Customer Reviews

Femmes De Paris V.1

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4 star:		(1)
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Sort of like the old cliché "I don't know a lot about modern art, but I know what I like"; That's what I feel about this collection of young French "divas"! I know very little French language myself, but do recognize the many covers of American hits done powerfully and with great style here. Even right down to the "bump-bah-bah-bah bump" put in to "Marie Doceur, Marie Colere" (Paint it Black) at the end just like the "Stones" version! You just have to also love the "one name" girls here - Eileen, Violaine, Jocelyne, Stone, Adele, Elizabeth, etc.. Fabulous vintage graphics of record singles and overlays of designs in this CD. The only real "letdown" here was the track chosen to represent Brigitte Bardot! Could you just TELL her looks were getting people to ignore her lack of singing talents on this one alone or what?!! A much better song she recorded was "Contact" (probably on a later installment of these and I know is on an "Original Sixties" volume. I haven't gotten a chance to hear the two follow-ups to this series yet and fear many of the tracks were already used on "Original" and "Ultra Chicks" another mentioned. C'est la vie as they say!

One might say that this collection is a little heavy on covers of English hits like Paint it Black and Nights in White Satin but that is part of its allure. I would take Marie Laforet over Mick Jagger any day and Patricia's Nights in White Satin would make any breathing human melt like butter on a French Riviera beach. Like any great compilation, this collection is a springboard into the world of 1960's Femme French Pop. The obvious is here with Brigitte Bardot but then there is also Jacqueline Taieb, the previously mentioned Marie Laforet and the Chinese/French Tiny Yong which will leave you begging for more, and more there is if you seek them out. The last track on the CD, La Pritemps a Paris by Jacqueline Taeb is unspeakably gorgeous and is worth the price of the CD in itself. Combined with novelty tracks like Dracula by Christine Pilzer this is a complete, precious introduction to 60's French Pop.

There are better series that deal with female sixties french pop singers(Ultra Chicks, Swinging Mademoiselle) and more comprehensive, but this one is the only one that is readily available!!! They also deal with alot of the same unknown french female singers. Maria Laforet does a cool cover of Paint it Black! Their are other cover songs too!(These Boots Are Made For Walking, Nights in White Satin..etc) But the originals by some of these girls are outstanding!! Especially 7 Houres du Matin by Jacqueline Taieb!! Buy Volumes 1-3 if you enjoy this kind of music!!

Aún no he conseguido reponerme de la alegría de haber descubierto este disco. ¿Cuánto tiempo hemos tenido que esperar los aficionados para acceder a una recopilación en cd de este tipo? No queráis saberlo. Si ya es considerablemente difícil dar con ediciones decentes de las discografías de las tres soberanas por excelencia de la era yé yé del pop francés (a saber: Sylvie Vartan, Françoise Hardy y la inefable -magnífica- France Gall), imaginaos lo que puede ser rastrear en las de aquellas otras 'reinas por un día', de las que luego nada más se supo. Dadas las actuales exigencias del mercado discográfico, sólo se me ocurre admirarme de la suerte de que, en esta ocasión, alguien se haya al fin acordado de la minoría de melómanos que aún gustamos de dejarnos tentar por estas sabrosas naderías de pop añejo. Esperemos que este disco sea tan sólo el primero de una larga serie. Por lo demás, he de matizar mi euforia con un par de reservas de considerable importancia. La primera se refiere a la relación calidad-precio del disco: creo su precio bien merecería al menos una hora de música. La segunda es de carácter más personal y es que, entiendo que un producto de estas características resulte más accesible al gran público a través de la inclusión de versiones de clásicos anglosajones, pero mi opinión es que, con éste, se han pasado un pelín. Yo me atrevería a sugerir, para próximos volúmenes, un poquito más de Serge Gainsbourg y menos Brian Wilson (a quien por otra parte venero, pero sobretodo en sus versiones originales.) Dicho lo cual, sólo me queda añadir que NO DEJÉIS DE COMPRÁROSLO.