The first half of the 80s. This is perhaps not yet indiepop. Possibly indiepop is going to be born with the C86 tape. For other fans indiepop already exists, there’s Orange Juice, The Pastels, the Television Personalities. It depends how you understand indiepop.

For me, there are indiepop bands already in 1983-1984. But there are others that are quite indiepop but not completely. It is hard to explain. In previous posts I’ve called them proto-indiepop, like they seem to have the sound that will become indiepop but there are other influences at play at the same time.

For me Tralala is one of these bands. They are pop and have great songs.

They released three singles, three 7″s. I have the last one, “Always Close at Hand”, the only one that came with a sleeve. But there were two earlier ones, a bit more rare, worth tracking down.

Nowadays I buy very few records, so not sure when I’ll catch up with you all, great record collectors. But if anyone has extra copies do let me know.

The band’s first 7″ came out in 1983 and didn’t have a label behind it. It did have a catalog number though, YUN 02, which is a bit strange. No label but yes to catalog number?

The record was a double A sided single, with “Impeccable” on the A side and “What’s the Matter” on the AA side.

This record has a few little details. We know that the producer and engineer was Keith Nichol, who worked from Impulse Studios in Newcastle, England. We also learn that the songs were written by Kevin Ridley and Paul Laing. Ridley was from the Newcastle area, and was in bands like Forgodsake, Screen Idols, Skyclad and Theigns & Thralls. Eventually he would move to Madrid where he lives now.

Kevin Ridley has a website, but strange enough there is no mention of Tralala. I tried to track down Paul Laing, but no luck.

The band’s second single came out in 1984. This time there was a label name, Floating World, and a catalog number, FLOAT 01. Not sure who were behind this label. Perhaps it was the Impulse Studios’ people?

The single had two songs, “Room to Be Cruel” on the A side and “Overjoyed” in the B side.

That same year the band releases their last single, “Always Close at Hand” (FLOAT 02)”. The title song is on the A side and on the B side we find the track “Don’t Take to Love”.

Sadly there is no information online about the band. I am of course hoping this will change. Hopefully some of you remember them and can share some details about Tralala!

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Listen
Tralala – Always Close at Hand

Time to head to the US today. The Goldenrods. A trio that seems to be forgotten now formed by Barry Hall and Jenny Gunston in the early 90s.

The band’s first release was in 1992. HARP Records from San Francisco would put their music out. It was a two song single, with “Barbwire Chair” on the A side and “Cagiva Elephant” on the B side. Catalog was HARP 004. 300 copies on black vinyl and 100 on yellow. I read the edition was of 500 copies, so there are other 100. There is a version of this same single with a different sleeve, maybe that’s where the other 100 copies are.  In any case, look for yourself, one sleeve has two people, a girl and a guy, walking and the band’s name in green ink, while the other shows two different people posing by the stairs. I don’t think the photos are of the band.

The record was recorded and mixed at Lowdown Studios in San Francisco by Greg Freeman. On this record Jenny sung, Barry played guitar and keyboards while Kevin played guitar, keyboards and programmed the drums. Barry is credited for writing the songs.

I check a little bit about the band members. I see that Barry hailed from Braintree in Massachusetts. He relocated to San Francisco. He was also in a band called The Cat Heads.

The band’s second single was the “Lesbian Nation & I Can’t Reach You” 7″ (HARP 011) in 1993. As it is obvious the songs on the record were “Lesbian Nation” on the A side and “I Can’t Reach You” on the B side.

Again the songs were recorded at Lowdown Studios by Greg Freeman. Greg also played tambourine in the B, “I Can’t Reach You”, side by the way. This song was a cover of The Who.

The A side was written by Barry and also featured bass by Sam Babbitt from The Cat Heads and The Ophelias. This record also features John Stuart from Flying Color and Map of Wyoming on drums, Oz on guitars and Roger Hand on piano.

