Settled in New York at the end of the 1960s, known for his filmed interviews with John Lennon, the journalist Jean-François Vallée in August 1977 offered listeners of France Culture a sound immersion in the city of New York.
“If you agree to open up in New York, you become part of New York immediately.”
Against a background of deep and continuous noise, the journalist draws a sociological portrait of the city, lets us hear its particular atmosphere, recounts the hectic urban life traversed by its electric trams, its multicolored bouquets of illuminated advertisements and “the frenzied fever of the streets and people”.
“New York is a schizophrenic city, torn between its distant roots and that of the American dream”.
Here and there, walking the sidewalks of the city we come across a Hells Angels sitting on his Harley near a dark bar from which some blues chords escape. Then we hear the words of the writer James Baldwin or the poet Allen Ginsberg gleaned not far from Central Park. In the distance, it is the sounds of undergound rock captured in the Bowery that invade the sound space. With this precious report produced in the cultural capital of the United States, Jean-François Vallée bears witness to an urban universe that has now disappeared.
Foreign landscapes – New York (1st broadcast: 08/23/1977)
By Jean-François Vallée With Ellen Ginsberg, Charles Aznavour, James Baldwin, Philip Glass, Arthur Lewitt and Joséphine Baker Produced by Guy Delaunay INA/RADIO FRANCE archives Web edition: Sylvain Alzial Radio France documentation
2023-01-03 08:00:00
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