Nothing but the truth

This is my new favourite Clothilde song.

It was the 4th track on her 2nd (and final) ep, and it has all the hallmarks of this quintessential Swinging Mademoiselle: The disaffected vocal; a hyperactive bubblegum groove; some ridiculously strangulated fuzz-guitar; ding-dong bells; all manner of plinky-plonky percussion; horns a-plenty; a bit at the start of the chorus where she goes "Heh!"; not to mention the kitchen sink... All thrown into the mixing console and stirred up by French pop svengali Germinal Tenas.

I really can't understand why it hasn't already been on any of the umpteen Swinging Mademoiselle/Ultra Chicks/Femmes De Paris/Pop A Paris comps to date... But it's now available to us all on the Born Bad Records released French Swinging Mademoiselle 1967 album, and the CD and LP versions include a full transcript of a candid interview with Élisabeth Beauvais (Clothilde's real name), plus interjections from the aforementioned Mr. Tenas.

Clothilde - La Vérité Toute La Vérité [buy Clothilde - French Swinging Mademoiselle 1967 on CD, LP or all manner of digital formats from Born Bad Records]

Swing when you're winning

On my jaunts around the interweb, I also heard the pitter-patter of Clothilde's mischievous chansons, which have been collected together, in all their Germinal Tenas-produced, intricate glory, for a long-overdue retrospective, French Swinging Mademoiselle 1967, to be released on Born Bad Records (on vinyl and CD if rumours are to be believed) in February or March this year. If you can't wait for the physical release, you can download it in all manner of digital formats from the Born Bad Recs BandCamp page, or you can preview it and buy it via the handy little player below...

Good news from Born Bad

I was rather pleased to have finally picked up a vinyl copy of Wizzz! vol.1 on eBay a few weeks ago, and for a bargain price too!

Then I happened to take a look at the Born Bad Records website and realised they've actually re-pressed it.  So it's good news for everyone!

[Vinyl copies had been going for silly money on eBay and sites like discogs.com for a while.  This seems to be an increasing trend with compilations of rare 60s cuts: The compilation brings the tracks to the attention of the big wide world, which makes the original discs more sought after and the prices rocket. The originals become harder and harder to find, then the compilation goes out of print, and so the price of that goes up and up and up as well - crazy what people will do to get hold of a particular song on vinyl. Don't look at me though, I know my limits.]

For me Wizzz!: Psychorama Français 66-71 (to give it its full title) is the better of the 2 Wizzz! comps - it's a lot more poppy and immediate and it brings together a handful of legendary tracks I'd only ever read about and imagined how they might sound, plus a couple of well-comped classics.

A long-time favourite is this little sitar-psyche sex-funk number

Danyel Gérard - Sexologie
[buy Wizzz!: Psychorama Français 66-71 Born Bad Recs]

SETLIST from 23 AUGUST 2008 (+ mp3s)

There were technical issues with the recording equipment and so there is no podcast this time. Instead, we've picked one mp3 each - they're at the end of the post...

Sarah
The Chap – Baby I’m Hurtin’
Visage – Damned Don’t Cry
Baxendale – Battery Acid
Japan – Quiet Life
Human League – Almost Medieval
Serge Gainsbourg – Chez Les Yé-Yé
Christie Laume - L'Adorable Femmes Des Neiges
Fad Gadget – Love Parasite
Dominic
LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
Boy from Brazil – Pocket Rocket Queen
Serge Gainsbourg – Ford Mustang
Michel Polnareff – Tout Tout Pour Ma Cherie
Les Georges Leningrad – Missing Gary
Les Papyvores – Psychédelic Badge
Electronic Movements – Syncopation
Golden Boy and Miss Kittin – Rippin Kittin
Stereo Total – In / Out
Verity
John Foxx – New Kind of Man
Men Without Hats – Safety Dance
Jacques Dutronc – Les Playboys
Jeff Wayne – The Fighting Machine
Air – Playground Love (Highschool Prom Mix)
Kraftwerk – Antenna
Air and Françoise Hardy – Jeanne
OMD - Souvenir
Magnetic Fields – With Whom to Dance
Sarah
The Knife – Rock Classics
Simon Bookish – Portrait of the Artist as a Fountain
Kid Carpet – I Don’t Want to Fall in Love With You
Noisy Pig ft Baby Donut – Wrong Time Capsule
Dauerfisch – Endlich Vögeln
Anne Kern – Oh! Seigneur, Ecoute ma Prière
France Gall – Pense a Moi
Brigitte Bardot – Everybody Loves My Baby
Sylvie Vartan – Koibito Jidai
Plastic Bertrand – C’est Le Rock ‘N’ Roll
Dominic
Frank Alamo – Ma Biche
Françoise Hardy – Le Temps de L’Amour
Cats in Paris – Loose Tooth Tactile
Ladyhawke – Paris S’enflamme
John Baker / BBC Radiophonic Workship – Brio
[French Language]
John et Jehn – 20L07
Nancy Holloway – Tu N’es Pas Venu
Gabriel Yared – La Poubelle Cuisine (Betty Blue OST)
Adèle – C’est Bon
Jina Miko – Dum Dum
Polnareff – Dans La Maison Vide
Verity
OMD – Enola Gay
Eurythmics – Tous Les Garçons
Experimental Pop Band – Punk Rock Classic
Mareva – Les Cornichons
Sparks – Beat the Clock
Marie Möör – Pretty Dry
France Gall – C’est Air La
Stereolab – Wow and Flutter
Serge Gainsbourg – Marilu
Sarah
Stereo Total – Komplex Mit Dem Sex
Add N to (X) – Iron Man
Quintron and Miss Pussycat – Swamp Buggy Badass
50 Centime – In Da Club
Sparks – Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth
Neil Young – Sample and Hold
Devo – Too Much Paranoias
Dominic
Brigitte Bardot – Contact
Ananda Shankar - Back Home /
[French Language] /
Jiri Bezant / Jiri Malasek – Erotica /
Henri Salvador – Beta Gamma, L’Ordinateur
Nino Nardini – Catch That Man
Kap Bambino – New Breath
Jacques Dutronc – L’Amour A La Chaine
Verity
Future Bible Heroes – I’m a Vampire
Heaven 17 – Temptation
Comix – Touche Pas Mon Sexe
New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
Add N to (X) – FYUZ
Neon Neon – I Told Her on Alderan
Sarah
The Associates – Club Country
Denim – Brumburger
Les Roches Martins – Les Mains Les Poches
Dominic
Les Dandy’s – Amour et Mariage
Françoise Hardy – Je Pense a Lui
Brezel Göring – Ich Bin So Süchtig (mit Christiane F)
Verity
Mareva – Pourquoi Pas Moi
Simon Bookish – Terry Riley Disco
Joceleyne – Nitty Gritty
Sarah
Ria Bartok – J’y Pense Tout Bas
Bis – Eurodisco
Stazi – Your Love is Lethal
Dominic
Chantal Kelly - Notre Prof’ d’Anglais
Michel Polnareff – La Mouche
Sarah
Magnetic Fields – I thought you were my boyfriend
Dominic
Les Shades – Orage Mechanique
Plastic Bertrand – Ca Plane Pour Moi
Sarah
Polysics – Kaja Kaja Goo
Verity
Françoise Hardy – Je Changerais d’Avis


Verity's mp3 choice
Comix – Touche Pas Mon Sexe
Dominic's mp3 choice
Gabriel Yared – La Poubelle Cuisine (Betty Blue OST)
Sarah's mp3 choice
Anne Kern – Oh! Seigneur, Ecoute ma Prière