The design is credited to Bhdg Sf, Ca., the cover photo to Dave Mamelka, and the model was Johanne.

In 1994 the band would appear on a Motorway Records (MOTOR 002) split 7″. On this Japanese release the band would share the single with Bubble Bus. The band would contribute the song “Prince of Edinburgh” that featured some changes in the band.  We see Alan Korn from Schematix, The Cat Heads, X-tal and She Mob on bass, John Farinacci on drums, Brian Good on guitar and Cindy Wiggington from Bedlam Rovers on violin. Again the songs were recorded by Greg Freeman at Lowdown Studios.

The band appeared on a few compilations. On the CD and LP compilation “It’s All True Harp Records… San Francisco… 1992-94” released by Big Cat (ABB 59) the band had two songs “Barbwire Chair” and “I Can’t Reach You”.

On a compilation CD called “The Moderna Wunda-Major All-Automatic Convenience Centerette” that came with the fanzine Burning the Midnight Firefly #2 that Keith D’Arcy made, the band contributed with the song “Cirque D’Amour”.  On this compilation they appear with great bands including Bomb Pops, Tree Fort Angst or even The Cat’s Miaow among others!

On another fanzine from 1994, Red Roses for Me, there was a tape called “Beyond the Valley of the Polar Bears”. On this tape the band had three songs, “Told You So”, “Prince of Edinburgh” and “Hey Jay (Live)”.

I keep looking for more info. I find a scan of the Gavin magazine from March 26, 1994. Here it mentions that the second 7″, “Lesbian Nation”, was released after the band had split already.

And lastly a very cool find! A live video! The band playing live in the early nineties a venue called Hotel Utah in San Francisco. In this live gig the band was formed by Jen Gunston, Barry Hall, Alan Korn and John Stuart. The songs they played were “Told You So”, “Barbed Wire Chair”, “Cirque D’Amour”, “Lesbian Nation”, “Gone, Gone, Gone”, “Cagiva Elephant”, “I Can’t Reach You”, “Nothing I Do”, “Pale Blue Eyes”, “Discipline”, “Lazy Ways”, “Lullaby”, “I Wrote a Letter” and “See You”.

And this is what I could find! Anyone remembers them?

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Listen
The Goldenrods – Barbwire Chair

After a few French bands that appeared on “Teeny Poppers”, the 1992 compilation tape I’ve been going through with a fine comb, now it is time for a one that is not French: In Heaven.

On this cassette that Anorak Records released in France the band would appear opening the B side with the track “It’ll Keep Awhile”. That wouldn’t be their only compilation appearance. in 1992 too they would have the track “Coast to Coast” on a tape titled “Sandcastles in the Sun” released by the German label Meller Welle Produkte (MEL10).

Lastly, in 2021, their song “Aquanova”, was on a British compilation tape called “Deliberately Lo-Fi” that Kyle Productions (001) released.

Speaking of “Aquanova”, that was the name of the band’s 1993 tape album that they self-released. On the sleeve of this tape it has an address as a contact information. It is in Devizes, in the UK. I had never heard of this town before. Looking at Wikipedia I learn…

Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between Stephen of England and Empress Matilda, and again during the English Civil War when the Cavaliers lifted the siege at the Battle of Roundway Down and the Parliamentarian Army of the West under Sir William Waller was routed. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645, when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender. The castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, and today little remains of it.

The tracks on this album were: “Ultramarine”, “Kodak”, “Aquanova”, “Coast to Coast”, “Head for Home”, “Seen it All”, “My Mine”, “Setting Sun”, “Mirror Me More” and “It’ll Keep a While”.

That same year, 3 songs from this album would be picked up by Meller Welle Produkte to release a 7″ titled “Aquanova E.P.” (MEL5). This great sounding shoegazey record had “Seen it All Before” on the A side and “Ultramarine” and “It’ll Keep Awhile” on the B side. The songs were produced and engineered by the band. The band also took care of the artwork with a photo of a cat named Bob on the back cover. Tracks were recorded at My Disco in 1992.

