Apologies also to my last.fm friends and group members. I'll catch up when I can, but need to continue having a total break for now. Socialising online with everyone has been really fun, but it snowballed into something I couldn't keep up with.

You may also have noticed my Youtube account is once again gone, and I won't be setting up another, as it's too much of a gamble that hours of work will be wiped out at their whim. Instead, I'm migrating to Imeem, where many videos are allowed, since Imeem has deals with labels and pay royalties. And if a copyright holder wants to exercise their right to keep everyone from ever seeing obscure videos, as they are wont to do on Youtube, the video gets cut but I get to keep my account. Hooray! So far I've uploaded one of my faves and my most popular video on Youtube, Marianne Faithfull singing 'Hier ou Demain ' in Anna:

Another exciting thing about Imeem is I can upload whole albums for you to listen to on demand. So far I've added France Gall's 3 long players from the 60s - Baby Pop, Les Sucettes and 1968, Francoise Hardy's beautiful 1972 album of mostly English covers album If You Listen, and Sandie Shaw's brilliant, unique 1969 covers album, Reviewing the Situation, with more to come. (Not sure if you have to log in to listen to those). 

Peter Falk & Natalie Wood on a break during the filming Penelope (pic via IMDB ) 

I've also added a sweet tune sung by Natalie Wood in the 1966 comedy Penelope called 'The Sun is Gray' (ripped from the original soundtrack LP).  This is Natalie's real voice, whereas the normally impossibly high standards of the day meant she was dubbed in West Side Story (Marni Nixon) and The Great Race (by Jackie Ward). I'm glad she was for once allowed to use her own voice, which is endearingly imperfect with a lovely, gentle tone. The song was written by Gale Garnett, a singer best known for her 1964 country-pop hit, 'We'll Sing in the Sunshine'. 

One more thing before I disappear again for a while: I've created a Yé-yé -themed 'blind test'  on Deezer, a French site with tons of great music to stream. The blind test plays a 30 second clip of a song and you have to guess the artist. Play the yé-yé blind test below or go here. (You'll note the slightly odd English translations on Deezer at times!). Enjoy! Bye for now :).

Recently, I picked up an excellent CD compilation called Greek Beat Greats, released by Gyro Records. This is definitely not a CD to judge by its cover: the artwork alone, with a polite-looking combo hovering in the sky over a generic picture of the Acropolis, would make me fear I'm in for something supremely dodgy, akin to what I'd find in my parents' vast collection of 70s Greek "easy"-listening records. Thankfully, that's not the case. Instead, it's packed with 29 fun, melodic, upbeat tracks from the 60s Greek garage scene. Greek Beat Greats is Vol. 4 in a Gyro's Wildworld series (Vols 1, 2 and 3 featured 60s garage from around the world, Japan and Italy respectively).

The entire CD is worth getting your hands on, but I was particularly excited by a surprising find in the form of the very last track. 'Let's Shake, Baby'* by Zoe & The Stormies is an English-language cover of France Gall's 'Laisse Tomber Les Filles'. A Greek 60s cover of 'Laisse Tomber Les Filles' in English! Who knew?! (Just the one mention of it online is at Garage Hangover - one that, likely due to the misspelling, escaped even my prided Google super-skills at first). 

Zoe & The Stormies - Let's Shake, Baby (1965)

The lyrics of the Stormies' version aren't a translation of the original, where France Gall warns her main squeeze to give up his girl-crazy ways or else. It's a tough song to translate directly into English and retain both the vocal phrasing and the magic of the song's simmering, don't-mess-with me vibe. A direct translation would mean the song would start with the clunky, dull-sounding "Drop the girls, drop the girls, or one day it's you who will be dropped". April March's 1995 English cover, 'Chick Habit ' was an excellent re-imagining, keeping the theme in tact but opting for different lyrics which give it more flavour than a dry translation could, and sprinkling in some retro slang to complement the feel.

'Let's Shake, Baby', follows the approach sometimes found in the reverse scenario of English hits covered in French, where lyrics that loosely mimic the phonetics of the main lyrical hook were used. An example that comes to mind is 'Chains' by the Cookies, covered by both Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan as 'Chance' ('Luck'). Another French 60s singer, Dick Rivers, covered Buddy Holly's 'Rave On' as 'Yvonne' in 1991. So here, 'lai-sse tomber' becomes 'let's-shake together'. Remember, I said loosely! But it does in effect sound similar. Interesting that Gall's 'Laisse' did have a Greek release: I suspect that in cases where the original song is already known, the translators wanted to maximise cashing-in potential by not straying to far from what was already familiar to listeners' ears.

From there, 'Let's Shake, Baby' sidesteps most of the original's theme: where Gall warned her steady  his playboy days must come to an end, Zoe has already lost her love and is trying to lure him back from his new lady with a provocative invitation to 'shake it' with her. Double entendre alert: while she is definitely referring to recapturing their chemistry on the dancefloor ("let's show them that we'll really dance"), when Zoe offers to "show you what I'll do", you get the feeling she's also offering a little more. The fast-paced bongo beat, a unique addition not present in 'Laisse', adds to the seductive feel of the song.

The word 'shake' pops up a lot in anything to do with Greek 60s rock, e.g. '60s shake', 'Greek shake bands', and seems to be a blanket term for that style of music. Whether this was adopted at the time or is a retrospective term, I don't know. If the former, it reminds me of the way the French 60s scene used the word 'twist', which was used not just to refer to the dance itself or music specifically designated for dancing the twist to, but to more broadly refer to any danceable pop/rock music. The Shake was also a 60s dance move, so possibly the term's use in Greece is comparable.

The 'shake' then in Zoe and her Stormies' call to "shake together, baby" perhaps served a triple purpose, making it an ode to dancing, sex and rock'n'roll. And if shake was in fact the buzzword of the time, its inclusion in the title - just like the word 'twist' in French 60s song titles - might have been a canny choice, intended to prick up the ears of hip young things.

What looks like a very interesting article in Greek on the history of the Greek 60s bands can be found here. It's written by Nikos Mastorakis who was a songwriter for many of the bands and possibly a svengali/manager/promoter to some. What I can best extract from the article is that Nikos put together the Stormies when he temporarily parted ways with the Forminx, for whom he was writing songs. He says the Stormies are an example of a band created out of "retaliation, rather than need", implying the nature of the "retaliation" was to outdo whatever band one was on the outs with.

Zoe was Zoitsa Kouroukli (Ζωίτσα Κουρούκλη; -itsa is an affectionate diminutive in Greek), a jazz singer in the 50s who'd been out of the limelight for a little while. Nikos hatched a plan to reinvent her as Zoe (in the anglicised spelling: the Greek rock scene seems to have been quite Anglophilic), and dress her in miniskirts and boots as a hip symbol of the modern era. He teamed her with the Stormies, and promoted them as the band to watch - and it worked. A frenzied young audience "waited with baited breath for the first appearance of the brand new Zoe with the group onstage at the Orphea. [There were] two thousand teenagers in seats, corridors and balconies, and ten thousand others outside, trying to break the police barricade. Zoitsa and the Stormies were suddenly the hottest name in pop."

Most of their success must have been on the thriving live scene, as they only recorded one 45 together, featuring 'Let's Shake, Baby' and 'The Girl Of Ye-Ye', an English cover of the 1965 Spanish mega-hit 'La chica yé-yé'.  On 'The Girl Of Ye-Ye', the lyrics stay true to the original's tale of a girl who knocks back the boy she loves because her heart belongs to rock 'n'roll, but a little more detail is added (again necessary in English to fill out the vocal melody), including a cute line about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The lyrics don't entirely make sense ("you're in love with moonlight glow"), though this only adds to the song's charm. Even the title phrase "Girl of Ye-Ye" is in slightly-off English, making the song's title a succinct summary of why the song itself is an interesting artefact from the annals of European pop: that it's a song from Greece in English referring to a Spanish term for rock borrowed from the French!

Zoe & The Stormies - The Girl of Ye-Ye (1965)
Conchita Velasco - La chica yé-yé (1965)

Curiously, a band credited as Zoe & The Storms perform in the 1966 film Na zei kaneis in na mi zei? (Να Ζει κανεισ η να μη ζει;). They perform a fun bubblegum go-go number, 'The Yuppee Ya Ya Song' and 'Akou Me', a ballad with a subtly groovy backing which sees Zoe's splendid voice soar into a passionate chorus. The credit is curious because 'The Yuppee Ya Ya Song' was actually released on record by Zoe and The Minis. Perhaps the Storms was a transitional name between the Stormies and the Minis? A couple of members of the Minis, Demis Roussos and Lukas Sideris may have played in the later days of the Stormies (according to this article), and I believe can both be seen in the above videos (on bass and drums respectively).

Zoitsa appeared on vocals on just the Minis' first single, 'The Yuppee Ya Ya Song' backed with 'Darlin'. Minis members Roussos, Sideris and Anargyros "Silver" Koulouris along with Vangelis (who guest-spotted on a Minis record) would soon after form Aphrodite's Child, the Paris-based prog rock outfit who achieved success throughout Europe. Roussos, like Vangelis, is now best known for his later solo work, in his case as an extravagantly mumu'd warbler (who prominently features in the afore-mentioned torturous parental record stash). 

Zoe & The Minis - The Yuppee Ya Ya Song (1966)

As for Zoitsa, not much else about her career is clear: I can't find anything about her pre-Stormies career other than that she performed in the Greek Song Contest (modelled after Italy's San Remo festival) in 1961, singing 'To Peristeraki', a song that launched the songwriting career of Stavros Koujioumtzis, a significant Greek composer. She took part in the festival again in 1963, this time placing second. There are several film credits to her name from the late 50s to the late 60s, probably again as musical guest appearances.

She recorded pop tunes solo until at least the the late 60s, including a song written by Vangelis and Mastorakis, 'Oldies But Goodies', in 1966. Many of her recordings were covers of songs from other countries like French singer Antoine's 1968 San Remo entry 'La Tramontana' and Brazilian song 'Nem Vem Que Não Tem' as 'Sakoumdi Sakoumda' (also covered by both Marcel Zanini and Brigitte Bardot in French as 'Tu veux ou tu veux pas' and Italian singer Mina as 'Sacumdi Sacumda'). Her cover of 'Those Were The Days', best known as Mary Hopkin's 1968 UK number #1 hit, sounds really lovely in the Greek tongue:

Zoitsa Kouroukli - Hamena Onira (Those Were The Days)

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Where To Buy

I was excited to find a collection of Zoitsa Kouroukli's greatest hits on Emusic because it means there's an affordable way to collect her hard-to-find music. The album features the songs posted and mentioned above and more: Megales Epitihies @ Emusic.

