German born, French-based actress Uta Taeger released one single in 1969, 'Hier, aujourd'hui, demain' (Yesterday, today, tomorrow) backed with the fuzzed-out 'Baudelaire'. Here she performs the A-side, a cover of The Shangri-Las' 'Past, Present, And Future', on the TV special Barcarolles à Barcarès, which aired on August 30th, 1969. The entire show is filmed on a boat in the title location because... well, why not? The French love wordplay so much, I would not put it past them to have conceived of this simply to pair the words Barcarolles and Barcarès. Poor Uta looks like she might blow away, but remains elegant.

Sorry, everyone, not to have blogged for a long time and to have neglected to let you know that I'm on (unintended) hiatus. I kept hoping I would get back to blogging at any moment, but I just have not been up to it. I will return when I feel like I can blog without it taking too much out of me. I also want to take some time to rethink/redesign/relaunch the blog just as I'd like it.

Apologies also to my Last.fm friends and group members. I'll catch up when I can, but need to continue having a total break for now. Socialising online with everyone has been really fun, but it snowballed into something I couldn't keep up with.

You may also have noticed my Youtube account is once again gone, and I won't be setting up another, as it's too much of a gamble that hours of work will be wiped out at their whim. Instead, I'm migrating to Imeem, where many videos are allowed, since Imeem has deals with labels and pay royalties. And if a copyright holder wants to exercise their right to keep everyone from ever seeing obscure videos, as they are wont to do on Youtube, the video gets cut but I get to keep my account. Hooray! So far I've uploaded one of my faves and my most popular video on Youtube, Marianne Faithfull singing 'Hier ou demain ' in Anna:

Jeanne Moreau - Le Tourbillon (1962)

Jeanne Moreau's breathtaking tongue-twister from Jules et Jim. If you're curious about the lyrics, go here and scroll all the way down for a translation.

Buy: Recommended - Chansons; Cheaper - Le Tourbillon

Gönül Yazar - Çapkın Kız (1968)

Thanks to Berat for tipping me off about this fantastic Turkish cover of Marie Laforêt's 'Mon amour, mon ami'. Turkish to English online translators are useless, so I'm afraid I can't find out anything about Ms Yazar. But judging by her musical longevity and her extensive 60s filmography, she was well-loved as both a singer and an actress.

Sleeve via Zip Istanbul

If I have this right (feel free to correct me!), the lyrics to this version are a warning to a flirtatious woman to stay away from her man. In the original, the slightly sinister melody tempers the sweetness of the sentiment ('my love, my friend, when I dream, I dream of you') with a dash of potentially worrying obsessiveness. Here, Gönül's coolly-delivered threat to the other woman works well with the music's ominous quality.

*Update* - OK, so this is why I probably shouldn't have trusted my interpretation of a couple of words in the chorus translated via an online Turkish dictionary and then have run with that. Berat has corrected me that the flirtatious woman in the song is the singer herself. So my comments above don't exactly apply, but my point about the tune suiting the theme still stands, as the sense of both detachment and warning I imagined are still present lyrically. But I'll substitute "cooly-delivered threat to the other woman" for "cooly-delivered assertion that love is not for a woman like her". Here's the translation as Berat provided it to me:

Pic credit: SoledadMiranda.com

Soledad Miranda - No lo quiero (1965)

Best known as the sultry, darkly alluring star of erotic schlock horror film Vampyros Lesbos, it comes as some surprise to learn that Spanish actress Soledad Miranda's prior incarnation was as a perky pop singer. Amy at Soledad Miranda - Blood Queen Sublime Soledad sells a CD-R of vinyl transfers of Soledad's 2 EPs and has kindly granted me permission to post a full song.

The tracks (all cover songs, I believe) range from the sprightly 'Pelucon' ('Big-Wig') to the dramatic pop balladry of 'El color del amor' ('The Colour Of Love'). My favourites are the last two songs, 'Le verdad' (La verita) and 'No le quiero', which rock out a little more. 'No le quiero' is a cover of Roy Hamilton's 'You Can Have Her', but if you're not a fan of that song, don't be put off - I find this cover much more appealing. The arrangement and Soledad's feisty femme vocals make the song entirely unique.

Buy: Blood Queen's Soledad Miranda CD-R - Soledad's two EPs are now available commercially as digital reissues: Lo que hace a las chicas llorar, El color del amor.
Links: Soledad Miranda records on Sublime Soledad (discography, samples, guide to releases). The Life and Films of Soledad Miranda, The Spinning Image - Vampyros Lesbos review

The INA archives have quickly become my new favourite time-zapper. Among its wonderful offerings:

This fantastic clip of Serge Gainsbourg interviewing Anna Karina, followed by a lip-synched, sun-frolicking performance of 'Sous le soleil exactement'.

Thought I'd jump on Guuzbourg's bandwagon with my favourite French duet of all time:

Anna Karina & Serge Gainsbourg Jean-Claude Brialy* - Ne Dis Rien (1967)

Another stunning track from the Anna soundtrack. Last year's Gainsbourg DVD release, D'Autres Nouvelles Des Etoiles is a must-own, with the video for this track a standout for me. Extraordinarily beautiful in its simplicity, it features Anna & Serge casually slowdancing whilst gazing into each other's eyes.

And for Roar, the wonderful cover by Bambou and her and Gainsbourg's son Lulu:

Lulu et Bambou - Ne Dis Rien (2001)

Bambou's sensual, breathy vocals, as well as the lyrics seeming more suitable for lovers, does give this a bit of a Nancy & Frank vibe. Nonetheless, it's not much of a stretch to forget that and find it a sweet expression of mother/son closeness (that still sounds a bit off, doesn't it? I give up). A lovely update, tastefully arranged and the type of cover I'm always happy to hear. It does justice to the original, never stomping all over the original feel and thus taking away from it. A fresh take, lovingly executed like this one, can both renew your ears to the finer points you love in the original, and make you glad to hear another version of a favourite.

Buy: Anna Film & Soundtrack

*Originally mistakenly credited as Anna Karina & Serge Gainsbourg. Jean-Claude Brialy performs the duet with Anna Karina in the film and on the soundtrack, while the version in the video described is performed by Karina and Gainsbourg.

100,000 hits celebration time!

From the 1968 TV Special, The Brigitte Bardot Show. The entire hour-long show can be found on the Divine B.B. DVD, with many other rare Bardot music videos.

This is definitely a cover of 'La Madrague', right? I couldn't find a reference online to this being a cover, nor are the original songwriters credited. The lyrics are reworked and the melody is a bit different, but I think it's too close to the original to simply be a song that borrows heavily from it. Anyway, all that matters is it's very lovely and quite rare (only available on the Election soundtrack).

French kitsch king Claude and a young Jodie perform the Gainsbourg & Bardot classic on late 70s French TV, making it corny and more than a little creepy.