There is one name here, on the labels, though, J.M. Philipps. He wrote all the songs. Was his name Justin perhaps? I saw a Justin commenting on a blog post saying it was his band. No last name though.

And that’s what I could find. The songs are available to listen online, on Youtube, so you won’t have have difficulty to check them out. But there is no information about who were behind this band. How long did they last as a band or if they played in other bands before or afterwards. Would be nice to find out!

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Listen
In Heaven – It’ll Keep Awhile

I think it will be over soon. Over my investigation on the bands that appeared on the “Teeny Poppers” (SHOUBIDOUWA 01) cassette compilation that the Limoges-based label Anorak Records released in 1992.

I’ve written of quite a few by now. Also I don’t plan to write about all of them (maybe some day), but only about the bands I don’t know anything about, or very little about. That’s why I wrote lately about Monsieur de Foursaings, The Through Corners, Meek and today I will write about the British band The Music Scene.

Yes, they were British, Fabien mentioned that to me when I interviewed him. And I know it was formed by Roy Thirlwall, Pete Jarvis and Emma Saunders.

The song that they have on the compilation is a nice mellow track titled “Isabelle” that appears as the 5th track on the A side of the tape comp.

One wonders then who is this enigmatic Isabelle they dedicate the song. The name Isabelle is French, I’d say. Maybe it has to do with Isabelle from the band Caramel, the band Fabien from Anorak Records was in? Maybe it is a wild guess…

It is also worth noting that in 1991 the band appeared on the classic “The Waaaaaah!” CD released by Bring on Bull (BULL 3-0). On this legendary comp the band had contributed the track “Friend of a Friend”.

Other than what I’ve been able to share here there is no information about the band.

Who were behind this band? Are there more recordings? Anyone knows?

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Listen
The Music Seen – Isabelle

Look For The Good In Others And They’ll See The Good In You

This past weekend brought the news that Martin Phillipps, the genius behind The Chills had died.

I woke up to this news. My Facebook feed showed photos and videos of different songs by The Chills. Usually the classics, “Pink Frost”, “Heavenly Pop Hit”, “I Love My Leather Jacket”. Some other friends posted photos with Martin, sharing a special moment when they talked about this or that.

I had to digest it. I love The Chills very much. I’ve been lucky to have seen them 3 times I think. Once in New York. Once in London. Once at Indietracks. I think they played a few years ago here in NYC somewhere in the Upper West Side, a wine bar or something like that. I didn’t go. It was just after the pandemic. I regret this.

These days I go to very few concerts. Usually of bands I hadn’t seen before. I have to pick my battles. But I would do anything to rewind the time clock, and be around and available on October 16, 2022, their last New York City gig.

I am going through my photos. 2016. New York City Popfest. The Chills play Littlefield. I had already seen them in the UK. But this was the one and only time I would talk to Martin.

He was hanging out around the merch area. I don’t remember The Chills having any merch, but maybe I am wrong. I had some Cloudberry merch that year, but Chris Jigsaw was helping with that. But I went and talked to Martin. I asked for a photo afterwards too.

What did we talk? About the gig he was going to play that day. We also chatted a bit about the London gigs and Indietracks. Maybe we talked a bit more. I can’t remember. I just thought he was very cool and down to earth. That made me happy, that one of my heroes didn’t mind chatting with me, an unknown guy, just like that.

The gig that day was amazing. I am pretty sure they ended with “Heavenly Pop Hit”. They played their hits too, but not one of my favourite songs, “Brave Words”. I don’t think I heard The Chills play this song live in any of the three times I saw them.

I remember singing aloud “Wet Blanket”, word by word. I was happy. “Pink Frost” gave me shivers. “Eazy Peazy” made me giggle.

Always.

