Pink Frankenstein's Guide to La Musique Française The world of French music can be a scary and uncertain place to explore. Once the brunt of ridicule, French music is now making itself known to the world. Just in the last few years we have seen domestic releases of Serge Gainsbourg material, rise to popularity of the French Band AIR, artists like Dump, Luna, Blonde Redhead, StereoTotal, The Popguns, Dutronc, April March, Mick Harvey all cover 60s French pop songs. And now that the French have dominated the world with by ass kicking the Brazilians(!!!!) it won't be long until "et moi, et moi, et moi" will be heard on every boombox in the hood. Below you will find my personal selection of essential French or French related releases. Your music collection is empty without them! Even if you don't speak French, there is still something to enjoy. Many comtemporary French artists sing in English and some of the music discussed below is only French related. In fact that is a good place to start.

One of my top five favorite albums of 1995. It's a sleazy, dreamy Paris that is sung. Jazz fills the air. Its the Paris of Gainsbourg and everyone is thinking. . .sex.

What makes this a great album for beginers of French music is that it paints an accurate protrait of one of the greatest chanteurs/composeurs of France: Serge Gainsbourg. It also features the vocal talents of two other fine artists Françoise Hardy and Catherine Deneuve.

Françoise has also appeared with Brit popsterheimers BLUR on their Country House EP. More recently she sang the song "Jeanne" with AIR.

The addition of Deneuve to the bill brings about an interesting element in French music: the actresses/chanteuse. It isa popular phenomena that French actresses also have a singing career. Bridgitte Bardot, Jane Birkin , Charolltee Gainsbourg, Isabelle Adjendi, Jeanne Moreau, Deneuve, Francis MacDonald, etc,. And one could even argue that Mylene Farmer (where I think Madonna gets all her ideas from) falls into that category too with her epic long music videos. In America its the men who rock out in their celebertyness-- John Travolta, Sean Cassidy, Yule Brynner, David Hosslehoff, and others all cut albums. But unlike the females in France, none of these guys have staying power.

La Question Françoise Hardy "Tous les garçon et les filles" was the song that dominated the French pop charts and began the career of France's most popular 60s singer. Although it is mostly her early ("ye-ye") material that she is known for, this early 70's album is my personal favorite Françoise release and features some of her most beautiful compositions. By this time, Françoise was in complete control of her work, having separated from Vogue records in 1968 and it shows with a lack of allegiance to the standard pop formula on several tunes. At times sublimly psychedelic .. whe is accompanied on this album by a Brazilian guitar player named Tuca.

Jacques Dutronc
April March

Dutronc rules! This galoise prankster named his first four albums Jacques Dutronc. With his song writing partner Jacques Lanzman (no discussion of Dutronc's work can proceed without Lanzman) the two had a coup restling the French R & B crown from Antoine, who many people thought sang the song et moi et moi et moi (of who it was a parody)

Scott Walker

Last, but certainly not least, is the man, myth, Legend Noel Scott Engle or Scott Walker as he was popularly known . Scott sang English translations of Jacques Brel tunes on his first three solo albums. Orginally a member of The Walker Brothers (none of them were named Walker and they weren't brothers) Scott went solo after the break-up of the boys who at one time were more popular than the Beatles. His rare albums had spotty release in the USA but have been re-released on the Fontana Records Label as an import. A domestic compilation of his work has recently been issued. Some French people might want to shoot me for saying that I think that Scott does better Brel than Brel does. The innitial reaction to a Scott song is to it's outrageousness. "He sounds like a crazy lounge singer." But the brilliance of Scott's solo career is the mixture of the lounge singer act and the existential hero. .....