It's also available to buy on MP3 at Amazon.

The CD doesn't seem to be available outside of Greece: try Studio 52 (in English), or this google search (in Greek) to search for more Greek stockists.

The same label has also released two Greek 60s comps that have some of the above tracks, and lots of other fantastic stuff from Greek 'shake' bands. Be kind, support the small labels that put together great comps like these!
Ta Gie Giedika @ Emusic
Ta Gie Giedika No. 2 @ Emusic
Ta Gie Giedika @ Amazon (on MP3)
Ta Gie Giedika No. 2 @ Amazon (on MP3)
Note: Confusingly, the first volume's title is misspelt and incorrectly listed as No. 2 on both sites.
Both volumes on CD @ Studio 52 (Greece)

Greek Beat Greats on CD @ Merchmusicdotcom

Or got a spare $273 to buy 'The Girl of Ye-Ye'/'Let's Shake, Baby' on 45? Wow.

Update: Musical.gr sells Zoe's greatest hits CD and a few 60s comps featuring her songs, including two volumes of the excellent Oldies But Goodies series. Her song on the George Mouzakis CD
is a piano jazz number, quite possibly from her earlier 50s career. You can hear a sample at last.fm.
It seems she has continued to perform until now, at least occasionally, as evidenced by her appearance on a couple of recent CDs listed there, as well as a some later live performances.

--------------

Links
- Review of Greek Beat Greats @ Shindig
- Zoitsa Kouroukli @ Vangelis Movements (some of this info is wrong, more on that soon)
- Vinyl rips of the 2 other Stormies singles @ Garage Hangover. One of these is listed at an astounding $1186. Yowsers. Note: a couple of the Stormies songs are also on the Ta Gie-Giedika comps.
- Conchita Velasco performs of 'La chica yé-yé' accompanied by a comedic singer and musicians.

---------------
*'Let's Shake, Baby' is incorrectly credited on Greek Beat Greats as 'Let's Shake It Baby'.

Danièle et Michèle - Noël à deux (1965)
Side A (20MB)
Side B (19MB)

I've saved the best for last! A full-length album of Christmas tunes from Québec duo, Danièle et Michèle. I haven't come across any other Christmas albums from 60s female Francophonic pop singers before. I only know of a handful of remotely yuletide-esque songs performed by girls from 60s France, and I'm not sure they were very common for the Québecoises, either. So an entire yé-yé girl Christmas LP feels like a bit of a treasure - well, certainly to someone obsessed with both genres!

Daniéle et Michéle are definitely more on the pop side than the rockin' side of yé-yé and certainly not lacking in a certain cheese factor. But I would wager most of my readers, like me, aren't afraid of a little kitsch. Plus, that somehow addictive sound of girls singing 60s pop in French probably goes a long way to making a record like this more appealing to our ears, even though you can be certain there's someone in Québec it would likely induce some serious cringing for. Overall it's pretty darn cute and fun, with a couple of upbeat numbers that remind me of Les Parisiennes, and there are some quite genuinely lovely moments on here, too. The softer numbers have a sweet, soothing lullaby feel to them. I'm not sure if this record was aimed at children, but the Disques Mérite link below would suggest so.

Link: Daniéle et Michéle @ Retro Jeunesse 60
Buy: You can find some of these songs on this album at Disques Mérites.

Phew, this is now the final post in what has turned out to be a Christmas Eve blogging marathon for me. I hope these tracks reach you if not by Christmas day, then at least while you're still feeling festive. And I hope you enjoy them immensely!

Spiked Candy Canes 3 (49MB)

Tracklist: Rotary Connection - Christmas Child, Petty Booka - Christmas Island, The Surfaris - A Surfer's Christmas List, Karine et Rebecca - Chantons Noël, The Cannanes - Six White Boomers, The Long Blondes - Christmas Is Cancelled, The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song, Helen Love - Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight), Bijou - La fille du père Noël, The Belrays - Mary Christmas, The Orchids - Mr. Scrooge, Gillian Hills - La tête à l'envers, The Magic Whispers - Crystal Nights, Bessie Smith - At The Christmas Ball

It's all about bulk here at Spiked Candy at Christmas time, despite my declaration not long ago of my usual love of audioblogs with a more minimalist approach. My enthusiasm for Christmas songs means they're spilling out of folders on my desktop, begging to be shared in time (well, just) for Christmas. That is why I am sitting here like a woman possessed well into the early hours of this Southern Hemisphere Christmas morning. 

I have a brand spankin' new set of Spiked Candy Canes to share that I hope will be as exciting for you to listen to as they are for me. Time constraints mean I'm unable to both post these songs and write an entry that would do them justice, but I hope the mix will speak for itself. I'll try to pop any relevant links up in the near future.

The pics above are the front and inside of a vintage Christmas card I scanned. Don't you love how the road has multiple signs saying 'curve', in case we don't get the joke?! 

This blog has gained many new readers since I first posted my Spiked Candy Canes mixes in 2005, so I thought I'd share them again for anyone who missed out the first time around. Hopefully they'll give you an idea of the abundance of lesser-known but fun, interesting, weird or sometimes beautiful Christmas songs that are out there, and maybe introduce you to some artists you haven't heard before. I'm also posting a bonus package of five of my favourite songs I've previously blogged at Christmas. If you're looking for more info and links to purchase anything that's still in print, have a look through the December 2005 and the December 2006 archives.

Spiked Candy Canes 1 (45MB)
Tracklist: Claudine Longet - Snow, Dressy Bessy - All the Right Reasons, Deerhoof - Xmas Tree, Isabelle Antenna - Noelle A Hawaii, Peggy Lee - The Christmas Spell, Stina Nordenstam - Soon After Christmas, The Diskettes - Noel, The Gems - Love For Christmas, The Kinks - Father Christmas, The Knife - Christmas Reindeer, The Pipettes - In The Bleak Midwinter, The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas

Spiked Candy Canes 2 (44MB)
Tracklist: Belle And Sebastian - I Took Some Time For Christmas, Brian Wilson - On Christmas Day, Ginette Reno - Vive Le Vent, Julie London - I'd Like You For Christmas, Lauren Laverne - In The Bleak Midwinter, Marlene Paul - I Wanna Spend Christmas With Elvis, Nena - Wunder Gescheh'n, Of Montreal - My Favourite Christmas (In A Hundred Words Or Less), The Carpenters - Merry Christmas, Darling, The Shitbirds (ft April March)- Christmas Is A-Coming, Universal Robot Band - Disco Christmas, Yo La Tengo - It's Christmas Time

Bonus Songs (17MB)
Tracklist: A Girl Called Eddy - The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot, April March & Los Cincos - Last Train To Christmas, Jacques Dutronc - La fille du père Noël, Margo Guryan - I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You, The Ronettes - Frosty The Snowman (7" rip)

(Pic: Paris Match Christmas Holiday special issue, 1962. Implies you will be smiling as maniacally when you hear these mixes) 

I'm feeling spoiled this year thanks to all the quality Christmas music I've found online that the artists have generously made available for free download. Below is my list of finds. Got any more to add?

Summer Cats - Plastic Christmas Trees
Sofia Talvik - Christmas
Tiger Baby - This Christmas
Romantica - Home For Christmas
Irene - Christmas On The Beach
Celestial - Saving Up Her Wishes (For Another Christmas)
Candypants - The Happiest Time Of The Year (Head to their Myspace page for the download)
Rose Melberg & Gregory Webster - Merry Christmas (Myspace download)
Lula & Wayne Jackson - Merry Christmas (Myspace download - thanks to BridgedJones for this one!)


Some songs I've blogged before that are still up:

El Perro Del Mar - Oh! What A Christmas
Thee Headcoatees - Santa Claus
Bobby Baby - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town                 
Gamine - Oh, What A Kiss! (French Kiss Remix) and Oh, Mon Cheri!



Tag blogged about Swedish italo-disco queen Sally Shapiro's cover of Nixon's 'Anorak Christmas' last year. This year, a new piano mix is available via Paperbag Records:
Sally Shapiro - Anorak Christmas (Piano Mix)

You can also download the original by Nixon from his Myspace page.

Links: Summer Cats, Sofia Talvik , Tiger Baby, Romantica, Irene, Celestial, El Perro Del Mar, Thee Headcoatees, Bobby Baby, Gamine, Memphis Industries, Where It's At Is Where You Are .
Electric Fantastic Christmas 2007, and 2006 .

I've been obsessed with hunting down every enjoyable Christmas song (and some winter and December-themed ones) I can find on Last.fm, and as a result, Spiked Candy Canes Radio is now more than three times the size it was last year!

Click here to play it in a pop-up window, or here to play it in your last.fm player (get the player here).

What has gone into the Spiked Candy Canes mix? Generous handfuls each of twee pop, Phil Spector, A Charlie Brown Christmas, 60s pop, crooners, soul, Japanese ukulele girls and Doris Day; a dash of jazz and a splash of glam rock; a sprinkling of country, and a, uh, tiny pinch of Tiny Tim. Sneak a peek at the track list here.

Stay tuned...  more Christmas posts still to come!

(Pic of 'Les' Beach Boys from Jukebox mag). 

------------------------------------------------------------ 

Séverine - Les enfants qui attendent Noël (1969)

Sadly, the European girl singers of the 1960s rarely did Christmas songs anywhere near as well as their American counterparts. However, here French chanteuse Séverine gives it her best shot.

The singer had more IDs than a credit card fraudster. She started out life as Josiane Grizeau but became Céline for an EP on the Vogue label in 1967. The release led with 'Tu dis september', but when it failed she was dropped by the label.

A year later producer Georges Aber found her singing – as Robbie Lorr – in the Golf Drouot. The result was a contract, this time with Philips, and a new stage name, Séverine.

Her Christmas gift to us comes in the form of 'Les enfants qui attendent Noël'. The song is taken from the second EP issued under her new name and was released in 1969. It is based on a melody by Johann Sebastian Bach, with words by Aber and Jacques Revaux.