Now sadly Martin is no longer with us. And won’t be able to see The Chills again. Of course the music will always be around and can listen to the songs over and over. Many great records. Many great tracks.

Today I wanted to do a little tribute to one of his lesser known projects, The Pop Art Toasters. I am sure that about The Chills a lot have been written. And probably everyone reading this blog knows about those songs. Then there is Martin and the Moondogs who did a cover of Abba’s “Tropical Loveland”, but I don’t have an MP3 of this song to share.

So yeah, the Pop Art Toasters. They were on Flying Nun Records in the mid 90s. Released just one record, a self-titled EP, on CD and cassette. Catalog number was FNCD288 or FNMC288 depending on the format that is.

The songs on the record are covers. These were “What Am I Going to Do” by The Dovers, “Everyone’s Gonna Wonder” by The Avengers, “I Won’t Hurt You” by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, “Go Ahead” by The Squires, and “Circles” by The Who.

Behind this project was Martin on acoustic guitar, electric guitar, clavinet, piano, organ and vocals. There was also another New Zealand legend, David Kilgour, playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano and vocals. On bass, acoustic and electric guitar we find Noel Ward from Lanky and The Strangeloves. Mike Dooley from Snapper, The Dri Horrors, Toy Love, The Enemy, The Snares and $100 Band was on drums and percussion. Alan Starrett from Martin and the Moondogs, Mink, The Magick Heads, Waste the Earth was on organ, keyboards, clavinet and viola.

The songs were recorded and engineered by Stephen Kilroy at Fish Street Studios in Dunedin in December of 1993. The band photo on the back was taken by Peter Hannken, while the artwork on the cover was created by Martin.

Discogs list a UK version of the tape, a promo tape put out by Mushroom Records. I don’t know what happened , but doesn’t look like this label released properly the EP.

The opening track, “What Am I Going to Do?”, would appear on three compilation appearances. The first on was on 1994’s “Kiwi Hit Disc 7” released on CD by NZ On Air. I suppose a radio station was behind this one.

Then in 2006, when a Flying Nun revival was happening, the song would appear on the 4CD compilation “Flying Nun 25th Anniversary Box Set” (FNCD500).

The other appearance is on a DVD called “Second Season – Flying Nun DVD II” that was released by Flying Nun (FNDVD489) in 2004. I wonder then, was there a video of this track?

Yes there was. You can see it on Youtube.

There is also another great find on Youtube. There is the Pop Art Toasters playing live at Otago Museum in Dunedin on February 27, 1993. They play the song “Everyone’s Gonna Wonder”.

Martin was a fan of 60s pop. He picked some top tracks and they made some fantastic covers. I wonder, will there be some cool bands releasing covers of The Chills songs? There should be. There should be plenty of them. In my perfect world, we should continue celebrating The Chills.

I am a fan of The Chills. Will always be. So many great songs, many great records. I am just so sad today. I think it is only normal.

Ideas come to my mind. Like why I haven’t traveled to New Zealand yet. Is there anything to see in Dunedin that screams to a fan The Chills? I don’t know! I must know.

Gigs, records, songs. That’s what I am saving and carrying with me. Another of the good ones leaves us. A giant. A legend of pop music. One I will always be grateful for. For his brave words, for his part past part fiction lyrics.

Goodbye genius, goodbye legend.

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Listen
Pop Art Toasters – Go Ahead

I continue going through the “Teeny Poppers” compilation tape. As I had discovered The Through Corners, there are a few other bands that I don’t know and I want to find details. One of them is the French band Meek, who I have heard by name but I had never paid attention. Today’s the day.

Unlike The Through Corners who I couldn’t find any information whatsoever online, and who didn’t release any records, Meek had a release and I am hoping that will mean I can find more details.

