THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,361) France Gall — “Faut il que je t’aime”/“Do I Have to Love You”
This sublime and “groovy Farfissa driven” (Third Man Records, https://thirdmanrecords.com/blogs/news/third-man-records-releases-reissues-of-three-classic-france-gall-albums?srsltid=AfmBOoqJMpvgzBZbIMU_mJn-ahtYd_-j1Wr62HkVe9Spbufb71G4vpxs) song shared the A-side of a ‘66 EP with “Baby Pop” and was on the Baby Pop LP. Written by Maurice Vidalin and Jacques Datin, it “weds mutant Farfisa-driven chanson and theater music to Baroque strings and harpsichord”. (Thom Jurek, https://www.allmusic.com/album/baby-pop-mw0000701141) I love it yé-yé-yé!
As to the Baby Pop LP, Third Man Records writes that:
Baby Pop is not only an important album for France herself, it is also a hugely important record for the entire yé-yé scene. Baby Pop hinted at the musical direction that yé-yé was headed in much the same way Revolver and Pet Sounds did in the UK and USA. Baby Pop is more mature and varied than her earlier more bubblegum releases. . . . [W]e welcome a new France Gall and say hello to some of the finest pop music ever released in French or any language.
Thom Jurek tells us about France Gall’s 1960s:
Although best known as the perky teenager who won the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest with the Serge Gainsbourg-penned “Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son,” that entry only marked the beginning of a long and fruitful career for French pop singer France Gall. One of the original yé-yé girls . . . bringing the nascent pop style to the charts; it was called “yé-yé” as a nod to British Invasion bands and their “yeah-yeah” refrains. Gall also scored another, far more controversial hit with Gainsbourg’s “Les Sucettes”, which translates to “Lollipops.” It was packed with obvious double-entendres that the singer claimed not to know existed. The blatant sexuality, coupled with the naive innocence of the teenage singer, marked her career in the annals of pop history. . . . Born Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall in Paris on October 9, 1947, she was the daughter of French performer and producer Roger Gall . . . . At age 15 in 1962, Gall was encouraged by her father to record some songs and send the professionally cut demos to music publisher Denis Bourgeois, who signed her to the Philips label immediately. The four-track EP Ne Sois Pas Si Bete (the standard in French pop music release format at the time) was an enormous hit, selling over 200,000 copies in France thanks both to the irresistible title track and the absolutely stunning cover photo. Gall released a series of similarly successful pop hits for the next several years, peaking with winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965. Though many dismissed Gall as merely a Francophone Lesley Gore making fluffy and ultra-commercial pop songs with little substance, her hits from the era have endured the test of time. . . . Although Gall’s high, breathy voice was admittedly somewhat limited, she made the most of it. Even deliberately trite hits such as “Sacre Charlemagne,” a duet with a pair of puppets from a popular children’s show on French TV, have an infectious charm. More substantive tunes, such as the sultry jazz-tinged ballad “Pense a Moi” and the brilliant rocker “Laisse Tomber les Filles [see #36],” are easily as good as any pop single produced in the U.S. or Great Britain at the time. In 1966, Gall’s public persona shifted into a more mature phase, both musically and personally. The change came with that year’s controversial hit “Les Sucettes.” Though on the surface the Serge Gainsbourg-penned tune was a pretty little song about a young girl and her lollipop, the unmistakable subtext of the sly lyrics meant that the not-yet-18-year-old Gall was singing approvingly (and, she later claimed, completely unknowingly) about oral sex (that said, she refused to lick a lollipop for an appearance on national French television. “Les Sucettes” and its follow-up, “Baby Pop” are among Gall’s finest recorded moments; they are more musically sophisticated and varied than her early hits, yet remain just as catchy. The psychedelic era found Gall, under Gainsbourg’s tutelage, singing increasingly strange songs, like “Teenie Weenie Boppie” (a bizarre tune about a deadly LSD trip that somehow involves Mick Jagger) set to some of Gainsbourg’s most out-there arrangements. The excellent 1968 is Gall’s best album from the period, with “Teenie Weenie Boppie,” the trippy “Nefertiti,” and the slinky, jazzy “Bebe Requin.”
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/france-gall-mn0000799466#biography
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
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