In 1970 she released the theme to the film Le passager de la pluie, which topped the Japanese charts, but she really hit the big time in Europe the following year, when she won the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest with the beautiful 'Un banc, un arbre, une rue' for Monaco. The song went on to be a hit continent-wide.

At home, she enjoyed further hits with 'Comme un appel' and 'Mon tendre amour' but a legal dispute with Aber in 1973 put paid to her career in France. A parallel one in Germany lasted longer, though a succession of French-themed songs such as 'Ja, der Eiffelturm', 'Olala L’amour' and 'Der Duft von Paris' risked turning her into something of a one-trick pony. Nevertheless, she enjoyed great success, selling some six million records in the early 1970s.  - Graham Welch
 
Link: French Girls @ Ready Steady Girls!

Of the new songs, my favourite (at least today) is probably Hektor 's  cover of Les Wampas' 'Ce soir c'est Noël'. This is a sophisticated, satisfyingly fizzy piece of electropop, with some chunky electric guitar riffs that stop it feeling too lightweight.  I love the cute-but-slightly-aloof voice of frontwoman Carine Péralba (pictured), whose delivery here has a deadpan quality to it that suits the feel of the song.

Watoo Watoo's gentle pop never fails to impress me, and their 1999 song 'Les Visiteurs de Noël' is another highlight for me in this collection. 

Head there now! -> Fille Sourires Christmas Project  

You may remember Tag from such guest Christmas posts as Things Fall Apart and Anorak Christmas . Fortunately for us, he and his good taste are back again this year with another excellent selection.

'The Coldest Night Of The Year' can be found on the Vashti Bunyan comp Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind: Singles and Demos 1964-1967. I can't find a Twice As Much CD still in print that the song appears on, but if you know otherwise, please leave a comment. - Spiked Candy

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Twice As Much & Vashti Bunyan - The Coldest Night Of The Year (1966)

Twice as much were a folk-rock duo signed to Immediate Records in 1966. Despite getting 'the big push' by Andrew Loog Oldham, commercial success remained elusive, although their songwriting skills have found a better reception in Northern Soul and girl group circles. Ironically, their finest hour as performers comes from the pens of the mighty Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill. Vashti Bunyan, meanwhile, needs
no introduction from me, in the light of her current (and to me, slightly bewildering) hipness among new folk fashionistas.

This is one of those records to play to friends and watch their faces light up. Adopting a similar call and response theme to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" but replacing its knowing wink-wink-nudge-nudge kitsch
with a beautifully understated subtext of barely restrained teenage libido, "The Coldest Night of the Year" comes topped off with a gently cajoling melody and, yes, those all-important sleighbells. The
boys forlornly plead with Vashti out of sending them home into the North Wind, and instead 'letting a cuddle appear'. And when you hear Vashti's final, breathless, assent to temptation, it's all you can do
not to cheer. - Tag

I'm hoping to get in a little bit of Christmas blogging this year, but I can't be sure I can do much, as I have to take it easy right now. But I didn't want to miss the chance to tell you about Last.fm's campaign to get a decent song to the top of the UK charts this Christmas. Understandably, they are fed up with the fun being zapped from the long-standing tradition of the Christmas No. 1, with it now being dominated by the Simon Cowell & Co empire of TV talent shows. 

Fortunately, Last.fm users have voted for a very deserving band. Lucky Soul are the best pop band around at the moment. They make stunning, heartfelt romantic pop songs full of a zillion hooks, with melodies that soar and swoop in all the right places. I can't get enough of their album 'The Great Unwanted', as well as the B-sides I bought from Emusic. Hooray for bands that are filled with so much pop genius that B-sides are not merely for lesser leftovers, but for equally brilliant creations!

Guitarist and songwriter Andrew Laidlaw does a superlative job crafting his songs around the best qualities of 60s pop. It's never kitsch or overtly retro, instead tapping into the innocence, passion and general swooniness 60s soul and girl group music evokes. 

And then there's frontwoman Ali Howard... and that voice. It's been described as bringing to mind both the Cardigans' Nina Persson and the soulfulness of 60s divas like Ronnie Spector. Her voice is definitely sweet-toned like the former, but with a resonance that is fuller than most indie pop singers. Top this all off with a breathy fragility and a kittenish playfulness, and you have Ali's distinctive voice. It seems rarer and rarer lately that voices emerge which have such a signature, recognisable sound.

The music is rather Cardigans-esque, too, in that the songs are immaculately carved pieces of crisp, immediate pop. But then add in the 60s elements, and you get pure heaven!

Click here and for 40p, you can pre-order a digital copy of their single, 'Lips Are Unhappy', released December 17. You also get an exclusive bonus song, their cover of 70s British glam rockers Mud's song, 'Lonely This Christmas'.

I honestly don't know if orders from outside the UK count toward the charts, but my uneducated guess is that they would. Even if not, you still get two amazing songs for 40p (about 80c US). Plus, they're generously donating all profits to War Child.

I'd love to hear from you if you do buy the single. Let me know by leaving a comment. 

The promo video for Lips Are Unhappy:

Lucky Soul perform 'Lips Are Unhappy' at a Last.fm rooftop gig:

Stream both songs below:

Lips Are Unhappy (Radio Edit)

Lonely This Christmas (Radio Edit)

(If you're having any trouble, go here to listen: 'Lips Are Unhappy' single @ Last.fm )

Links: Lucky Soul's blog, Lucky Soul @ MySpace, Lucky Soul @ YouTube

----------------------------

A word about recent comments: 

I was just checking comments via my blogging panel and found comments that, for some totally unknown reason, I didn't get notified were here, so couldn't approve them. I'll have to check further and see if there are more I didn't know about. Sorry about that, but just know I wasn't ignoring you or deliberately not approving them.

A huge thanks to all those who've left some really heartwarming comments lately! :) 

Plenty of incredible French pop and rock music was performed by both male and female vocalists of the era, but there's something about the female contributions that is especially intriguing. There's a unique expression of femininity that strikes the listener, something quite different to what we're used to hearing in 60s pop. Though distinctly French, it defies the stereotypically Gallic images we have of the dramatic, lovelorn women of chanson, or overtly sexual types like Brigitte Bardot. There is something naturally girlish and subtly sensual at play here. There's also a tomboyish rock 'n' roll spirit and overall sense of fun free-spiritedness present. The singing style is simultaneously coy, sexy, excitable, coquettish, fun, bold, confident, witty and smart. Many qualities were celebrated in the female voice on French recordings that are less typically present in other 60s girl pop, allowing roles other than the cheerful nice girl or the soulful diva. Fragility, cheekiness and detachment are less familiar elements to our ears that are often quite noticeable in these songs, and clearly considered desirable qualities for a female singer to express. There's also something a bit punk about how the vocals are often not perfectly in tune, and how there seems to be more emphasis on self-expression than technical proficiency. And aesthetically alone, there's an enormous appeal to hearing the French language sung over a rock arrangement in either a high, sweet-toned voice, a lower, sultrier voice, or a combination of both.

Though it would be foolish to deny the lusty undercurrent beneath much of the music sung by the perfectly-coiffed, matching-outfitted American girl groups, English-language female pop was still dominated by the ideal of the good-natured, well-behaved, pretty, pert and somewhat asexual girl. Even those that hinted at something more sensual had to present it convincingly wrapped up in this image. One of the most fascinating insights that French female 60s pop holds for me is that French girls - at least those performing pop music - seem to have had more free reign both to possess a sexual identity, and to express it. Sure, much of the compiled music is more from the fringes, but girls like Dani, Elsa Leroy and Zouzou were bonafide pop stars. Even the most popular girl of the era, the relatively straight-laced Sylvie Vartan, was distinctly sultry and pouty, and never smiley and wholesome. Sheila, up there in the popularity stakes alongside Sylvie, seems to be the only singing star created in the image of Anglo-American starched, good-girl appeal, but with her insanely overdone hair and manic perkiness, she is almost a Frankenstein-like concoction of all that is meant to be acceptable in a female pop star.

The two Swinging Mademoiselle volumes brought us a concentrated dose of all that made French 60s female pop great. Each disc benefits from a certain cohesiveness of sound and attitude, each full of girls who bring a purring, sweet, rockin', delicate sensuality to these perfectly catchy pop ditties. That's not to say there's not variety: every singer brings her own unique personality and delivery.

The songs have little flourishes that make them a cut above typical pop. The touches of psychedelia here and there, the unusual arrangements, the amusing themes and the afore-mentioned spirited vocal stylings mean there's never a dull moment here.

Below is my interview with Thierry, tastemaker behind the Swinging Mademoiselle comps, transcribed from our email exchange, followed by the tunes from Swinging Mademoiselle Volume 2. 

-----------------------------------

Spiked Candy: How did you first get interested in the pop/rock songs performed by French girls in the 60s?

Thierry: Actually, I was not too much in French 60s at the beginning. When I was 15/16 years old in 1979 I came to music listening to punk- rock basically (Ramones, Clash, Buzzcocks, etc...) and by this time I had no interest in 60s music what so ever. 

Swinging Mademoiselle Vol. 1 - go here .

*Claire Dixon's song should be tagged 'Je n'ai besoin QUE de tendresse', you may want to rename/retag the file (Last.fm users will understand this need for pedantism!)*

[Update: Thanks to Blossomtoe for pointing out that on the first vol. of Swinging Mademoiselle, the artist and title tags are reversed - again, last.fm users especially will want to correct this]

Sometimes strange, mysterious and vexing things go wrong with the file links, so please tell me if any don't work. 

