A Celebration of ‘60s Pop, Soul and More!
After a nine-month hiatus, I’m back with a new edition of “C’est La Mode.” The show streamed Friday, November 27 on Jolt Radio.
Bobbie Gentry‘s our cover girl. I feature three tracks from her Grammy-nominated 1970 album, “Fancy” on the show:
You can listen to an archive of the show on Mixcloud.
Here at C’est la Mode, it’s a groovy Halloween happening featuring these five spooky tracks. Enjoy!
Lots of atmosphere on hand here from the barefoot princess of Britpop. This Chris Andrews penned track from 1966 features thunder and wind sound effects and a creepy keyboard hook. Sandie’s foreboding vocal has her trying to escape a tyrannical boyfriend. See her prior release, “Nothing Comes Easy,” for lowdown on this twisted relationship!
A great one-off hit from late 1966/early ’67 full of psychedelic fuzz-tone guitar, pounding drums, tambourine and what sounds like a sitar (?). The song alludes to an acid trip gone wrong, and there is a genuine weariness in lead singer James Lowe’s vocal. The Electric Prunes recorded for Reprise Records, owned by Frank Sinatra.
Psychedelia again as Jules and Brian cover this slinky simmering Donovan track that appears on their 1968 album “Open.” Julie is a C’est La Mode favorite. Her voice reminds me of a harder-edged Dusty Springfield. Check out her groovy eye makeup in this clip and you’ll discover why she was named “The Face of 1968”!
A hard-driving, freakbeat track from South African-born Sharon Tandy, backed by mod outfit Les Fleur De Lys circa 1968. “I’ll cast a spell on you and you’ll be dead,” sings Sharon. This woman ain’t foolin’ around!
The Manfreds’ 1965 take on the oft-covered Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic. In C’est La Mode’s humble opinion, lead singer Paul Jones is one of the best white R&B singers the UK ever produced!
Hello readers–It’s supposed to be Fall here in South Florida, but it still feels like summer! Turned off my air conditioning for a little while and opened my windows to get some fresh air. Hopefully it will cool off soon!
Speaking of fresh–here is the October edition of the “C’est La Mode” radio show featuring:
Read more about these highlights after the link!
This infectious, bouncy pop tune, released on Immediate’s subsidiary label Instant seemed destined for #1 status given the rash of bubblegum sounds popular at the time. Songwriter and Manfred Mann singer Mike D’Abo produced the track.* But alas it wasn’t meant to be. Shortly after it’s release, Immediate imploded and the record tanked.
“Micky” could’ve been a comeback for Twinkle, aka Lynn Ripley, an intriguing artist in the brit-girl canon who wrote most of her own material. She hit big in late 1964 with the biker death disc “Terry,” a close cousin to The Shangri-Las’ “Leader of the Pack.” Twinkle also wrote “Micky” and her other chart hit “Golden Lights” (#21 in 1965), which The Smiths covered in the 1980s.
*The first set of October’s “C’est La Mode” features songs written/produced by Mike D’Abo. I didn’t plan this–it just came together naturally!
Happy belated birthday to P.P. Arnold (aka Pat Arnold), who turned 73 on October 3! Her new album is The New Adventures of P.P. Arnold.
Pat signed to the Immediate label in late 1966, at the urging of Mick Jagger, whom she met while touring with The Rolling Stones as a member of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. With her power-packed, gospel-inflected vocals, she hit big in 1967 with a cover of Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is the Deepest.”
She recorded this Uptown Soul-flavored Wilson Pickett cover with then unknown Rod Stewart in 1967, but it went unreleased. Legend has it that there was some friction in the studio. Producer Mick Jagger felt Stewart couldn’t hit the song’s high notes. An argument broke out resulting in Jagger leaving the studio with the tapes. “Come Home Baby” is the only song that survived from the session. Musicians on the track included Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Nicky Hopkins on keyboards
“Callin’ out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat?” The world answered “yes” as Motown Records popularity exploded in 1964. At the height of the British Invasion, the label stood strong, scoring four #1 singles on Billboard’s Hot 100, including “My Guy” by Mary Wells and “Where Did Our Love Go” the breakthrough release for The Supremes. Week-ending October 17, 1964, Motown had seven songs in the Hot 100. Together they make a great set–I dare you NOT to dance!
The next edition of “C’est La Mode” streams live November 15 on Jolt Radio. Listen to past shows on Mixcloud.
Planning a radio show isn’t always easy, but I had plenty of inspiration for this latest edition of “C’est La Mode.”
I’d been listening to a lot of early ’70s soul from Freda Payne. Gotta love her work for Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Invictus label, especially her Grammy-nominated 1971 album “Contact.” Ms. Payne also celebrated a birthday September 19!
I kicked off the show with a rare alternate version of her big hit “Band of Gold,” that features additional instrumentation and verses. Then I book-ended the first set with the hit version of the song, just for comparison. I’m a bit of an audiophile–I love to hear the differences in lyrics, sounds, instruments, vocals–you name it!
