RIP thread

[sussexpob]

I prefer Frozen to Mary Poppins if I am honest.

[Durhamfootman]

Rob Burrows, gawd bless him. 41

[Durhamfootman]

I do, of course, mean Rob Burrow, 41

still gawd bless him

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'm out of touch. He's on the front page of most of the papers, but I've not heard of him. Still, RIP.

[Durhamfootman]

have you really not seen all the MND coverage of the last few years about Doddie Weir, Rob Burrow and Stephen Darby (Steph Houghton's other half)?

Barely a month has by in the last couple of years without Kevin Sinfield raising a ton of cash for MND research on behalf of Rob Burrow

[Arthur Crabtree]

I don't think I'm part of the national conversation. And I don't use social media. But I'll have a look.

[sussexpob]

KV Oostende 1904-2024

A community football club that existed for 120 years before being taken over by some Yank investment fund which run it into the ground without a single **** being given.

Will be missed by its fanatical local following and anyone who had the fortune to visit its lovely little ground next to the sea, and catch a drink in the great bars around the ground in a wonderful, friendly atmosphere.

I really detest modern football at times. One of the great away days in football..... my heart goes out to their fans.

[Durhamfootman]

perhaps football club should be renamed football commodity

[Arthur Crabtree]

Françoise Hardy, singer, actor and French face of the sixties dies at 80.

[sussexpob]

Françoise Hardy, singer, actor and French face of the sixties dies at 80.

She will be forever remembered as the epitome of the ye-ye scene, but I never really agree with that. Most of what is instantly identifiable as ye-ye is upbeat bubblegum pop, and brings with it a lot of jazzy, funky, rock n roll style elements fused together. Hardy was far more downbeat, far more stripped back - there is baroque sensibility to the music. Its born from the old Chanson halls, just with a sprinkle of clean electric guitar added in. Calling everything in France during the 60s ye-ye I think personally devalues a lot of music that aspired to be more than pop.... but of course, that is how she is universally remembered.

As you say, she is the face of French culture (along with 2-3 others) at the point they reach their culture zenith. British and Americans might argue to the death about that, but for me the ye-ye era in France lays a legitimate claim to being the coolest era in modern history. The fashion, the music, the attitude, the normality of what was considered sexy... after the flame of ye-ye burnt out, French culture became insular and boring. Johnny Halliday just wanted to be a bargain basement Elvis, then a bargain basement 80s rock band that made Motley Crue feel luxurious and classy in comparison. Everything went downhill and French music culture never really recovered.

Iconic is easily banded about, but Hardy was an icon.

[sussexpob]

Later in life, sadly, she became the French equivalent of Morrissey. She said a lot of controversial things, espoused a lot of political views that would position her firmly towards the extreme right. She came across as self-centered, outspoken and having zero empathy, and often seemed to go out her way to be combative and court controversy. I guess she had cancer for 20 odd years, and made no secret that she wanted to euthanise herself, but it legally wasnt possible. Maybe this bitter side of her came from the pain of her illness....

[Arthur Crabtree]

I know her from a 36 track greatest hits, which is all what I think of as ye-ye, but it may all be from a small part of her career. She has the sweet faux-naif style which was typical of the time, but with a touch of sing-song boredom which some later British acts copied, like Camera Obscura and Stereolab. Probably Saint Etienne too. I mainly put it on for an instant happy-sad nostalgic hit of sixties French chic.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Juliette Greco was the other female act that crossed over to an English audience in that period. Male stars Sacha Distel and Charles Aznavour didn't have the same feeling of continental glamour.

[sussexpob]

Juliette Greco was the other female act that crossed over to an English audience in that period. Male stars Sacha Distel and Charles Aznavour didn't have the same feeling of continental glamour.

La Javanaise is a big song in France for Greco, but I didnt know she bust over the channel.

Its hard to know what comes from the time and what is appreciated now. Gainsbourg got big in the early 2000s in the UK for instance with the student crowd, and made lists of best albums ever in the music press, but I got the feeling it was mostly just a fad of the time and wasnt someting that was true of the 60s-70s. I dont think Vartan or Gall had any profile in England, but they were huge in places like Italy. Gall become unpopular in France and ended up singing mostly in German. A lot of ye-ye singers were huge in Japan at the time.

Bardot I think had a top 10 album in the US in the 60s (Bonnie and Clyde), but not sure it penetrated the English charts. Again its hard to know, because quite a lot of pop songs in France and England at the time were translated from one another. Songs you think are French are English, and often visa-versa.

Birkin is more famous for her handbags in the UK than music, but Gainsbourg's most celebrated album (Melody Nelson) had her singing on it. This album often gets ranked in top 100 all time lists nowadays in the UK and USA. I have even seen Brian Molko singing songs off it on French TV

[Arthur Crabtree]

Forgot about Serge. Of course he had a UK number one. Yes, the Melody Nelson record got quite hip, but I never heard it. Placebo released Ballad of MN as a B side.

I think in UK, Jane Birkin gets thought of as an English artist operating in France. The music I have by her is in English.

Johnny Halliday was known as an oddity, the French Elvis, but I doubt he sold any records here. I remember being in France in the '80s and seeing a poster for a concert for him in Paris, and it was in a sports stadium, so he must have been huge.