Yé-Yé! Girls of '60s French Pop
"Yé-Yé is a delightful style of pop music
featuring young female singers that influenced France and many other
countries, as says Susan Sontag, with its particular “camp” style
throughout the 1960s.
Yé-Yé pop had secondary explosions in the 1970s and 1990s in Japan
and Europe through the likes of Lio (who provides this book’s foreword),
and in the United States through singers like April March, whose Yé-Yé
number “Chick Habit” was heard in the Quentin Tarantino film
Death Proof.
Interest in Yé-Yé revived again recently during the fifth season of the mega-popular television series
Mad Men,
when Don Draper’s young, sexy wife sang the Yé-Yé number “Zou Bisou
Bisou,” originally made famous in the 1960s by blonde actress Gillian
Hills.
The most famous Yé-Yé practitioners include the glamorous Sylvie
Vartan (married to rock star Johnny Hallyday), French lolita France
Gall, beautiful actresses Brigitte Bardot and Chantal Goya, and the
statuesque Françoise Hardy.
This collection by French pop music expert Jean-Emmanuel Deluxe
includes many interviews with the original singers and producers, visual
excerpts of record covers, both 45s and LPs, and remarkable excerpts
from a children’s fan diary of the period.
Yé-Yé means “Yeah Yeah” and many music lovers are ready for an immersion in this beloved but little-known genre."
“This lavishly illustrated compendium is like a passport to
another time and place…a window into an era in which one could switch on
the TV & see Bridget Bardot singing about Harley Davidson
motorcycles while wearing thigh-high boots and a black leather
mini-skirt. This book may well be the Bible of Yé-Yé .” -Boyd Rice
Also available:
Clothilde: Queen Of The French Swinging Mademoiselle
Vinyl Record
Why CLOTHILDE? Why not that more star-worthy, internationally-acclaimed
Françoise Hardy, or the more akin to the sub-genre, France Gall? Because
she's the most characteristic, archtypical French mademoiselle, that's
why! Christine Pilzer, even Jacqueline Taïeb before her, both may have
been rediscovered first in this style unique to French '60s pop, and
Stella also may have been the most out and out "anti-ye-ye" with her
slightly anti-establishment and derisive lyrics countering the pop
system and establishment, but Cleo's all about text, not that much as a
whole production. As such, Clothilde takes the crown. Not only has
Clothilde the most natural (albeit unknowingly) disposition as a
chanteuse, singing such subversive lyrics with as much second degree
detachment as possible but also, the music itself is highly original:
inventive arrangements including French horn, musical saw, church bells,
barrel organ, marimba, brass fiddle, woodwinds, and busy fuzz guitar
amidst all that slapstick comedy-like audio bric-à-brac. Almost
avant-garde in concept, it was imagined and produced by Clothilde's
impresario, manager and indeed creator, legendary Disques Vogue A.D.
Germinal Tenas. This could've only come out of France.
Brigitte Fontaine Est... Folle
Vinyl Record
French poet and chameleonic vocalist Brigitte Fontaine's career spans over four decades. Only a few years before her 1968 debut,
Brigitte Fontaine Est…Folle,
she moved to Paris to become an actress and took her prodigiously
mature voice into the studio. Rich in the drama she brought to theater, Fontaine
synthesized chanson (French pop song) and world music, which eventually
won her international acclaim as a performer and collaborator with a
variety of artists from around the world (ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO, SONIC
YOUTH and STEREOLAB, to name just a few).
On
Est…Folle, Fontaine
takes flight over conductor Jean Claude Vannier's brilliant
arrangements. Vannier, best known for his work on Serge Gainsbourg's
Histoire De Melody Nelson,
is in fine form, using what would become his trademark stylings: lush
strings, taut rhythms culled from across the globe and a healthy dose of
whimsy. "Il Pleut" swings from understatement to rapturous delight.