I hunt for vinyl in South Florida in a number of places, including Record Rack in Pompano Beach. On a recent jaunt there, I picked up a used copy of The Association’s 1968 album “Birthday.” The disc opens with a spirited track entitled “Come On In.” The sound is fresh and engaging–and it’s no wonder–West Coast-based sound engineer Bones Howe produced the album! Howe served as sound engineer for a number of late ’60s pop acts, with instrumentation handled by L.A. studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew.
I highlighted Howe’s work with the Wrecking Crew focusing on sunshine pop tracks by The Mamas and the Papas, The Fifth Dimension and obscure Latin-influenced vocal ensemble The Carnival.
Do we still have duos these days? The ’60s sported a number of them, and they weren’t necessarily all romance-styled singing partners. Record-shopping back in Cleveland, my friend Emma brought to my attention a 1967 album by The Everly Brothers, simply called “The Everly Brothers Sing,” it includes their last Top 40 hit “Bowling Green.” Although considered past their commercial peak at the time, the album is chock-full of great harmony-laced, pop-psych tracks, and some cool fuzz-tone guitar riffs. I selected the track “Mary Jane” to anchor a set of ’60s duos that looked like this:
Have I sufficiently wet your appetite for more sounds of the ’60s? Listen to the complete September 20 edition of “C’est La Mode below. Next show is October 18 on Jolt Radio!
The August edition of my radio show, “C’est La Mode,” featured a cast of all French ’60s pop artists. I also paid tribute to Sylvie Vartan, who celebrated her birthday August 15.
Click on the link below to listen to the complete show on MixCloud.
My next show airs live on Miami-based internet radio station Jolt Radio, on Friday, September 20!
When I explain to people that I listen to French pop music from the 1960s they often look surprised. With an eyebrow raised they usually respond with a “Really!?!?” And then want to know more.
Others give me a blank look as if I just asked them to solve one of those annoying story problems from elementary school math class. Yuck!
On rare occasions, someone will throw me for a pleasant loop and admit to being a fan of the genre too and proceed to name their favorite Gallic artists.
In my own way I consider myself an evangelist for French ‘60s pop and rock, which is often referred to as “ye-ye pop.”
Ye-ye is a light and breezy style of music brimming with bright rhythmic melodies, that originated in Western Europe (mainly France) in the early 1960s. Teenage female singers dominated the genre, often performing in a coquettish, bubbly, yet innocent style, with hints of traditional French chanson.
Ye-ye places its own uniquely European spin on American rock ‘n’ roll, borrowing elements from ‘50s rock and R&B like Elvis Presley and Ray Charles, early ‘60s teen idol pop sounds, and girl groups. At first, many ye-ye artists covered American songs re-written or translated into French. As the decade progressed though, a stable of writers and producers emerged, creating more original material. The sound matured, adopting aspects of garage rock, funk and psychedelia.
Sociologist Edgar Morin coined the term “ye-ye” in the French daily Le Monde in 1963. The term derived from the “yeah-yeah” back up vocals popular in pop at the time, i.e. The Beatles’ “She Loves You.”
The moniker stuck and defined a generation of clean-cut pop purveyors. Some of the most popular include:
Though ye-ye has a definite “sound” as a genre, each of the above artists established their own iconic identity and style that set them apart. In fact many of them enjoyed continued success beyond ye-ye.
For most of the ‘60s, French ye-ye music fans consumed their idols’ work on “Le super 45s”—extended play (EP) seven-inch 45 RPM discs featuring four songs, packaged in beautifully designed picture sleeves. Unlike releases in the US or UK where it was a premium, all artists received picture sleeves regardless of their popularity.
Today, ye-ye vinyl is extremely collectible and rare, especially in the US, although you can find them on sites like www.discogs.com, sold by Europeans.
But in the last decade or so, it’s become more mainstream.
For example, US-based reissue label Light in the Attic released Françoise Hardy’s first five French ‘60s albums for the first time ever domestically. The lovingly restored packages, available in both CD and LP format, feature the original artwork, gatefold sleeves and include extensive historical liner notes penned by music journalist Kieron Tyler. In addition, Hardy’s 1962 hit “Le Temps De L’Amour” featured prominently in Wes Anderson’s 2012 film “Moonrise Kingdom.”
Sylvie Vartan, the first female rock-n-roller in France and the undisputed Queen of ‘60s French pop, earned two anthologies of her best ‘60s tracks by the British label RPM. “Irresistiblement: Sylvie Vartan 1965-1968,” covers French releases, many of the tracks written exclusively for her by British musicians Mick Jones (who founded the band Foreigner) and Tommy Brown, while “En Anglaise et En Americain” spotlights Vartan singing in English as she attempted to capture the UK and US markets. Not forgetting the guys, RPM has also released compilations by the French king of rock, Johnny Hallyday (married to Vartan 1965-1980) and garage rock and satirist Jacques Dutronc (Hardy’s beau and current husband).