[Update: Yep, as predicted, I spazzed things up. Thanks, Big Al, for letting me know song 22's link was wrong - that's now fixed] 

Full album [Divshare, left-click]:
Swinging Mademoiselle Vol 2 (.zip, 108MB)

Split into 2 parts [Sharebee, left-click]:
Swinging Mademoiselle Vol 2, part 1 (.rar, 52MB) [Sharebee, left-click]
Swinging Mademoiselle Vol2, part 2 (.rar, 57MB) [Sharebee, left-click]

Individual Songs [MyDatabus, right-click]:
01 Liz Brady - Palladium
02 Elsa Leroy - Quelle Foule Quelle Foule
03 Adèle - Jai Peur Parfois
04 Clothilde - La Ballade Du Bossu
05 Claire Dixon - Je N'ai Besoin Que De Tendresse
06 Zoé - Avant Qu'on Ait 20 ans
07 Violaine - Dam dou ah
08 Zouzou - Tu Fais Partie Du Passé
09 Jocy - Les Dix Premiers
10 Dani - La Fille A La Moto
11 Aline - Censuré
12 Jocelyne - Nitty Gritty
13 Christine Pilzer - Ah-Hem-Ho-Hu-Err
14 Caroline - Bach Ou Jerk
15 Christie Laume - Agathe Ou Christie
[Bonus Tracks]
16 Cettina - Cettina
17 Tienou - Pop Art
18 Tiny Yong - Huit Jours Par Semaine
19 Danielle Denin - Je Lis Dans Des Yeux
20 Madeleine Pascal - Dieu Nest Pas Vieux
21 Eileen - Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher
22 Zouzou - Il Est Parti Comme Il Est Venu
23 Dani - La Machine
24 Caroline - Mister A Gogo
25 Adèle - Et la la la la
26 Elsa - Des Gens Se Retournent
27 Christie Laume - Rouge Rouge
28 Liz Brady - L'Amour Se Voit Sur Ton Visage

Liner notes:

Cover and back	Pages 2 - 3	Pages 4 - 5	Pages 6-7

Buy: Once you are sufficiently addicted, you'll probably want to buy whatever you can get your hands on  by these ladies. Try these releases: 

Femmes De Paris Vols 1, 2 & 3 : CD Universe has the best price I could find on these (Amazon is stupidly high for Vol. 3). Thierry actually put together Volume 3 and says it's what he would have done had he made a Swinging Mademoiselle Vol. 3.

Magic Records' Sixties Girls series: These compile EPs from mostly obscure girls, although Francoise Hardy does show up on Vol. 1. The only source to obtain multiple songs from the more elusive French artists like Clothilde, Cléo, Christie Laume and Liz Brady. Their newest release (Vol. 5) features Elsa, Elsa Leroy and Christine Pilzer.

Magic Records' Artist Comps: Of the artists posted here, Magic Records have released collections of the entire works of Pussy Cat, Stella, and Tiny Yong. 

Tip: Try Aquarius Records for buying Magic Records stuff outside of France. International shipping from Magic is quite high, and probably prohibitive unless you're buying a ton of stuff. If you're out of luck with Aquarius, Amazon France stocks Magic releases and has more affordable shipping. Amazon US and CD Universe have the CDs at higher prices, but depending on where you live and what you buy, it may work out cheaper.

Pop A Paris series: Not too favourably spoken of above! Still, there are some highlights on these comps,  and they're the only in-print sources for some artists.

La Belle Epoque US / UK : A new release, there is a lot of crossover here with other comps. But the sound quality is AMAZING (the best yet for some of these songs - Christie Laume's 'Rouge Rouge' sounds incredible), it's readily available and affordable, and the liner notes are excellent.

Dani - Best Of: Boomerang, L'integrale : L'intégrale is much better than Best Of: Boomerang, but has disappeared from the Magic Records site, and is expensive elsewhere. Not sure where you can still find Boomerang for sale.

Zouzou - L'intégrale : Also now expensive and unfortunately there is a fair bit of filler on here. But there's hope - I got my copy on Ebay for $1! 

Jocelyne - Twistin' The Rock : Sadly, seems not to be available anywhere anymore, but you might be lucky and come across a copy.

Links: Slipcue's Guide to French comps; Bardot-A-Go-Go's comp & album reviews  

Before I bring you Part Deux of Swinging Mademoiselle, I'm going to briefly interrupt with my Halloween special, to ensure these tasty, eerie delights reach your goodie bags in time. We certainly can't miss Halloween! After all, Spiked Candy owes its name to those scary tales of unsuspecting trick-or-treaters receiving a dose of deadly poison in their sweet treats. Apparently these are nothing more than tales: "The number of kids confirmed to have been critically injured by spiked Halloween candy is ... zero" ('The Halloween Scare'). So while thankfully the grisly act of spiking candy is only a myth, fear not: Spiked Candy, the blog, is very real. Don't believe me? Blast these spook-themed tunes until your ears tingle, just to be sure. Ladies first:

Jany L. - Mon Joli Vampire

Once again a huge thank you to Carl for sending this one my way! 'Mon Joli Vampire' is the B-side to 'Herald Tribune', posted here . This seems to be it for all the Jany L. songs ever released, so now you have the complete ultra-rare set! It's in a similar vein to her other tracks, with her rather sensuous voice offset by sweet, tinkly instrumentation. Listen to that catchy toy piano riff that owes more than a little to the Velvet Underground's 'Sunday Morning'.

Also in the waaay-too-cute-to-be-at-all-scary category:

Lio - Bébé Vampire

Portuguese-born Wanda Ribeiro de Vasconcelos is better known as 80s Belgian pop sweetheart Lio. 'Bébé Vampire' appeared on Lio's 1980 debut album, released in 1980, and like most of the songs on that album, was created by celebrated Belgian songwriter Jacques Duvall. Duvall was also wrote her infamous, 2-million-selling 'Banana Split', which she says, like France Gall with 'Les Sucettes' before her, she was too innocent to understand the double entendre behind.

I'm not sure I understand what is going on in this song - perhaps someone reading can fill us in. Here are the lyrics (and the auto-translation). The first two verses seem to say the Baby Vampire is sipping a Grenadine and reading a comic, turning the pages with her wet fingers, "putting red on Asterix' lips". The last verse is odd - "Baby vampire has seen you and gets in position/And before taking your life/Look in the mouth of this little girl/her braces all pink." Is there a creepy undertone here - is this meant to be the tale of a young seductress? Perhaps, but whatever the case, Lio sings it straight-out cute, and it comes off only as a fizzy synthpop confection. 

Buy: Lio
Link: Lio discography @ Zoomrang

Now ready for some tougher, more rockin' chicks? Freak out with the Priscillas with their groovy, op-art-tastic video for their 2005 single, 'All My Friends Are Zombies':

Formed in London in 2004, this fab femme foursome are made up of the brilliantly-named: Jenny Drag (vocals), Guri Go-Go (guitar), Kate Kannibal (bass), Hege Hotpants (drums - who replaced original drummer Mavis Minx, who played on 'Zombies'). Former label Damaged Goods described them as "The Shangri-la's crossed with the pounding beat of The Sweet played by 4 girls with the biggest hair in town". And even though the NME are usually full of shit, for once they got it right: "A bag full of attitude so big you'd have trouble getting it on as hand luggage, The Priscillas are staking their claim as London's foremost queens of rock 'n' roll".

Buy: Priscillas music and merch here! You'll find both the song and video for it on the Aloha from Holloway mini-album, and I'm told the 'Zombies' single for will be up for sale there soon. You can also get them in digital form at Emusic or Playlouder (you'll have to log in before you can see the Playlouder page). Please support them, their music is so much fun and they seem like great girls!

Links: Visit the ladies at MySpace and their site to hear and see more; Priscillas interview @ Band Weblogs.

(Pic from the Zombina & The Skeletones site by Nicki Jones)

If the name Zombina and the Skeletones isn't enough of a clue that this band is dedicated to the horror rock genre, perhaps the fact they have a release out just for Halloween is. You can grab their free, freshly unleashed Halloween EP via their forum here. (A version with artwork should show up on the Zombina Army Myspace page soon). Standouts for me are 'Dracula's Tango' and their supercute, infectiously fun version of 'Monster Mash'.

Hailing from Liverpool, Zombina & the Skeletones have been cranking out gory tunes since 1998. All their music is produced and released independently by the band themselves, and they do a damn fine job of it! They're no slackers in the creative moniker department, either: the current line-up is Zombina Venus Hatchett, Doc Horror, Jonny Tokyo, Jettison Dervish, and Ben Dur.

More free songs can be found at Sound Click (free registration - worth the effort as you'll have access to Zombina songs and lots more good stuff on there). Among the tracks you'll find there are several from last year's concept album, Death Valley High, described at What You Need:

"The album initially takes us on a ride through a typical B-movie romance: bad boy meets lonely, geeky girl, professes his love for her, then cheats on her at the school prom. Where the album differs, is in that it fails to end with the boy coming to his senses and making the innocent girl happy. Instead, the innocent girl cracks, cuts the new girl's head off at the prom, is placed in a mental asylum, escapes, gets her hands on a dissolvo ray and brings about the end of the world."

'Prom Night' & 'Your Girlfriend's Head' offer a good example of the range of Zombina's vocals - from April March-esque cute garage girl to all-out rockin' punk intensity.

Buy: Zombina Music & Merch
Links: Official Site, Myspace, YouTube Vids

The Emersons - Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde  

This 1959 track by The Emersons appeared on a 1989 comp called 'I Was a Teenage Brain Surgeon', which you can grab in full from TwighlightZone. Lots of amazing examples of the plethora of horror-themed garage obscura recorded in the 50s-60s.

Serge Gainsbourg - Docteur Jekyll & Mr Hyde (1968)

Gainsbourg was likely more interested in what Robert Louis Stevenson's split-personality character represented about the human psyche than in the schlock-horror Jekyll & Hyde had come to represent. The Emersons' track is an example of the latter; note how in their song, Jekyll & Hyde are among assorted horror figures out to "terrorise". Whereas Gainsbourg's 1968 classic, features pointed lines like "Dr Jekyll always had in him a Mr Hyde, who was an evil genius". Nonetheless, Gainsbourg also had a fascination with popular iconography and tapping into what made the youth of the time tick. The title song of Bonnie & Clyde, the album 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' is from, is a prime example of this. The go-go rock flavour in songs like 'Dr Jekyll' (intended to dance the jerk to, if I'm not mistaken) is further evidence of a loving interest in contemporary youth culture - perhaps wryly executed, but never presented as just flat-out mockery.

Watch a 1968 TV performance of the song: 

Les Maledictus Sound - Monster Cocktail
Evans Carroll - The Monster

Two examples of what we'll call the scream-instrumental genre... instrumentals with ghoulish background screams! Minesottan Evans Carroll's 'The Monster' is the type of rockabilly jam you might traditionally associate with Halloween music. The majority of the vocals belong to a relentlessly roaring monster, who sounds far more kitsch than killer. The track appeared on a German release called Horror Hop. Les Maledictus Sound's 'The Monster Cocktail' is a weirder and wilder creature, a psych-rock wall-of-sound consisting of distorted guitars, malevolent vocal snippets, rhythmic tambourine, thunderstorm sound effects, and intermittent sprinklings of the famously spooky pipe organ intro to Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor'.

