Riviera OverDrive profile picture

Riviera OverDrive

About Me

Riviera Overdrive started, I (Laurent Saint Laurent) think in august 2001....the original plan was to open for Tav Falco & the Panther Burns but they didn't play in Nice that year (neither did they in the following years). My own private personal self and the guy who was drumming back then(Eric Rosso) kept playing together (mostly covers of 50's R'n'R/R'n'B songs) for a while then opened for Deadbolt....at this first show, Jean Piano proposed to join for a while on bass (he only intended to make a two songs video)....we played a few rehearsals with this line-up then Eric Rosso decided to stop playing drums altogether...Jean Piano & I kept on playing together, writing songs (all forgotten now) for a while then found a cool drummer (& cartoonist):Helmut Von Damoniak...this three piece line-up lasted a long while (3 years I think) and we played some cool gigs together (the first one, opening for the Groovie Ghoulies with nothing but feedback and howling, the one before the Kevin K Band, after which we didn't talk to each other for two weeks, the one before Deadbolt & Osaka On Fire, when Helmut & I went after each other and which ended in bloodbath, destroying the ceiling of le Volume....found memories!) and some recordings(a CD, "7 covers" containing seven covers, as the title says was sold at gigs until we grew tired of it....)...then Monsieur Bernard came to add his twisted guitar sounds....in april 2006, due to family commitments, hearing problems and probably tired of playing with such a band of losers, Helmut decided to call it quits (two days before a show) (but he keeps on drawing the posters, when he has time to waste).Cool guy Olivier (now "drummer for hire" in Paris, capital of France and still cool as ice) was nice enough to fill in for that show but declined to take part in such a doomed enterprise (we thanked him with a king size bottle of Jack Daniel's)...Enter Joey 90, who added a lot of power, energy and efficiency to the band (beside being a connoisseur of R'n'R culture without being a "purist" asshole, and lover of Jim Beam whiskey)....the day he joined we started recording but unfortunately the guy who made the recordings went to hospital, then went depressive immediately afterwards (none of us can reach him on the phone & we're worried about his health and hope we're not responsible, by the way)...we played some cool gigs with this line up (opening for the Saints, or "Chris Bailey & his Backing Band" as it should have been called, playing "Rumble" to Michelle Carr's strip tease, blowing Texas Terri Bomb off the stage, being blown away by the Sonic Chicken 4, by Alex Face....)...We disbanded in april 2008, are still friends but dont plan to do anything with this line-up...We recorded a few songs before splitting but they're unmixed at time of writing....there has been a bootleg CD of a show in september of 2006 (opening for country band Speedbuggy) on sale at some shows (recorded by a fan, copied & sold by another, so we didn't have real control but you can ask us for a copy)....( the following videos are from the "Laurent Saint Laurent/Jean Piano/Monsieur Bernard/Joey 90" era)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 9/25/2006
Band Members: Monsieur Bernard (lead guitar & vocals, general bitching & complaining);Joey 90 (keeper of the pace, the GLUE!);Jean Piano (low end buzz, meister of the "visual side");Laurent Saint-Laurent (howling,chaotic dance steps & guitar abuse, pain in the ass)
Influences: John Lee Hooker, Gun Club, Seeds, Ronettes, Benny Joy, Gories, Saints, Moaners, Bo Diddley, Jesus & Marychain, Jerry Lee Lewis, Crime, Link Wray, Desperate R & R, Sin Alley comps, Hound Dog Taylor, Staples Singers, NY Dolls, Cheater Slicks, Fender Precision Bass, Mac Curtis, Violent Femmes, Buddy Holly,Johnny Burnette Rock'n'Roll Trio, second-hand record stores, Vibes, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, alcohol, Johnny Dowd, Warren Smith, most bands we played with, Blind Willie Johnson, Buffalo Bop comps, Flaming Groovies, drinking, Olympics,Harry Crews (band & writer), Jack O. Leroy, Billy Lee Riley, Wilko Johnson, Meteor records,vacuum tubes, Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, Reverb, Bear Family Rock reissues & compilations, Steve Wynn, Ramones, Dicks,Excello records, Little Richard, Rolling Stones, Night Kings, Blacktop, comic books, Dream Syndicate, Coasters,Gibson guitars, Charley Patton, Delmonas, ELECTRIC Bob Dylan (& accoustic, too, I have to admit), JSBX, Virgil, Gene Vincent, Information, Ace records reissues, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Sonics, DTK Fred, Hank Williams (& Hank 3), Hi records, Dick Dale's guitar sound, Beguiled,Imperialrecords, All kinds of books, Ugly Things (mag & comps), Flaming Stars, Them (& post Them Van Morrison), A LOT of Billy Childish related bands, Kent Reissues, Wilson Pickett, Red