If you’re a lover of 1960s pop and rock music, pop culture and fashion, ye-ye is definitely worth checking out! I regularly feature these artists on my radio show, “C’est La Mode,” which streams the third Friday of the month, 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Miami-based JoltRadio.
Most Americans of a certain vintage will remember Little Peggy March from her huge hit “I Will Follow Him.” The song topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts in the spring of 1963. Only 15 at the time, March stood four foot, ten inches, hence the “little” connotation. She scored a couple more minor US hits until fading into obscurity. But did she?
What many don’t realize is that March enjoyed tremendous success in Europe, especially Germany, for the rest of the 1960s and well into the 1970s. In fact, she moved to Germany in 1969.
She transformed from the perky, petite, brunette “Little” Peggy, to a svelte, blonde vivacious German chanteuse, with a clear, power-packed voice.
She won the Deutscher Schlager Contest in 1965 and her song “Mit 17 hat man noch Träume” (“At 17 you still have dreams”) placed No. 2 in the German Singles Chart. Search for her on YouTube and you’ll many of her German recordings.
One of my favorite of her performances is this one from 1971. She sings “A Banda” (“The Band”—also recorded in German by French ye-ye Girl France Gall in 1968) and the soulful, driving Motown-inspired “Lieben Ist Schoener Als Traumen,” which was a German single for March in 1971. Both songs showcase her powerful voice and versatility. Note the Jay Leno lookalike on guitar at the top of “Lieben…” 😉 Enjoy!
June’s edition of “C’est La Mode” on Miami’s Jolt Radio includes a tribute to the late, great Scott Walker, artists with June birthdays including Brian Wilson and Ray Davies, and of course a great selection of eclectic ’60s pop, soul and more.
I’ll admit, my news sources have been somewhat limited lately, so I was saddened to hear that Scott Walker died earlier this year. I’m a huge fan of his work as primary lead singer of The Walker Brothers, three Yanks who made it BIG in the UK with a string of hits between 1965–1967, including two number ones. One of my favorites is “You’re All Around Me,” written by Scott with female British singer-songwriter Lesley Duncan. The song appeared as the b-side of their single “My Ship Is Coming In” in 1965 and on their debut album “Take It Easy With… .” I love the guitar on this and the female backing singers’ swell on the chorus (mostly likely the prolific Breakaways).
There’s more to Sinatra’s 1960s recordings than “These Boots Are Made for Walking.” Case in point is the 1967 single “Lightnings Girl,” penned by long-time collaborator Lee Hazlewood. It packs a power punch: a hybrid of country-psychedelic-pop, highlighted by slinky heavy percussion and a fuzz-tone guitar figure played backwards for sinister effect with strings and cellos. Made the top 30 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
A great track from Warwick’s superb 1964 album “Make Way for…,” this jaunty girl group number was penned by Helen Miller and Howard Greenfield (frequent collaborator with Neil Sedaka, (i.e. “Where the Boys Are”). Love the attitude on this, especially the background singers’ advice offering lyrics. Overall it’s a close cousin to the Shirelles’ 1963 hit “Foolish Little Girl,” which was also a Miller/Greenfield composition. The Shirelles were also label mates of Warwick on Scepter Records.
Tune in to the next edition on “C’est La Mode” on Jolt Radio July 19th, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
I can’t help myself! YouTube is a treasure trove for quirky ’60s French Pop and Rock. Check out the video below of “La Bise Aux Hippies” (Kiss the Hippies) written by the legendary Serge Gainsbourg and performed by Sacha Distel and Brigitte Bardot on what I’m guessing is a Distel TV special (he was kind of like a French version of Andy Williams). Awesome bass line!
Gainsbourg could be considered the king of ’60s French Pop, or at least one of its chief composers. Originally a jazz singer/songwriter, he made his mark in the 1950s penning tunes for Gallic songbirds like Juliet Greco and Michele Arnaud. In 1964, he teamed up with French Ye-Ye star France Gall, crafting some of the singer’s most memorable tunes, including “Ne’ecoute Pas Les Idoles” and L’aisse Tomber Les Filles.”
C’est La Mode is a celebration of the eclectic music of the 1960s! Pop, soul, Motown, mod, girl groups, ye-ye French pop and more! I regularly shine a spotlight on some of my favorite artists including:
I’ll assemble play lists of not only hits, but also misses and deeper cuts by these artists and others. I may also highlight films, fashion and other pop culture bits from the era.
My name is Rob and I’m a Cleveland native currently living in Southern Florida. The “C’est La Mode” blog is inspired by the radio show of the same name that I hosted for nearly three consecutive years on legendary WRUW FM 91.1 Cleveland, broadcasting from Case Western Reserve University. I’ve had a passion for the music, culture and fashion of the 1960s since I was nine years old!
In the meantime, here’s a taste of some ’60s French Pop from Annie Philippe, singing the song that inspired the title of this blog! Dig the opening DJ announcement, plus the groovy dancers!