Souvenirs Souvenirs

So, we went to Nice. Nice was nice and Nice was tres expensive, and so my hope of coming home arms laden with records was slightly foiled...

We did pick up one or two souvenirs that didn't empty our pockets though:

I picked this one up at the flea market for 1 euro: a seven-inch ep of Léo Petit, ses Guitares et ses Rythmes playing "4 Rocks Formidables", on the Trianon label. No idea what year it's from. On side a, Léo and his band twang their way through surf-guitar fave Kili-Watch and give us a faithful instrumental rendition of Johnny Hallyday's Souvenirs Souvenirs. On the flip there's a slowwwwwwwed down stroll through Apache, and some brassed-up primal screaming in Tu Parles Trop. (It's worth checking out Léo Petit's entry at discogs.com - he has quite a CV!)

a1) Léo Petit - Kili-Watch

a2) Léo Petit - Souvenirs Souvenirs

b1) Léo Petit - Apache

b2) Léo Petit - Tu Parles Trop

[buy Léo Petit from CDandLP.com | search via discogs.com]

I thought I'd give you a couple of bonus comparison songs - other versions I have of 2 of the tracks:

There's nothing like a superlative novelty hit getting cashed-in, and dragged-out across a full-length album, and that's just what seventies Moog-toters Hot Butter did with their Popcorn album. Their version of Apache borrows most of the clever arrangement tricks employed on their breakthrough hit, and you can almost sing that famous Popcorn melody over it in some places.

Hot Butter - Apache

[buy Hot Butter from iTunes | Amazon.uk]

Another Stereo Total song! Fittingly, this one was recorded with Alex Chilton (see previous post). Our favourite Franco-German punkrock-disco-bubblegumpop-chansonieres get all heavyheavy on their own rockabilly rumble through Johnny's 1960 hit.

Stereo Total - Souvenir Souvenir

[buy Stereo Total from iTunes | Amazon.uk]

And here is Johnny himself sur la moto