Les Maledictus Sound was a studio-only project by France's Jean-Pierre Massiera, one-time guitarist for Claude Francois and later considered the godfather of French prog. After recording just one album for the project, Massiera moved to Quebec. The album was originally released on Quebecois hitmaker Tony Roman's label Canusa and reissued in 1999 by Mucho Gusto Records, another Canadian label. Confusingly, it's sometimes referred to as Attention and sometimes the self-titled Les Maledictus Sound. Whatever it's called, the album, an insanely eclectic mix of psychedelia, exotica, jazzy grooves, experimental electronics and more, is well worth getting your hands on.

Buy: Horror Hop, Les Maledictus Sound (Attention?) here or here.
Links: Les Maledictus Sound reviews @ Other Music, @ Gnosis.

And don't forget some of the Swinging Mademoiselle songs are perfect for your Halloween mixtapes. The links again: Christine Pilzer - Dracula *link was faulty, but now works*
Stella - Si Vous Connaissez...

The full title of Stella's song is 'Si vous connaissez quelque chose de pire qu'un vampire, parlez m'en toujours, ca pourra peut-etre me faire sourire' ('If you know of something worse than a vampire, tell me, it will make me smile'). Phew! It was covered by Stereo Total in 1999 as 'Film d'Horreur'. 

Finally, if you haven't before grabbed the rare, early 70s France Gall song Frankenstein, written by Serge Gainsbourg, I still have it up - get it here. Watch a 1974 TV performance of it below, where Jacques Dutronc plays an unconvincing and odd-looking Frankenstein: 

Links: Previous posts - 'More France Gall Early 70s', 'Swing, Mademoiselle' 

Have a horror-ble Halloween! 

Hearing one song at a time means that you heartily absorb all its charms, while it also acts as a tease, leaving you wanting more and likely to seek out more. Collecting things legitimately from all the artists you discover on your fave blogs doesn't have to break the bank - it just takes some diligence and resourcefulness to find bargains. Sales, second-hand music, indie labels that sell CDS/vinyl for dirt cheap, Emusic and of course - insisting your friends and family refer to your Amazon wishlist before every birthday and Christmas.  Besides, it's always fun to have a long wish list of things, and to look forward to getting your very own copy of some delicious album, even if you know it won't be for some time. Things that are out of print are readily found on Soulseek and other sharing networks, and it's still part of the fun to track music down this way. This is why I always enjoyed the mp3 blog as something to steer you in a certain direction, not some holy hand you have to rely on to dole out the goods.**

Because I love reading and being a (mostly) single-song blog, and because I know French 60s comps are easily found on peer networks, I've never been tempted to share any French 60s comps in their entirety before. But now I'm launching Project: YéYé Girl Comps, where I'm going to post everything from two classic series of comps with the blessing of the compilers behind them. First up is Swinging Mademoiselle.

So why now? A few reasons. In my last post I mentioned that it's a minor issue for me that comps don't get credit on a lot of blogs as the source of what's being shared. It's not absolutely de rigeur - some know that posting the song alone will inspire curiosity in the reader who'll find out more of his/her own accord. But there are times - like when a reader's questions of 'where do you find this amazing stuff?', 'can you rip the b-side too?', etc. go unanswered - that I think the compilers of these superb volumes deserve a little credit.

After all, they're responsible for getting some incredible forgotten music heard all around the world. Am I likely to stumble across a Clothilde EP in an Australian fleamarket? Not a chance! We're so lucky these lovers of all the weird, wacky wonderful yé-yé, freakbeat and assorted unusual pop sung by utterly charismatic, often anonymous French 60s girls had a burning desire to share their finds with the public. Otherwise, 1960s French pop and rock may only have been known as a scene characterised by weaker rehashes of English-language hits, and we might not know the depth of imagination, experimentation, humour and genius that was regularly going into making pop music in France back then. And some of us may never have developed a crippling Ebay addiction ... oh well, I can live with that. Sure, we later got legitimate releases like Femmes De Paris and Pop A Paris, but I think credit has to go to the earlier bootlegs for showing there was a taste for this music out there and kicking off a boom of French 60s comps. Plus I think the original bootlegs are the most fun, with the best collection of songs.

A large portion of material from these comps ends up posted on blogs - either on a single blog, or among several - without acknowledgement of its source. That means that not only do the compilers not get the credit they deserve, a lot of readers don't know exactly what to seek out in order to find more. I also realise now, from the enthusiastic reception blog posts get on here and elsewhere for songs I thought were not that hard to come by, that not everyone has mastered the skill of milking P2P for out-of-print comps, or has a friend who can make them a copy. So what I want to do is not only make sure that everyone interested in this genre of music gets to listen to these seminal comps, but to present the collections as a whole, so the entire mix can be heard in its original form. Hopefully that will create an appreciation that someone put these wonderful mixes together. The songs are strong on their own, but there's definitely an art to the careful selection and placement of songs. It's what makes these compilations great.

There's another reason: there is so, so much more out there to share beyond what has been comped. So far I've found 60s French pop to be a seemingly endless goldmine. Because I can't usually afford the records by artists that have been popularised by these legendary comps - like Ms Jacqueline Taieb, for example - I often take a chance on something I've never heard of, like Jany L. Sure I might nab the occasional dud (there are plenty of ordinary songs that can fool you with groovy covers), but I still marvel at the oodles of quality unknown cuts I come across. The best are as great as what you'll find on these beloved comps. Not always, as the earlier comps really did include the most extraordinary stuff, but there are still many enjoyable, exciting songs out there. That includes more songs by the compiled artists as well as ones by total unknowns.

I think everyone who loves yé-yé girls should have a copy of the comps I'm going to post as a starting point - they should be textbooks for students of the genre! So Professor Candy is here to help put copies in every deprived household! Once you have completed your required listening, it lets me set a challenge to myself and other bloggers: to start sharing stuff that not many have heard before and that are even harder to find. There is a wealth of criminally ignored and/or forgotten music waiting to be heard.

So on to the music that awaits your ears: Swinging Mademoiselle Vol. 1, released in 1999. Thank you kindly to Thierry for giving me his blessing to post these. Although these were unofficial releases so he can't give me official permission, I still wanted to make sure it would be OK to share something he worked hard to put together and that is essentially his creation. More about Thierry and Swinging Mademoiselle in my next post. For now, the tunes:

 *Thanks to the reader that pointed out Francoise's 'Hum! Hum!' is faulty. A working version is now up. I can't add it to the zip/rar files so you'll need to grab it as well as those*

*And to the reader that pointed out the artist/title tags are reversed on the first few songs - last.fm users will want to make sure they correct this!*

Francoise - Hum ! Hum !

Choose from 3 download options:

(1) .zip file via Divshare;
(2) .rar file in two parts via Sharebee (then choose from Rapidshare, Megaupload & more) ; or
(3) each song at a time, via MyDataBus

1. Swinging Mademoiselle (114MB) [left-click, redirect to new page]

2. Swinging Mademoiselle Part 1 (55MB) [left-click, redirect to new page]
    Swinging Mademoiselle Part 2 (58MB) 

3.  01 Stella - Idole des jaunes [right-click each file link]
     02 Cosette - L' Idéalisation
     03 Liliane - Vivre comme dans les livres
     04 Christine Pilzer - Dracula *link was faulty, but now works*
     05 Cédric and Cléo - Le jour se lèvera sur tu ça
     06 Delphine - Les prisons de sa majesté
     07 Elizabeth - Je suis sublime
     08 Charlotte Leslie - Les filles c'est fait pour faire l'amour
     09 Berthe - Comment passer à la télé
     10 Cléo - Madame la terre (Et ron et ron...)
     11 Pussycat - Les temps ont changés
     12 Stone - Fille ou garçon
     13 Elsa Leroy - Mieux vaut tard que jamais
     14 Clothilde - Saperlipopette     
     15 Elsa - Ailleurs
     16 Françoise - Hum! Hum! *new file up*
     [Bonus Tracks]
     17 Berthe - Les Emberthements
     18 Stella - Si vous connaissez....
     19 Stone - C'est ma vie
     20 Pussy Cat - Ce n'est pas un vie
     21 Cosette - Les cheveux dans les yeux
     22 Delphine - La fermeture éclair
     23 Elizabeth - Madame Superman
     24 Clothilde - Fallait pas écraser la queue du chat
     25 Charlotte Leslie - Allez tu peux souffrir
     26 Christine Pilzer - Café crème
     27 Marie Laforêt - Marie douceur Marie colère
     28 Sylvie Vartan - Donne moi ton amour

Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the original vinyl, but I do have CD-R copies thanks to Thierry which include photocopied liner notes. Click each thumbnail to download the liner notes:

Cover and back	Pages 2 - 3	Pages 4 - 5	Pages 6-7

---------------------------------------------------

A note of caution: avoid the 2005 CD comp named 'Swinging Mademoiselles'. It's obviously an attempt to capitalise on a familiar title and reputation. I'll never understand the impulse that says 'someone else thought of that; I'll take it!'. If not out of good conscience, at least for the embarrassment factor alone. One reviewer on Amazon even suggests they used the original Swinging Mademoiselle as a source for at least one song! Here's my cranky Amazon customer review of it:

"Annoyingly, this brazenly rips off the title of the well-known - and much more lovingly compiled - Swinging Mademoiselle compilations. Everything about it is as unoriginal and careless as the borrowed title, from the songs attributed to the wrong artists to the generic, uninformative liner notes. Not to mention that every track is available on other compilations. A listless attempt to cash in on a trend and others' good taste and hard work.
Yes, the music itself is wonderful, but instead go for the superior Femmes De Paris and Pop A Paris compilations, or try to track down the original Swinging Mademoiselle or Ultra Chicks comps."

**Of course, vinyl share blogs are a different kettle of fish, where generous souls put in a great effort to rip their collections of rare vinyl goodies that chances are most of us will never stumble across. In these cases it's great they're the 'holy hand'. They're often the very first source of this music on the web, including P2P. I should note, after mentioning my distaste for plagiarism, quite a few vinyl share blogs copy do copy wiki entries to accompany the records they post, but I don't regard this the same way I regard plagiarism on song blogs. I'd still prefer them to clearly attribute, but at least it's clearer from the context they've included a large chunk of text they didn't write, which is different from cobbling together a few different sources and adding a few of your own words, presented in a way a visitor is right to expect they are reading the blogger's own personal commentary. Hey, I've been fooled before - and then deeply disappointed as both a reader and a fellow blogger. Besides which, with all the effort these vinyl share bloggers go to, they're clearly not about taking shortcuts and likely just include a Wiki bio as an added courtesy.

