In 1981, Pizza, the third album by Alain Bashung, propels him into the forefront of French rock. Allied with the lyrics of his collaborator Boris Bergman, his new tracks are transfigured by a lineup that will mark Bashung's career. United under the acronym KGDD, Manfred Kovacic (keyboards, saxophone), Olivier Guindon (guitar), François Delage (bass), and Philippe Draï (drums) lead Bashung's production towards unexplored horizons. Thanks to these intrepid sidemen, his repertoire also acquires a new dimension on stage.
Recorded in Troyes on May 22, Live 1981 is the unprecedented testimony of this summit meeting. In the oldest stage document of Alain Bashung's discography, after-punk merges with reggae and the Farfisa organs of Suicide collide with the rockabilly guitars of the Stray Cats. Accompanied by KGDD, Bashung revisits the tracks from Pizza ("J'Sors avec ma frangine", "Rebel", "L'Araignée"), Roulette russe ("Toujours sur la ligne blanche", "Je fume pour oublier que tu bois", "Squeezé") and Roman-photos ("C'est la faute à Dylan"), not forgetting to line up fiery snapshots of "Gaby oh Gaby" and its vibrant B-side "Elle s'fait rougir toute seule". Live 1981 is completed by two additional tracks captured in Melun during the same tour: "Milliards de nuits dans le frigo" and "Elsass Blues".