On the “Teeny Poppers” (SHOUBIDOUWA 01) comp that Anorak Records released in 1992, the band appeared with the third song on the A side, the sweet lo-fi track “Give Me More”. This appearance would mark the start of the relationship between Fabien Garcia’s Limoges-based label, and the band. How come? The third release on the label, a 7″ titled “Meek”, would be released by Anorak (Anorak 003) in 1995.

The record came with a hand-made photocopied cover according to Discogs. I see a color sleeve with photos of people from different backgrounds. I doubt these are the band themselves. No clue where they got the photos. It is the same case with the labels. These are printed in black and white and we see the same guy with two different women on each side. All of the characters in the photos seem happy.

The record had four songs, “Limonade” and “Fortunately Gone” on the A side and “Arradon” and “As You Told Me Too”. Worth mentioning then that limonade is not lemon juice, but a lemon flavoured soda in France. Also Arradon, the name of the first song on the B side, is a seaside commune in Brittany. Seems like a nice place for a quiet vacation time.

But this is not all. Previously, in 1993, around the same time as the “Teeny Poppers” tape the band had put together a demo tape called “Single of the Meek EP”. This cassette had five tracks which I have never heard and would love to listen one day. These were “Necklace”, “Aradon”, “As You Told Me”, “Meekadance” and “Meekada”.

It does seem that Aradon was misspelled, right? Another good detail from this tape is that it was recorded by Damien Bertrand at Lutecia Garden Studios. Where was this located? It was in Clamart, in Paris, and it was run by Jean-François Marvaud. Another record that was recorded at this place was my all-time favourite “Longer Lasting Beauty” by Evergreen.

Now, that name, Jean-François Marvaud, well, he was not only running the studio, he was also part of Meek. The other two members we know were in the band were Jean-Noël Dastugue and Lionnel Vernois.

The main bulk of recordings by Meek are actually on compilation. Can count 16 different appearances in the 90s.

As early as 1991 we see the band contributing tracks. The songs “Beautiful Evening Sun” and “Beautiful Day” appear on “In the Limelight” a tape compilation from France where bands like Les Chaplinn’s or Des Garçons Ordinaires appear as well. The next year, 1992, the band contributes “Beautiful Day” to Aliénor Records’ tape “Garden Party” (Alien Alpha).

1993 sees them on the aforementioned “Teeny Poppers” but also on “Simple as Them” (OPN 9303) released by Ora Pro Nobis with the song “Behind the Window”. This cassette came out on another French tape with lots of unknown bands for me. Need to check it out in more details.

“Meekadance” then appears in 1994’s tape “Gloomy Biscuit II” released by Gloomy Biscuit. Continuing in this year we see “Necklace” on Germany’s Alphyen Viwit double-tape compilation “Breeze 4” (004) and “Arradon” on the CD comp “Zoumpli” (ZP01) released by Adiam 92, Direction Départementale de La Jeunesse et des Sports (clearly a government effort, right?).

In 1995 they have the song “Damoclès (Mon Chien)” on the double 7″ compilation “Les Lutines” released by Ad Libitum Pop !? (ad lib 6) from France. Did they have a dog called Damoclès? This same year the song “Necklace” appears on the US compilation “Winter’s Mist 2″ that was released on 7” vinyl by the well-known label Silver Girl Records (SG018) and then the track “I Watch Them” finds its way on “Bedroom Palace” a tape compilation released by the French label Lo-Fi Recordings (High2) which I don’t know anything about! (though it has some known bands like Boyracer, Lorelei or Hood).

There are a few more compilations worth mentioning. “Arradon” appears on a 2019 tape called “Côte Ouest”. It is quite interesting as it has 8 bands including ones I’ve written about like Caramel, Les Autres, Daisy Age or Les Poissons Solubles. This cool tape came with the sixth issue of the fanzine called Langue Pendue. Would love to get a copy to be honest! Seems like an important pop artifact to me!