While you're waiting...

... I'd recommend checking out these blogs:

• Babette's Feast - Blog by Zoi Zoi DJ extraordinaire, Mimi La Twisteuse. It hasn't been updated in a while but scan back through the posts for rare French freakbeat, 60s garage girls and boys, and other assorted treasures and curios. All presented with flair, style and wit, as you'd expect!
• The Go-Go Club Social! - The name says it all! 60s party tunes from around the world, some yé-yé girls and various other fun odds and ends. This is such a welcome addition to the music blogging community. It's EXACTLY the type of new blog I like to see spring up. Original commentary, courteous crediting of the comps that initially brought us some of these rare songs, loving highlighting of just one song at a time - in other words, all the right moves for an ethical blog that's a pleasure to peruse. And let's not forget, fabulous taste in music and pictures, too! Take note, anyone thinking of starting a blog. 
  
• Verlorene Madchen - German for 'Lost Girls', this is Jens' brilliant blog on exactly that - shamefully forgotten girls of the German 60s pop scene. Anyone who's ever braved the masses of awful schlager you have to wade through to find that rare 60s German girl pop gem will appreciate this blog immensely. This is the best 60s German stuff I've heard - not a dud among the offerings here!

 ... And these sites:

• Ready Steady Girls! - A labour of love by Graham Welch, whose superb article 'Dolls In Deutschland' you may have read on Cha Cha Charming. The article is another must for those wanting to find quality German girl pop. Even better, Graham's expertise and devotion extends to girl pop from all of Europe. Ready Steady Girls! spoils us with bios, lovely pics and rare audio clips from obscure and better-known female singers from Germany, France, Italy and England. A wonderfully thorough resource for retro girl pop lovers, there's plenty there to keep you busy for hours!
• YéYé Land - Mentioned a couple of times before at Spiked Candy, it's had some exciting updates lately. There are some well-written reviews that give you a really accurate idea of how yé-yé songs you might wish to explore sound. Best of all, you'll find lots of scans of original articles on Yé-Yé artists - including a Chantal Goya article contributed by yours truly! Many of the articles have been translated into English, which is great news for non-French speakers wanting to find out more about their favourite yéyé singers.

... And some of my other spaces on the web:

• Spiked Candy @ StumbleUpon - I bookmark things here that take my fancy every now and then, like this unbelievably adorable puppy born with a loveheart-shaped patch:
  
  
  

• Spiked Candy @ YouTube ('spikedcandypop') - Yay, I'm back on YouTube! Fingers crossed I will get to stay this time. Just a few videos up so far, most of which I hadn't shared before. More to come!
  

 The video above features early French rock'n'rolleuse Nicole Paquin. 

My second ID, for viewing only, is 'spikedcandy2'. If you subscribe to spikedcandypop, it might be a good idea to add spikedcandy2 as a friend, so I can quickly let you know if my uploading ID goes down again. Also, if you want to see what I add to my favourites, they'll be on spikedcandy2. 

I want to talk about a couple of changes around here. Spiked Candy will probably continue more like it has been the last few posts, less frequent but much bulkier in content. There are a few reasons for this. For one, I just wanted to keep improving this blog and make the content something I'm proud of. I've always tried to make this blog about encouraging collecting and directing readers to sources to find out more about artists, but I didn't write much early on. I wanted to but it was a challenge because of my illness. It's been a big deal that I've been able to articulate myself better in recent months and write the type of entries I've wanted to. My health has not improved as such; it's more like a skill I've slowly learned back and that I can use as long I'm managing my condition. It's not always easy and certainly not something I can do every day or even every month. But regardless of how infrequently I may post, I'd rather continue to do quality over quantity.

Secondly, there is the issue of fair use of intellectual property on music blogs. I don't how long music blogs can continue being relatively unhassled about copyright issues, and it does worry me. I'd like to be able to argue fair use if I were challenged, and as far as I understand, this could definitely be argued more easily if the focus is on written commentary. I know many people don't have an ethical issue with sharing music through blogs - and neither do I, if the blog is responsible and respectful toward the artists - but good intentions would not be enough should the shit hit the fan. I don't consider my earlier, less content-heavy posts unethical because I was encouraging buying the material (or offering out-of-print items) and still included some commentary, but I think to be in the clear legally, I'd have to get away from any tone that suggests the primary intention of this blog is to give away music.

Third, I personally want to feel I can justify my place in the music blogosphere by feeling I have something really worthwhile to offer. Gazillions of new MP3 blogs are popping up all the time. Anyone can set up a blog and hyperlink to a music file. The increasing proliferation of audio blogs makes them a changed entity as a whole. I don't consider my blog an island, but rather part of a community of music blogs and I feel a responsibility as such. Earlier, when there were only a tiny handful of blogs you could find similar music on, I think it was enough to be putting rare or little-known music out there. Now I think the bar has to be raised. Especially since many of the newer blogs are unaware of - or unwilling to comply with - the understood code of ethics in audio blogging. See this archived article for an excellent outline of these ethics.

Learning & listening: more fun than just listening!

Speaking of this, there's another change on Spiked Candy. I'll no longer link to any blogs that either plagiarise content or post entire albums (or way too many songs from them) that are still in print. (Email me if you find I've missed any such practices in any sites in my links).  I would hope my readers would care about the issue of plagiarism and know the difference between a blog that involves hard work in researching, writing and making sure credit is clearly given where it's due and those that pass off others' hard work as their own. If you like the music I post, then surely you have an appreciation for originality. And I'm certain my readers would be too sophisticated to echo comments I've read on this issue around the web that blatantly say "no one goes to an Mp3 blog to read, you go there to download stuff". Anyone reading this who is thinking that - here's a tip: Soulseek. You'll find everything you find on blogs there, and you won't have to worry about our pesky thoughts. Although, of course, you won't even be reading these words!

Responsible blogging should be done simply because it's the right thing to do, but it should also be considered that showing a disregard for others' intellectual property may threaten the sustainability of music blogging. It wouldn't be fair if the ethical blogs were impacted negatively by the non-ethical ones.

Links: The Torture Garden's thoughts on the changing Audio Blogosphere;
          'Listen. And Learn' - Boston Globe article on mp3 blogging;
          MP3 Blogs and Fair Use.
 

Coppola is certainly gifted at telling a story visually, and what she sets out to convey does succeed initially. She humanises the notoriously maligned Marie Antoinette by approaching her with a subtle sympathy, by carefully lingering on small details that bring to mind the feeling of contemplative gazing when bored, and by creating a believable sense of empty stillness amidst the daunting opulence of her surroundings and within the convoluted rituals she must engage in. Sofia finds an angle that already sufficiently separates the film from the usual period piece, portraying a less distant, unimaginable world. 

But it all goes astray once the infamous modern soundtrack takes off. Gang of Four's 'Natural's Not In It' played over the opening credits was sufficiently jarring to momentarily make me cynical about how the marriage of contemporary music and a historical setting was going to work, but it was easily forgotten and separated from the film once the credits were over. Then in earlier scenes, snippets of shoegazish or softly instrumented songs by current bands (The Radio Dept. and Melody For The Derby) were not too at odds with the visual feel, and sufficiently suited the emotional tone. Knowing she's usually an intelligent, sensitive filmmaker, I afforded Coppola a certain faith in where she was going with this idea, potentially choosing sounds that could capably paint a picture of an inner world, regardless of the era in which they were created.

And though it was my instinct to cringe at the obvious choice of 'I Want Candy' - both because of the too-literal association with the scene it features in, and because, being much-revived in recent years, it too readily brings to mind teen chick flicks - I still gave the song's inclusion a chance. In the sequence, Marie Antoinette first finds her appetite for fashion fineries, decadent desserts and a frivolous high life. I hoped Coppola was making a deliberate statement with it, perhaps that Marie Antoinette's indulgences were equally as awkward and inappropriate as the way the song sits at that moment, while its cheery, teen-friendliness reminds us these are the naive reachings of a young, unhappy girl. 

But it was a stretch. After a succession of New Wave songs in the scenes that followed, it did not feel like these songs were careful choices born of a wise artistic vision, but an indulgence of the filmmaker's very own. I suddenly felt like the trust I had in Coppola was not returned to me as a viewer. It was as if we couldn't be expected to understand her angle and had to be hit over the head with it. 'Marie Antoinette is just like you!' screams the ultra-hip soundtrack and the scenes it's placed in: a punkish-looking party scene set up with such a 'my first rock concert' feel, I had to quip 'ye olde moshpit'; a deeply cringeworthy watching-the-sunrise scene that too blatantly evokes a clichéd post-rave-coming-down bonding moment. Worse, the specificity of the era the songs are pooled from says Marie is not just like you, but like me, i.e. Ms Coppola herself.

Charges that Coppola deliberately made a teen-fluff film or a commentary on the current adulation of the likes of Paris Hilton are understandable but wrong. Rather, the uncomfortable presence of a superficial feel is the result of unchecked narcissism, and it is the film's fatal flaw. Like the essence of Marie Antoinette's famous but erroneously-attributed quote "Let them eat cake!", Coppola's film is, at its worst, uncomfortably egoistic and carelessly dismissive of its 'subjects' - both the actual subjects of the film, and us, her audience.

"My introduction to 18th-century France was from New Romantic music, from the imagery of Bow Wow Wow and Adam Ant, and Vivienne Westwood, and the whole scene that was going on post-punk, when I was an adolescent." Coppola betrays in this quote what the film confirms - she is seemingly unaware that such reductive dot-connecting is a flimsy basis for symbolism, especially when no further rationale for it is fleshed out, nor that symbolism derived from chiefly a personal association has questionable implications in terms of communicating meaning in a wider sense. 

There is a strange conceit in assuming these songs - mostly authentic post-punk and new wave, with a Strokes track thrown in as an irritating reminder of the uber-trendiness of the sound - capture some universal experience of youth, either by point of reference, or by their emotional impact. Redd Kross and Air drummer and Marie Antoinette music supervisor Brian Reitzell explains what is already all-too-transparent when you watch the film:  "[the soundtrack] makes it a lot easier to put yourself in the movie. The music resonates because it shows how these people really were. For most of the movie, Marie Antoinette is an adolescent and it would have been a lot harder to get across her teen angst with a “Masterpiece Theater” type of soundtrack."