Bird records, William Berrebi, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Prince Buster, Epiphone Guitars, Scratch Acid, GuitarWolf, Night & Days, Fender amps, Monkeywrench, Michelle Carr, Specialty records, Hot Snakes, Darin Lin Wood, Pussymystic Buzztones, Feel Lucky Punk?!...comp, Railroad Jerk, Pretty Things, borrowed books & records, Red Aunts, Mud Boy & the Neutrons,Telerama (if you've been in Nice during the 80's and early 90's you know I'm not talking about the mag...) current members, Jesus Lizard, Big Mama Thornton, 1st Stooges LP, "Funhouse", "Raw Power", a lot of more or less official Stooges stuff, 5 Gentlemen, We the People, Moorat Fingers, Stompin' comps, Johann Kugelberg,Novanex solid state amplifiers, bad mood, Trailer Bride, Mick Collins,YLC, Wailers (Seattle of course!), Nino Ferrer, Destroy All Monsters, Fortune records, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, sleazy listening, Troggs, Memphis Mao, Larry Williams, Mötörhead, early Gainsbourg, Taupe Film, Sarg records, DISTORTION, Tim Kerr, Elmore James,frustration (I'm not talking about the band, you know...) Solomon Burke, Bob Luman, Birthday Party, Formidable R'n'B, Pussy Galore, Elvis, Feast of Snakes (book & band), André Williams,Oss3, Murder City Devils, Kinks, "classic(=early, sorry guys!) line up" Dum Dum Boys (France), Back from the Grave, Lorette Velvette,Ampeg Amps, Rufus Thomas, Diggin' out comp, SOME Dutronc stuff, jlBassman, Dead Boys, American Death Ray, Tim Warren, les Sirènes, Garage Punk Unknown comps, Big Black, Dale Hawkins, white noise, Die!Baby!Die!, Arab on Radar, Nerves, That'll flat git it comps, Discharge, cheap reissues, Charlie Feathers, Only Ones, bands we've been part of, Testors, Monks, soul music,Blowtops, volume knob, le Volume, Strummin' Mental comps, Howlin'Wolf, Black Flag, Crypt reissues & comps, the Fall, 1st two White Stripes albums, Cramps(& Born Bad comps of course), Liz Brady, love & friendship, Johnny Cash, Nanker Phelge,For the Love of Ivy, Greg Cartwright, Red Devils (Dallas, NOT LA!) Beehive & the Barracudas, the Creation, Hate (label, comic book and feeling) Carl Perkins,old Eva reissues & comps from the 80's, Big Star, Chess records, Baseball Furies, les Coronados, Hagström guitars, Interstellar Villains, MC5, second hand amps, Goner Records, Rock'n'Roll Number 1,good times, Bassholes, Melissa Swingle, Beasts of Bourbon, former members, Burns guitars, Candy Snatchers, Las Vegas Grind comps,Brainbombs, Speedball Baby, Black Snakes, Real Kids, Eddie Cochran,Radiostar Amps (made in Nissa!), Flipper,Big Itch comps, Königsbacher beer, Poison 13, Ozkär Krapo, Misfits, bad times, Alex Face, Butthole Surfers, "Scorpio Rising"( movie & soundtrack), primitive music of all kinds, les Dogs (de Rouen), Nine Pound Hammer, greasy R'n'R, Union Carbide Production, In The Red records, Gibson P-90 pickups, Doctor John, Moko, being stooopid, Gem Super Deluxe Amps, Sun Records, Panther Burns, Pebbles comps, Oblivians, Norton reissues & compilations, Rockets from the Tombs, borrowed amps, '68 Comeback, Nick Prizu, Dentist, Fireworks, Gallon Drunk, LX Chilton, Scientists, Mudhoney, Compulsive Gamblers, Necessary Evils, Hazil Adkins, Stax Records, Honeymoon Killers, Jody Reynolds, Chrome Cranks, Doctor Isaiah Ross, Electric Eels, Reigning Sound, King Sound Quartet... I could go on for hours...probably will, but not today...not even later, maybe...
Sounds Like: Middle aged men in jeans & T-shirts playing quite badly
Record Label: Unsigned

My Blog

Break up, break down

Riviera OverDrive is no longer... maybe we’ll do things together later............it’s sad but it’s such a relief....
Posted by on Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:25:00 GMT

Science Fantasy

We played last night at "Foyer Valrose" (University of Science)...we expected a lot of chemicals but were a bit disappointed (but had lots of beer)...few people showed up, even fewer stayed....we had ...
Posted by on Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:01:00 GMT

Gimme electricity

We were supposed to play in an old town bar last thursday but since the cheap bastards hadn't paid their electricity bills for the las six months, the gig was cancelled...the neighbourood is thankful,...
Posted by on Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:17:00 GMT

5:30 & not THAT drunk

Played tonight at the Volume (as usual)...haven't been paid (as usual)...not drunk (quite unusual)... Tonight there was no other band as we played after the showing of a few short movies...it was rath...
Posted by on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:16:00 GMT

Try to find out by yourself, dummy...

Laurent Saint Laurent' s favorite songs today (tonight to be more accurate):-Sour & Vicious Man (Compulsive Gamblers)-Ain't it Fun (Rockets from the Tombs)-Like Flies on Sherbet (LX Chilton)-Jack on F...
Posted by on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:05:00 GMT