Then there are undated compilations. We have the “Superqualifragilistic” tape (NESS587) that Nessie put out in France where the band appears with the track “Aradon”, “Extract of Breeze A” CDR and tape released by Alphyen Viwit where we see the band  appear with “Necklace” and lastly “Anorak Demos” that Anorak released where there is a song called “Lutetia Gardens”.

And that’s not all. The band recorded a promo video for the track “Necklace”. This one appeared on on the classic VHS “Munch Part I (An International Independent Music Video Compilation)” that Season Records (Season Two) put out in 1994 in Australia. I think I remember seeing this video on Youtube ages ago. But I can’t seem to find it these days.

I do find then a blog post about Meek. Maybe the only one online? It is by a French blog called “Haar Brut” and the post is quite recent, February 2022 (I’m always impressed to see people still writing blogs, it is a lost art in my opinion).

Here I found interesting details. For example about the photos on the 7″ it says that they come from a roll of film found by Christophe, the band’s bassist. And this is also new. We had three names before, but not Christophe. Christophe Degoutin was the band’s bassist. The other three names we had previously, Jean-François, Jean-Noël and Lionnel were guitarists. Who were the drummers? We see two names, Nicolas Gandin and Ludovic Pierre. I suppose they were the drummers at different points of time.

Also worth mentioning is that Christophe and Lionnel would later be in a band called Mr. Quark.

Where are they now then? Did they record more demo tapes other than the 1993 one we found? Did they play live much? Who remembers them?

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Listen
Meek – Give Me More

This post is a request.

A few days ago a German indiepop fan called Martin Beck reached out about a band called Don’t Mind Us. He had heard one song called “Easy on the Eyes” on the excellent Youtube channel that the enigmatic stoneeyedkiller runs.

As expected he was hoping to find more information about the band. I listened to the song and I thought it was great. So it seemed like a good challenge. What can we find about this obscure band?

The first thing I am able to find is a name. That is of Stephen Walsh. He was part of the band. He recently uploaded the track to his Soundcloud account. There he gives us two more details. The song was recorded around 1990 and it was on a cassette. Possibly part of a demo tape?

On this account I notice Stephen is currently in another band, one called Headless. He has uploaded a few songs dating from 2023. These are mostly covers.

To my surprise I will find that Headless actually started back in 1992 and was resurrected in 2014. The question is then, in 1992 was it also a cover band?

One interesting bit is that Headless hails from Edinburgh, Scotland. Does that mean that Don’t Mind Us was from the same city? It is very probable, though I believe Stephen is actually from Livingstone. Quite close.

I also think Stephen was the guitar player in Don’t Mind Us. But who were the other members? I think that’s where the challenge is.

This is all I could find. I suppose next step will be to get in touch with Stephen (or other band members) and find out the story behind the band. Did they play live? Did they record more songs? I’d definitely would like to know.

Any help will be appreciated.

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Listen
Don’t Mind Us – Easy on the Eyes

I continue going through French tapes. I am hoping to find information about bands that are clearly forgotten and no one mentions anymore. Bands that had perhaps one or a handful of songs released and their footprint on the internet is non-existent. Hoping that people that were in these bands would get in touch. Or people that knew them. What I want to know? Well, band members would be good. If they recorded more songs. That sort of thing.

The only detail I know is that they were French.

Maybe you can help me?

This time I want to find our more about a band called The Through Corners. The only thing I know is that they recorded a song called “Healthclubs Hyprocrisy” sometime in the early 90s. This song would end up on a compilation tape called “Teeny Poppers” (SHOUBIDOUWA 01) that came out on the Anorak Records label from Limoges, France.

I’ve written a bit about this tape in the past as I have featured many bands that appear in it. Bands that are more known of course like The Almanacs, The Penelopes, Budgie Jacket, Hope, The Kensingtons and more. In one interview I did in the past with Fabien from Anorak Records he did say the band hailed from France though.

As far as I know the tape didn’t include any information about the bands. So that’s not very helpful.