There, in a nutshell, we have the two biggest problems in taking this tack in telling Marie Antoinette's story. One, her feelings can't really be distilled into 'teen angst' or any relatable growing pains that youth in more ordinary circumstances might experience, and two, the construct of 'teenager' did not exist at that time. The benefit of a modern perspective might better serve to show us she was mentally young, vulnerable and out of her depth. There are moments where Coppola uses subtle strokes to adequately convey this, thus there is no need to resort to drawing such overstated parallels.

The soundtrack is not the only factor that mars Marie Antoinette, but it could perhaps be said that much of what is flawed about the film pivots on the musical choices, or at least that they encapsulate what else is wrong with the film. The 'relatable teen' angle takes the film in an unwise direction, making it too lightweight in feel. What at first is an interesting, sensitive sympathy toward Marie Antoinette becomes a dull insistence on how likeable she is and a clumsy over-identification with her, meaning any darker, more interesting shades are left out.

And though the film covers many of the dramatic ups and downs of Marie Antoinette's life, somehow they all feel imbued with ennui, intended to or not. It becomes a concerning prospect that Coppola might have a stock style rather than an acute artistic sense, one that is employed whether it's appropriate or even fair to the story she's telling. She wants to make the languid, hazy story about the fish-out-of-water girl, and strains to fit Marie Antoinette into this mould. Perhaps as a more experimental film, maybe one that attempted to capture only a tiny part of Marie's experience, or a film more honestly about the filmmaker than the subject, her signature style could have worked. But here in what is in many ways a traditional biopic, it works against the story, rendering an eventful, fascinating life duller than it should seem.

The soundtrack becomes a crutch, allowing Coppola to avoid developing real narrative where it's required. The story itself needed to convey depth, emotion, drama and excitement, instead of relying on awkward interjections of perky tracks to give life to Marie Antoinette's experiences. Some of the most potentially interesting moments are unfortunately relegated to a rock song-accompanied montage. The inclusion of modern music feels like a ready device that allows Coppola to squirm out of committing to making a truly mature, fully-realised film. Ultimately the film feels hollow: "Perhaps the most exasperating thing about Marie Antoinette is its tenacious insistence on studiously avoiding any the possibility of gaining any intellectual lesson from the story of its subject" (Tim Sexton).

That's not to say it's without its strengths: where it is genuine ennui that needs to be conveyed, Coppola is masterful at it. And the subtler elements of Marie Antoinette's characterisation are lovely, especially the touching moments where we feel a sense of calm strength in the relationship between the Queen and her husband, King Louis XVI, demonstrating that despite a lack of passion, there is a type of love present, one built on simple appreciation and consideration. Kirsten Dunst has a quiet poise and communicates a great deal with only the slightest of expressions. 

Coppola's immaculate eye for detail and dedication toward creating something visually stunning pay off, resulting in a beautiful-looking film. It's not a beauty that makes the film simply eye candy; it resonates more deeply than that, and is infused with an emotional intelligence sadly lacking in the weaker areas of the film. The idea behind her thoughtful use of vibrant colours, explains Coppola, was "to feel the vitality that they’re all alive at this time as opposed to some kind of sepia distance of looking at history. And just the brightness of the colors that you’re not referencing the paintings that have been faded over the years but it has the brightness of them being alive at that time."

Though the idea of adding modern songs to the film was ill-conceived, Coppola's good taste is still evident in her choices. Perhaps as an 'inspired by' soundtrack, this collection would have succeeded better. As such a collection, many of these choices would have seemed astute; as they sit in the film, they feel overly literal and forced. I'm yet to be convinced that modern soundtracks can work in period films at all. Music is very much a product of its time, influenced by ideologies, landscapes, ambient sounds, etc. The filmmaker would have to demonstrate a clear, convincing case for making parallels across different eras, skilfully bridging the elements of the different worlds without each weakening the impact of the other. Most importantly, rather than just choosing songs that are lyrically relevant or vaguely politically akin, a keen feel for music as a language and a desire to cast a wide net to find the most suitable sounds across any number of musical eras and genres would be needed. It would not be an easy task.

Bow Wow Wow - Fools Rush In (1980)

A notable example of a song that is a quite a sore thumb in the film, but would make a reasonable 'inspired by' choice is 80s punk pop band Bow Wow Wow's version of the Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom-penned standard 'Fools Rush In'. The Kevin Shields remix appears on the soundtrack release, but I'm pretty sure the original is used in Marie Antoinette, albeit a seemingly altered mix where the vocals are amped up considerably.

Despite not enjoying its placement in the film, there was something intriguing and appealing about the song that made me seek it out, and having heard little by Bow Wow Wow apart from their fun but overexposed cover of The Strangeloves' 'I Want Candy', this served as a welcome introduction to more of their music. I prefer the original song to either the film mix or the Kevin Shields remix, which is predictably awash with his signature effects, not really suiting the song. In its original state, the prominent galloping beat and tumbling, rushed vocals effectively elicit the feeling of mad love that comes ahead of reason: "and so I come to you, my love", 14-year-old singer Annabella Lwin* spills out, "my heart above my head". That her vocals are imperfect in a slightly uncomfortable way adds to the feel of being caught up in uncontrollable emotion. 

Etta Jones - Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread) (1960)
Doris Day - Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread) (1962)

'Fools Rush In' (sometimes 'Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)') has been around since 1940 and performed by many artists, including Frank Sinatra and Julie London. I'm posting these two other versions to show how just how unique Bow Wow Wow's take on the song is, and also because they're gorgeous renditions themselves. Bow Wow Wow's daring take shows how flexible the song is, lending itself remarkably well to very different interpretations. Their version makes the song a wild yet still affecting ode to thrilling, drastic head-over-heels love.  In Doris Day's version, the song takes on a tone of joyously serene, almost hypnotic relenting to the fate of love. Jazz crooner Etta Jones' (not to be confused with Etta James, who also recorded the song) multi-shaded take has some of the same quality, but adds determination, wryness and a little melancholy helplessness. Covers by Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley take a lighter, more playful approach and the song dutifully bends to suit that feel, too. 

Buy: Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy: Anthology, Etta Jones - Something Nice, Doris Day and Andre Previn - Duet, Marie Antoinette Soundtrack
Links: Bow Wow Wow Wiki; Etta Jones @ allmusic; Etta Jones Wiki; Doris Day discography;  Marie Antoinette bio; Marie Antoinette Wiki; Marie Antoinette reviews @ Screenville, AZ Daily Star, d+kaz, SF Chronicle ;  Sofia Coppola interviews @ Cinema Blend, about.com, The Observer ; List of artists who've recorded 'Fools Rush In' + lyrics; Kevin Shields remix (audio only) @ YouTube; Bow Wow Wow's 'I Want Candy' @ YouTube

*I just learned of this tidbit: it was Annabella Lwin who apparently served as a key inspiration in Coppola's conception of Marie Antoinette. "They actually based Marie Antoinette, from a styling point of view, on Annabella Lwin," explained the band's manager, Nicole Powers. "They drew parallels from the fact that they were both young girls who found fame and fortune at a ridiculously early age." (via Pitchfork). Oh dear - just when I thought the film was already stacked to the brim with overly literal parallels, now we have one drawn from the fact they were both 14 and, ah... famous? Again I question how such a clunky metaphor could possibly have been an advisable move toward doing justice to the story being told, rather than the mark of the in-crowd insularity the film is inevitably tainted with. Those who see the movie in a more favourable light could argue it's not intended to be about Marie Antoinette herself, but a punk rock version anyway. The problem is, the film and Coppola's soundbites about it offer too many hints that it is about Marie Antoinette, and it simply doesn't have the energy to succeed as a punk-spirited updating either. 

Sylvie Vartan - L'ami des mauvais jours (1965) [left-click]

Or 1965, at least. For Bastille Day, what could I post but a French song? Of course, Sylvie was not French by birth - she was born in Bulgaria to a father of Armenian descent and a Hungarian mother - but in many ways Mrs Johnny Hallyday was the quintessiential French yé-yé girl. 

In the above scan from the December 1966 issue of Mademoiselle Age Tendre, Sylvie is preparing the summer collection for her prêt-a-porter fashion line. Sylvie was not the only star to branch out into a side business: she was in the company of fellow powerhouse popettes, Sheila and France Gall. Sheila also produced a fashion range, while France lent her name to make-up and accessories.

'L'ami des mauvais jours'* was written by Sylvie's brother Eddy Vartan, a musician/composer/arranger whose writing credits include several film soundtracks and a number of songs for various sixties performers, most notably Johnny Hallyday. Sylvie's start in music came courtesy of Eddy, who was working at RCA Records when he recruited her for a duet with Frankie Jordan, 'Panne d'essence', after Gillian Hills dropped out. Eddy went on to write over 50 songs for his little sister.

Interesting bit of trivia: Eddy's son is actor Michael Vartan of 'Alias' and Never Been Kissed fame. I always think of Sylvie when I see his name, but I never knew she was his aunt!

This song was a request from my last.fm Yé-Yé Girls group, and seems to be a little hard to track down on CD. The only compilation I can find it on is this 21-volume set of Sylvie's recordings selling for the whopping price of €305. Any more affordable suggestions?

 Links: Lyrics, Sylvie @ RFI Music, Sylvie @ Ready Steady Girls!, Sylvie photos, Johnny & Sylvie photos, Eddy Vartan discography.

*In case it looks like lazy typing on my part, the standard for writing song titles in French is to capitalise only the first word, which I've been trying to stick to recently.

A little while ago, I came across the excellent Jugobeat site, filled with bios, pics and discographies of artists from the little-known 60s beat scene of former Yugoslavia, and became fixated with finding music by the only solo female act listed, Daniela. The site is run by Vanya, of No Brains Zine & Records, who was kind enough to rip some Daniela vinyl for me. Vanya was also responsible for a small run of 2 volumes of a great comp called Jugobeat Explosion a few years ago.

Meanwhile, I passed the Daniela obsession on to Lush from Dans Mon Café, who found some tracks posted at Garage Hangover. Some background on Daniela from GH:

"Daniela's real name was Danica Milatovic. She was born in Munich, Germany on December 13th, 1949, and her parents had come from Yugoslavia some years before. In 1960 she recorded her first 45. Between 1965 and 1973 there were 12 more 45s and two LPs with German songs. Her biggest hit was "Im Jahre 2002" ("In the Year 2002")."

