Voulez-vous CHA-CHA?: French Cha-cha 1960–1964
Born Bad Records has just issued this compilation of French Cha-cha music. The record sleeve is set with Excoffon’s classics Choc and Banco, paired with two other mid-century typefaces: Radiant and Brush Script. The lively and colorful ‘ligne claire’ drawings were made by Virginie Morgand, nicely evoking the French insouciance of the 1960s.
From the Born Bad Records website (translated from French):
Most had improbable dialogue, as well as senseless adaptations such as the ‘Marchand de melons’ (The Melon Merchant) distorting Herbie Hancock’s ‘Watermelon Man’, a result of automatic writing in order to come up with ridiculous lyrics. What can be said about ‘Tarte à la nana’ (Girl Pie), and how about ‘Ça c’est du poulet?’ (This is Chicken?) Or the terrible ‘Soukou Soukou’, on the limit of bad taste, words of a colonist…
When it comes to reappropriating foreign know-how, the results can turn out strange like a surreal shock of cultures. Improbable mixes, like chacha bebop, latino tempo and scat jazz…
It all definitely swings and is sometimes even quite impressive. Because magical loose moments are to be found in these records made to order, records that were just trying to recreate a successful pre-existing North American formula. They recorded them on the line, in the original spirit, or inconspicuously modified them, not only for fun, but also for the pleasure of adding on a chorus which would take the song a little further, or a well adjusted rhyme that would denote a touch of derision, a French tradition that was to be repeated in rock as in punk, and even bossa nova.
The key often being explosive arrangements, occasionally beautiful choruses, radiant mishaps, confusing mistakes, not necessarily off-topic, all in all some sweet musical trips that always have an effect on the dancefloor when it’s time to boogie. Try it out, you’ll see, it works every time, if you don’t abuse of it. Moderation is recommended for this music that should be served either at cocktail hour or after midnight…