In any case the song is quite nice, upbeat, and makes me wonder if they had a demo tape recorded. I’d love to listen to it.

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Listen
The Through Corners – Healthclubs Hyprocrisy

Didier Orain was Monsieur de Forsaings. Sometimes writtenMonsieur De Forsaings, Mr De Foursaings, Monsieur de Foursaings, M. de Foursaings, Monsieur De Foursaing, Mr. De Foursaings, Mr. De Foursaing or Mr.De Forsang.

Mostly active in the 90s, the French project appeared on many compilations and released a few records. As I had been going through the 1990 “Heol Daou” (Katiho 02) tape compilation, checking all the bands, I find that Monsieur de Foursaings appears with “Mes Maris”. But let’s see what else, what other songs he released.

From what I see that was his first song released, maybe there were other demos on other tapes, but Discogs has that one as the earliest. Then came “Pourquoi Je Ne Plais Pas”, the track that appears on “Teeny Poppers” the superb comp tape that Fabien Garcia released on his Anorak Records (SHOUBIDOUWA 01) in 1992. That same year the song “Le Blue D’Annie” appeared on “Whoops!” a French tape comp released by Houpla where bands from around the world contributed songs including Even as We Speak, The Tables, Die Fünf Freunde or Secret Shine among others.

In 1993 we see the same song, “Le Blue D’Annie”, appear on a CD comp by the French label Rosebud called “The Great Collection V°2”. And again, in 93, the same song, now titled “Annie”, appears on the cassette compilation “Ces Chères Têtes Blondes” released by Cindie (CIN 01). This tape came with a 32 page booklet that I’d love to see one day. Many bands here to discover too. And looking at this release on Discogs I am surprised that this website hides the cover art, thinking it is 18 years and older material! Odd!

In 1994 the band finally releases its first record. It is a 7″ on Ad Libitum Pop!? (Ad Lib 5). It is called “Souvenir de Ma Soeur” and included 3 tracks, “Dolly Parton” and “La Plage est Vide” on the A side and “Ces Heures de Loire” on the B side. On this record we see that the great Phillippe Katerine played bass and guitar, Anthony Ka drums and Anne Blanchard did vocals, same as Mr. de Foursaings. The engineer for the recordings was Pascal Douillard.

1996 sees the band start its collaboration with Escalator Records from Japan. First with the song “Ma Demoiselle Habile” on the CD compilation “New One” (ESCD001). And then the next year with a split 7″ with Fugu. This 7″ (ESINGLE006) would have Mr. de Foursaings song “(Tout Va Bien) Sous Le Soleil Mexicain”, which is such a great track!

Quattro Records from Japan would do an Escalator Records compilation called “Escalator Records Presents Premier CD for Nagoya Parco South” (QTCN-1105) in 1998. On this compilation the band appears with the track “Les Couples Modernes”.

This same year, 1998, the band releases its first and only album, “Voulez-Vous Me Faire la Cour?” on Escalator Records (ESCD005). On this CD, recorded at the Garage Hermétique in the suburb of Rezé, in Nantes,  Mr. de Foursaings collaborates with many musicians: Gaëtan Chataignier on bass, Jérôme Marchand on cello, Olivier Angebeault on trumpet, Phillippe Allaire on grand piano, Etienne Tabourier on viola and violin, Gaëlle Claquin on violin, Nicolas Moreau on synths, Anne Blanchard again on vocals, Anthony Ka again on drums, Stéphane Louvain from the Little Rabits (and many other bands like La Secte Humaine or French Cowboy) on guitar, Stéphanie Hugli on vibraphone and organ, Simon Mary on contrabass, Jean-Marc Gestin on drums, Philippe Eveno on electric guitar and Stanislas Gielara on percussion. Nicolas Moreau was the person who recorded the tracks too.