I haven't heard her most well-known song, but my guess is it's a cover of 'In The Year 2525'. Amusingly, various foreign language covers all set the date of doom in different years, depending what best fits the tongue it's sung in: 2005, 2003, 2023. [*Edit- I guessed wrong: here's a link I found to a stream of the track: 'Im Jahre 2002 ' (watch out for pop-up ads).]

I'm posting all 20 tracks I have by her, which include recordings sung in English, Serbo-Croatian, German and French. The best is her garagey stuff, but I think these are all worth hearing. For those whose connections don't let them get large files, the tracks Garage Hangover posted are still up. You'll find a couple of her German songs and one Yugoslavian EP, featuring her appealing garage cover of 'These Boots Are Made For Walkin''.

GH tells us the 'Boots' EP, one of just two she released in Yugoslavia, was recorded "with the band Plamenih Pet (The Flaming Five) around 1967. This low-fi EP has competent covers of I Got You Babe and These Boots Are Made for Walking sung in English. The real gems are on the b-side, Dan Je Divan Dan (on web translators the title comes up as "Presently Had Wondrous Light"!), written by G. Aber and V. Olear, and Ja Nekog Želim ("I Someone Desires"), written by V. Olear and Daniela herself."

I'd personally say a little more than competent, especially 'Boots' which Vanya describes as "more garage than all "Girls in the Garage" volumes." But I can't disagree that the B-side tracks are killer.

Here are a few more of my favourites as individual files for the connectionally-challenged:
Hippy Hippy Shake; Detroit City; Dreaming Room; Er Ließ Mich Allein.

In 1969, Daniela competed in the German song contest, Deutscher Schlager-Wettbewerb. That year, France Gall came third with 'Ein Bißchen Goethe, Ein Bißchen Bonaparte'. Though Daniela's song 'Warum denn gleich aufs Ganze gehn' is pretty run-of-the-mill schlager, she's still quite a charismatic performer. She certainly didn't deserve last place, considering the many ultra-cheesy, irredeemably awful entries!

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Sanjalice - Mi Mladi

From Jugobeat: "Sanjalice (Dreamers) were one of, probably not many, girl bands in Yugoslavia. Actually I've heard about only 2 more: Lutke and Sigele. And Sanjalice are probably the only girl band that released a record in Yugoslavia at that time. Unfortunately I don't know much about them. I know that Slobodanka Miscevic (guitar) was the best student in her class and Ljiljana Jeftic (bass) was only 15 years old. Ok their records are not that wild, but "Bez Reci" is one the best girl 60s punk songs I heard. I also love their version of "Happy Together". I heard they were really great band to see live and probably they were wilder than on their records."

Eurocovers blog posted Sanjalice (pronounced San-ya-litse) covers of Dusty Springfield and Sandie Shaw a few months ago here, and Dans Mon Café posted 'Bez Reci' and 'Srecni Zajedno' (Happy Together) here (all links seem to still be up). More info on the girls, from Eurocovers:

"Ljiljana Mandic, Slobodanka Miscevic, Ljiljana Jeftic and Snezana Veselinovic played their own instruments and had a relatively short career, but I don't know if there is a relation[ship] between these two facts. They recorded mostly coverversions of Italian and English language hits including Those were the days (Mary Hopkin), Happy together (Turtles) and the fabulous 1965 San Remo song Io che non vivo senza te (You don't have to say you love me, the Dusty Springfield classic). Their Puppet On A String is sung in Serbo-Croat (that's what it was called in the Yugoslavia era)."

The only other female recording artist on Jugobeat is Ivanka Pavlovic, who accompanied garage band Iskre on one EP (left). I'd love to hear that... anyone?

Links: Daniela , Sanjalice, and Iskre @ Jugobeat, Daniela - German discography , No Brains' Ebay store , Jugobeat Explosion Vol 1 and Vol 2 on the Searchin' For Shakes database, 'Le Monde Est Gris' lyrics, Jugoton Records Wiki. And is this a picture of Sanjalice? (Via this forum ).

 Jany L. - Le Restaurant Chinois (1969)

Kind reader Carl read my mind by sending me this song a while back, as I was going to post about missing out repeatedly on getting the Jany L single. The story: I saw the single on Ebay a few times for 1 or 2 dollars/euros and though it looked alluring, I was always too short of funds to risk forking out international postage for a record I hadn't heard. Eventually, a copy came up for the same price, with a sound file that let me hear its brilliance, so I bid. It went for £25  - well out of the budget of a shallow-pocketed collector from a country with a weak dollar! (That would have been about $60 Australian, plus up to $20 postage). The next copy went for about the same and since then, any I've seen always reach an inhibitory final price. Elsewhere was even worse, with copies ranging from 50€ (e.g. here and here ) up to 243€ (here)! Needless to say, I was kicking myself for not taking a risk and getting it cheap before I'd heard it.

But there's a happy ending: I finally nabbed a copy - settling for one with writing on the sleeve - for a decent price. The scribbling is right over her face, but I restored her untainted beauty in the scan above. (The white glare under her nose and on her chin is how the sleeve actually looks; the writing was on her cheek and nose).

Who was Jany L.? Yet another mysterious mademoiselle, so many of whom cut one or two fabulous 45s, then seem to never have dabbled in music again. Jany's entire output was just two singles. 'Le Restaurant Chinois' is on a label called Germinal, and I wondered if it had anything to do with Germinal Tenas, the producer/songwriter behind girls like Clothilde and Christine Delaroche, known for his unusual arrangements and interesting touches.   

But it looks like my theory was wrong. The A-side is written by Jany L. and Bernard Kesslair, the B-side by Jany, G. Dayvis and J. Appel and production credited to 'L.P.I'. Kesslair, who wrote for pop stars like Claude François, Johnny Hallyday and Michèlle Torr as well as being a classical and film soundtrack composer, was the arranger on both tracks. So no sign of Tenas here. 

Still, with its use of a stand-out quirky sound- in this case, the xylophone playing the familiarly kitsch Western idea of Chinese music  - amidst a sweetly upbeat orchestral pop-rock arrangement, along with its cheerful brass accents and Jany's soft voice, it's certainly a stylistic cousin to cult favourites like Clothilde.

Cutie Jany sings about the thrill of eating with chopsticks at Chinese restaurants. "When I have no money, I only have bowl of white rice. But with chopsticks, even rice is super!" Bamboo shoots are a struggle, she tells us, but Peking Duck is real exercise!  

Does the stereotypically cartoonish 'Oriental' part cross the line into being offensive? I'd say it sits in the same place as some of the more well-meaning tracks on the compilation Chop Suey Rock, which features 60s garage bands performing songs in the same vein. Though other songs among its inclusions more clearly cross the line, they are all collected in a good-humoured way with a knowing nod to the political incorrectness of the times. There's a certain innocence in 60s pop culture's fascination with the seemingly exotic, even if sometimes executed in a less than desirable way. It's that sense of innocence, the harmless lyrics (unless there's a subtext my poor knowledge of French means I'm missing?) and the fact that the part in question suits the overall arrangement, rather than being a garishly comical sore thumb, that prevents this song being offensive, to my mind.  But I'm sure to some, simply the inclusion of such a clichéd sound evokes such nightmares as Mickey Rooney's turn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. 

Jany L. - Les Madeleines
Jany L. - Herald Tribune  

The B-side doesn't quite match the magnificence of 'Le Restaurant Chinois', although that's inevitable. But 'Les Madeleines' still stands up as an elegant piece of light baroque pop. 'Herald Tribune', her other single, is also not in the same league, but has its own fun charm and highlights more of the beguiling quality to her voice. Are her cries of "New York Herald Tribune!" possibly a tribute to Jean Seberg's character in À bout de souffle (Breathless), or simply another reference to these newspaper girls? Like so many French pop songs of the time, again the theme is the ubiquitous presence of American influence, but whether this is of the adulatory variety, or the mocking one, I can't tell (but I'm always happy to be enlightened by French-speaking readers!). Either way, it's a shame Jany, clearly talented at both songwriting and performing, didn't give us more. Thanks again to Carl, who also provided both these mp3s. 

Link: 'Le Restaurant Chinois' - Lyrics and comments @ Bide et Musique (In French).

pic from jerseygirlssing.com

Bernadette Carroll - Party Girl (1964)

I notice I unwisely promised a 'farewell Blog-City' party a few posts back, which unfortunately was over-ambitious - I'm neither ready to move the blog, or up to any sort of posting frenzy.

Thankfully, Bernadette Carroll makes a much better Party Girl than me. What a marvel of mood this song is. Even in the mere four lines of the first verse, the melody is by turns coolly nonchalant and confidently gleeful. Bernadette, in her cute-but-strong voice, happily asserts she's set her mind on chucking her no-good guy. The steady cadence of the handclaps suitably match her resolute tone and in effect, make it sound like she has a squad of supporters both affirming her smart decision and keenly waiting to hear what will happen next. Once Bernadette launches the details of her plan to live it up, the rhythm speeds up, the irresistible handclaps now sounding as though they're cheering on her new, liberated quest to have a good time and to find a better man.

Prior to recording solo and scoring a minor hit with 'Party Girl', Bernadette was a member of The Starlets, who later became The Angels, most famous for 'My Boyfriend's Back'. She later joined Denise Ferri (of The Delicates), and Peggy Santiglia (of The Delicates and also The Angels) to do commercial and backup session work, accompanying many big-name stars including Lou Christie. The trio co-created their vocal parts for his chart-topping 1965 single, 'Lightning Strikes'.

They also released a few singles under the name Jessica James and the Outlaws, including 'We'll Be Makin' Out' which features back-up vocals from Lou. The title is presumably a cheeky reference to the line "We were makin' out in the rain", which saw Lou's song 'Rhapsody In The Rain' get banned.

'Party Girl', written by Ernie Maresca and Lou Zerato, has shown up on several comps, many of which are out of print. But most of these ACE Records' comps should be available, and you might still be able to get Marginal Records' Back To The Girl Zone.

Links: Ernie Maresca interview @ Spectropop, The Delicates @ Girl Group Chronicles, The Delicates @ 45 RPM, America's Girl Groups @ Cha Cha Charming, Discography of Jessica James & the Outlaws and related groups, Lou Christie Fan Club site.