"Une Fois Mais Pas Deux" is an infectious pop song that could have been
culled from a French New Wave soundtrack. Fontaine
is adventurous and multi-dimensional with sophisticated lyrics,
poignant melodies and enthralling delivery. Such artful handling of
meter and rhyme (or lack thereof) is rare in pop song. Far from the
era's yé-yé phenomenon, but never fully removed from its traditions,
Est…Folle is an essential link in French pop music, exuberantly pushing the genre into more conceptual and experimental sounds.
Brigitte Fontaine, Comme à La Radio
Vinyl Record
Featuring Areski Belkacem and Art Ensemble of Chicago, Comme à la Radio
is the sophomore album in Brigitte Fontaine’s prolific career. While her
debut, Brigitte Fontaine Est...Folle, is a unique take on French
chanson, here the Art Ensemble provides the perfect setting for
Fontaine’s exploration of free-verse poetry. Often arrhythmic and
spoken, her vocals command the same spontaneity and grace that her
collaborators applied to their instruments.
The
album’s eight-minute title track sets the tone: a sparse bass line
keeps time as Fontaine dances around stabs of flute and trumpet. On
“Tanka II,” named for a form of concise Japanese poetry, Areski (who
provides percussion throughout) plays hand-drums atop flurries of bass
as Fontaine coos and whispers pensively, gradually uttering
controversial phrases. “L’Été L’Été” centers around a repeated motif
with individual lines of high-pitched melody on a bed of muted horns.
Each track is its own world, with Fontaine’s incredible range, both in
style and substance, acting as the glue between the immense talent
involved. The overall effect is chilling, and it is no surprise that
Comme à la Radio is often cited as Fontaine’s best known work.
Wizzz! Volume 2: French Psychedelic 1966-1970
Finally, the long awaited continuation of the first Whizzz! compilation
released a decade ago. Features only rare and unissued tracks from the
1960s French garage/weirdos/beat vaults. This new volume will blow your
mind like the first one and includes a 38-page booklet with biography of
each artist along with cool and unpublished photos. Mastered from the
original master when they were no lost or damaged. Artists include SAN
ANTONIO, JEAN ET JANET, BRUNO LEYS MAINTENANT, GUY SKORNIK, BRIGITTE
FONTAINE, PHILIPPE NICAUD, ZORGONES, SERGE FRANKLIN, NELLY PERRIER,
JESUS, ALAIN BOISSANGER, and others. Imported from Born Bad, Paris,
France.
Serge Gainsbourg, Histoire De Melody Nelson
Vinyl Record
SERGE GAINSBOURG is no stranger to sexual proclivities, and with his
1971 Histoire De Melody Nelson he shared an erotic tale as seductive
today as the day it was released. With help from actress, amour, and
inspiration JANE BIRKIN, arranger/conductor and co-conspirator
JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER (L'Enfant Assassins Des Mouches), not to mention a
tight hand picked crew of top shelf UK session musicians, Histoire De
Melody Nelson is often cited as Gainsbourg's master work, an essential
album for the discerning music lover. Light In The Attic's reissue of
Histoire De Melody Nelson finally gives this still radical record the
respect and attention to detail it so rightfully deserves. For the first
time ever, this lavishly packaged and true to the original artwork CD
reissue contains extensive English language liner notes and informative
content explaining the times and tales behind the making of this
passionate platter. Dispelling the countless myths, hearsay, and rumors
surrounding Nelson, New York-based writer ANDY BETA contributes a
stylish essay for your edification while Finders Keepers' honcho and
Twisted Nerve founder ANDY VOTEL shares his deep knowledge of Gainsbourg
and the Gallic and UK music scenes with great insight.First time
available in US. Limited Edition Vinyl LP feat. 180-gram wax, gatefold
hand-numbered old school tip-on jacket, and liner notes. Limited to only
2,000 copies!
These books, and thousands of others, can be purchased from:
Brickbat Books
709 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
215 592 1207
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