The album had 15 songs. these were: “Prélude de la Mariée”, “Annie”, “L’Automne D’Alice”, “Faut-il Mentir?”, “Around Alice”, “Chanson À S”, “La Mariée, Même”, “Voulez-vous Me Faire La Cour ?”, “Les Rendez-vous Manqués”, “Les Couples Modernes”, “Noël À Campbon”, “Ces Heures de Loire”, “(Tout Va Bien) Sous Le Soleil Mexicain” and “Final du Marié”.

It is also worth mentioning that the Monsieur played many instruments too including the horn, bells, celesta, organ, piano, vibraphone as well as singing.

“Faut-il Mentir” would be selected to appear on the Polydor Japan compilation “Allo La France?… Moshi Moshi? – Une Sélection Par Katerine” (POCP 1702) in 1999.

The next year, 2000, the track “(Tout Va Bien) Sous Le Soleil Mexicain” appears on “Escalator Collection”, a new CD comp released by Escalator (ESCD013).

There is an undated 3″ CD compilation called “New New No” that Escalator released (ESC 008). This one had a live version of “Mademoireselle Habile (Live)”. I wonder if that was a misspelling?

Some years after, possibly after the project was no more, the song “T’épouser” appears on the CD “Chantier N°7 Slow” that came out on Travaux Publics (TP00007).  It is also worth noting that some mixes were released in 2005. The DJ “Masashi Naka” remixed the song “Around Alice” for the compilation “We are Escalator Records Part 5” (ESCD048) and the DJ TGMX would do the same for the song “Les Couples Modernes” for “We are Escalator Records Part 6” (ESCD053).

When you search for Monsieur de Foursaings you mostly get results in Japanese. But there is barely any info on the band. But searching for Didier I see he is a visual artist now, and his art looks really good to me. Wish I own one of his paintings!

He had graduated in plastic arts from the University of Haute Bretagne in Rennes and has been a painter and also a designer, working with acrylic, ink and on surfaces like wood and cardboard. You can see his pieces here.

For those who read French there is a very nice article from 2021 by Renaud Sachet on Section 26 where he talks a bit about Monsieur de Foursaings. There are not many important details here, but still it is a very nice read.

That’s really all I could find. Wondering about gigs for example. Did he play many? Or none at all? Were there demo tapes recorded? Was it a proper band at any time? He was part of the Nantes scene, right?

Anyways, any information readers can share would be great!

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Listen
Monsieur de Foursaings – (Tout Va Bien) Sous Le Soleil Mexicain

Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli; 3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. She appeared with Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon, Richard Harris, Terence Stamp, and Dirk Bogarde. On her death, Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini called her “the Queen of Italian cinema”. Vitti won five David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress, seven Italian Golden Globes for Best Actress, the Career Golden Globe, and the Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award.

Monica Vitti, she was on Modesty Blaise on her first English-speaking film. There has been songs, even a band named after this movie. But I was quite surprised when I discovered a song dedicated to  her, by a little known band called Catty Smell.

I would think a catty smell is not a good smell for sure, so I wonder why this band called themselves like that. What I can understand is why they named their only released song “Monica Vitti’s Dark Eyes”, they must have been totally taken by them.

The song appeared on the legendary “Heol Daou” cassette compilation released by Katiho (catalog number 02) in France. This compilation have been mentioned a few times on the blog, when I’ve written about more known bands like The Besotted, Die Blinzelbeeren, Non-Stop Kazoo Organization, Stephen’s Library or Des Garçons Ordinaires, all of whom contributed songs to this tape.

Catty Smell appears at the end of side A, as the 11th song out of 12.

Sadly there is no information about the band anywhere. I’ve googled quite a lot about them. The name doesn’t help much. I could guess that the band might have been French, as the compilation tape, but I might be wrong.

Who would know? I’d love to learn more, and find out if there were more songs of course. If you recorded one track, you probably recorded more. But again, all of this is a mystery to me. Any help would be great!

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Listen
Catty Smell – Monica Vitti’s Dark Eyes