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The Victors, Gillian Hills, Petty Booka, Petula Clark, Ruby and the Romantics
Posted on 2006.09.23 at 00:19
The Victors - Anne-Marie
I can tell you only two things about The Victors. First, they are presumably a Finnish band from the 60's, as I got this song from a compliation of 60's Finnish groups covering American and British songs (mostly the Beatles). Secondly, I can tell you they aren't the American band of the same name, who operated at the same time and sound sort of similar except more psychedelic and without lovely Finnish accents. In any case, the stars of this song are the guitar and the vocals, each swagger akwardly and sexily through out the song, at once fluid and herky-jerky.
Gillian Hills - Le paradis avec toi
Born in Cairo Egypt to English parents, Gillian Hills grew up to be a jaw-droppingly beautiful minor star. Emerging in French culture in the shadow of the similar Brigitte Bardot (even pursued and thrust into movies by Bardot's ex-husband playboy Roger Vadim [a man also linked to Catherine Deneuve and Jane Fonda! what a bastard!]) Gillian was, in my opinion, prettier then Brigitte and had a stronger, though less sultry voice. She however did not share Bardot's instincts or backings by France's Sultans of music, like Serge Gainsbourg, who wrote songs for Bardot. Her music career consisted mostly of covering American songs in French (as in this song "A KOOKIE LITTLE PARADISE" originally recorded by Jo-Ann Campbell), though later she would write her own songs.
Petty Booka - Baby it's you
Petty Booka are a Tokyo girl duo who started their career by turning old pop songs into traditional Hawaiian ukulele arrangements. Here they channel the Burt Bacharach classic "Baby it's You", a song also memorably done by The Shirelles. But whereas The Shirelles conjures teenage slow dancing to a jukebox at the local diner with milkshakes, Petty Booka effectively take the song to a tropical beach with cuddling on the sand and fruity alcoholic drinks.
Petula Clark - Bang, Bang
Here British international songstress legend Petula Clark sings the Sonny Bono hit "Bang, Bang" (originally done by Cher). Today among the yougnins' the most famous version is Nancy Sinatra's from opening of Kill Bill, but in contrast with the minimilasm of that song, Petula's version has a bounce and bombast that you'd expect from a song whose chorus is "bang, bang!".
Ruby and the Romantics - Hey There Lonely Boy
By chance this post seems to be themed "foreigners who covered american songs" (I dont actually know who originally wrote or performed "Anne-Marie") but this Ruby and the Romantics song will for better or worse break that random streak. Originally an all male quartet from Ohio who called themselves The Supremes, The Romantics later decided they wanted a female lead. They found one in singer Akronite Ruby Nash, who had been performing local talent shows previous. Why they didn't call their group AKRONITE AND THE SUPREMES is beyond me, unless they were worried they would be confused with supervillans. This song is a pretty lilting ballad. You are probably familiar with the more famous version "Hey there Lonely Girl" by Eddie Holman (hey looks like i have a minor second tier theme)
I can tell you only two things about The Victors. First, they are presumably a Finnish band from the 60's, as I got this song from a compliation of 60's Finnish groups covering American and British songs (mostly the Beatles). Secondly, I can tell you they aren't the American band of the same name, who operated at the same time and sound sort of similar except more psychedelic and without lovely Finnish accents. In any case, the stars of this song are the guitar and the vocals, each swagger akwardly and sexily through out the song, at once fluid and herky-jerky.
Gillian Hills - Le paradis avec toi
Born in Cairo Egypt to English parents, Gillian Hills grew up to be a jaw-droppingly beautiful minor star. Emerging in French culture in the shadow of the similar Brigitte Bardot (even pursued and thrust into movies by Bardot's ex-husband playboy Roger Vadim [a man also linked to Catherine Deneuve and Jane Fonda! what a bastard!]) Gillian was, in my opinion, prettier then Brigitte and had a stronger, though less sultry voice. She however did not share Bardot's instincts or backings by France's Sultans of music, like Serge Gainsbourg, who wrote songs for Bardot. Her music career consisted mostly of covering American songs in French (as in this song "A KOOKIE LITTLE PARADISE" originally recorded by Jo-Ann Campbell), though later she would write her own songs.
Petty Booka - Baby it's you
Petty Booka are a Tokyo girl duo who started their career by turning old pop songs into traditional Hawaiian ukulele arrangements. Here they channel the Burt Bacharach classic "Baby it's You", a song also memorably done by The Shirelles. But whereas The Shirelles conjures teenage slow dancing to a jukebox at the local diner with milkshakes, Petty Booka effectively take the song to a tropical beach with cuddling on the sand and fruity alcoholic drinks.
Petula Clark - Bang, Bang
Here British international songstress legend Petula Clark sings the Sonny Bono hit "Bang, Bang" (originally done by Cher). Today among the yougnins' the most famous version is Nancy Sinatra's from opening of Kill Bill, but in contrast with the minimilasm of that song, Petula's version has a bounce and bombast that you'd expect from a song whose chorus is "bang, bang!".
Ruby and the Romantics - Hey There Lonely Boy
By chance this post seems to be themed "foreigners who covered american songs" (I dont actually know who originally wrote or performed "Anne-Marie") but this Ruby and the Romantics song will for better or worse break that random streak. Originally an all male quartet from Ohio who called themselves The Supremes, The Romantics later decided they wanted a female lead. They found one in singer Akronite Ruby Nash, who had been performing local talent shows previous. Why they didn't call their group AKRONITE AND THE SUPREMES is beyond me, unless they were worried they would be confused with supervillans. This song is a pretty lilting ballad. You are probably familiar with the more famous version "Hey there Lonely Girl" by Eddie Holman (hey looks like i have a minor second tier theme)