maybe best known for its place in the soundtrack for Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, but it also played a significant part in the film Taxi.

The opening scene of the movie takes a cover version of Dale's signature track and uses it to soundtrack a pizza delivery scooter in Marseilles. It's like an absurd action movie chase sequence, with all the cinematic panache of a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster but with a very French comedic flavour. Like Claude Lelouch's C'était un rendez-vous remade under the influence of a Dominos pizza.


Taxi, released in 1998, came after Tarantino exposed Dale's version of the tune to an international audience. Pretty much everone seeing Taxi would be familiar with it, its presence working as a knowing nod to cutting edge American cinema (with a retro-hip soundtrack) but with the visuals placing it in a very everyday French context, albeit one that is filmed with all the conventions and technical know-how of a glossy production.

Taxi was a massive film in France and internationally, inspiring a long-running franchise and an American remake. But the opening scene established the film to its audience and Dick Dale's music helped make much of this impact.