Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present Paris In Spring Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present Paris In Spring CD

2018 collection. The events of May '68 are seen as a turning point in France's social history - pictures of the barricades are still potent images. Lines were drawn politically, culturally, socially, and pop music was not exempt. Paris In The Spring is a collection of the new music, put together by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, that emerged from France between 1968 and the mid-70s, an extraordinary blend of several previously independent strains - French chanson and y?-y?, American jazz and funk, British chamber pop - shot through with the era's underlying mixture of optimism, uncertainty and darkness. This is the first collection of it's kind, released on the 50th anniversary of the Paris uprising. Serge Gainsbourg - a jazz pianist with a chanson past and a pop present - was in a position to play a key role in soundtracking France in flux over the next five years. His "Histoire de Melody Nelson", with it's heavily atmospheric arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier, was the acme of this new, unsettling French sound. "Paris In The Spring" includes other equally dazzling Vannier arrangements (for L?onie) and Gainsbourg compositions (for Jane Birkin and Mireille Darc). Prior to 1968, 60s French pop had been dominated by y?-y?, the country's unique brand of upbeat pop, a world of primary colours, mini-jupes and discoth?ques (a French invention, after all). It's stars either faded fast after May '68 or adapted to the new era: Jacques Dutronc ('Le M?taphore') and France Gall ('Chanson Pour Que Tu M'aimes un Peu') discovered a moody side they had previously kept hidden, while Fran?oise Hardy released the Brazilian-influenced, after-hours classic "La Question", from which we have picked 'Viens'. New bands like Triangle emerged, influenced by Soft Machine and Gong who became regulars on the Paris club scene. French library music from Janko Nilovic and film soundtracks (Fran?ois de Roubaix, Karl-Heinz Sch?fer) reflected the era's edginess. All are represented on "Paris In The Spring", making it a continental cousin to Stanley and Wiggs's hugely popular 2017 Ace compilation "English Weather".

1. La Victime - Karl Heinz Sch?fer 2. H?licopt?re - Mireille Darc 3. Les Aventures Extraordinaires D'un Billet de Banque - Bernard Lavilliers 4. Roses and Revolvers - Janko Nilovic 5. L'elu - Ilous ; Decuyper 6. La Metaphore - Jacques Dutronc 7. Dommage Que Tu Sois Mort - Brigitte Fontaine 8. Les Garde Violent Au Secours Du Roi - Jean-Claude Vannier 9. Looking for You - Nino Ferrer 10. Chanson D'un Jour D'hiver - Cortex 11. Viens - Fran?oise Hardy 12. Couleurs - L?onie 13. Leslie Simone - William Sheller 14. Litanies - Triangle 15. Baleines - Fran?ois de Roubaix 16. Encore Lui - Jane Birkin 17. Evelyne - Serge Gainsbourg 18. Le Bal Des Lazes - Michel Polnareff 19. Lileth - L?onie 20. Ystor - Ys 21. Chanson Pour Que Tu M'aimes Un Peu - France Gall 22. La Victime - Karl Heinz Sch?fer 23. La Chanson D'h?l?ne - Romy Schneider ; Michel Piccoli