MetaFilter posts tagged with French and pop

Our pet chimpanzee ruined my life, claims stepdaughter of French singer

unSane — Wed, 22 May 2013 05:48:45 -0800

"Soon, however, with the strength of eight men, Pépée became an uncontrollable tyrant who would strip guests – including once a government prefect and wife – of their clothes and valuables, bite others who failed to accede to its whims and once stole a baby, which it took to the roof despite Leo waving a toy pistol at it and shouting: "Daddy's not happy. Daddy's going to shoot."

Laurent Boutonnat pop videos

raygirvan — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 04:30:15 -0800

In the two decades starting in the 1980s, Laurent Boutonnat produced a series of atmospheric pop videos for Mylène Farmer, the chart-topping "French Madonna" who is little known outside the Europop circuit. Produced to high-budget cinematic-quality standards, and often featuring provocative religious and sexual themes, they include: Désenchantée (video), Farmer's signature song - a bleak metaphor for the disenchantment of the times - in which a messianic figure leads an escape from a gulag; Tristana (video), a retelling of the Snow White story against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution; L'Âme-stram-gram (video), which borrows the visual style of Chinese martial arts films; Dégénération (video NSFW), in which an alien woman (shades of Fifth Element) escapes from a laboratory using erotic mind control powers; Libertine (video NSFW), a historical erotic drama inspired by Kubricks' Barry Lyndon and the works of de Sade; its sequel Pourvu qu'elles soient douces (video NSFW), a dark drama of lust and revenge set against a battle in the Seven Years' War; and Sans contrefaçon (video), the sad tale, inspired by Pinocchio and Apollinaire, of a ventriloquist whose dummy comes to life - but not for him.

Gillian Hills

puny human — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:57:21 -0800

When Gillian Hills was discovered in 1958 by Roger Vadim, she was touted as being the next Bridgett Bardot. She went on to star in such films as Antonioni's Blow Up and the British rock and roll film Beat Girl, and even had a small part as Sonietta, the girl with the lollypop in A Clockwork Orange. But it is her early '60s French pop records which fascinate me. Here with Qui a su, Rien n'est changé, Rentre Sans Moi, Look at Them and Tomorrow Is Another Day .

Comme D'Habitude

destro — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:05:08 -0800

The original version of "My Way" ("Comme d'Habitude", Frank Sinatra's version was a cover) was written by Claude Francois, AKA "CloClo". Somewhere between a French Wayne Newton and Elvis, he died when he was taking a bath, saw a lightbulb had gone out, and tried to replace it while standing in water, completing the circuit. Some of his hit songs include: Belinda, Belles Belles Belles (cover of "Girls Girls Girls"), Si J'avais un Marteau (if I had a Hammer), Sale Bonhomme (French country, cover of Johnny Cash's "Dirty Dan"), Le Disco est Francais His scantily clad female backup dancers, called the "Claudettes" or Clodettes, were the inspiration for the Solid Gold dancers and had their own short-lived solo spinoff career where they tried to cash in on the kung-fu + disco craze.

Ass Kicking French Pop Culture

sourbrew — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 09:39:02 -0800

Unbelievably ass kicking playlist of french pop culture hits from the 60's. Featuring the ever zany Brigitte Bardot, Jaques Dutronc, France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, and more. (via)