Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son

Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son is the legendary French vocalists fifth album. Released in 1965, it is best remembered for its Serge Gainsbourg-penned title track that won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965. As a whole, however, it offered a shift in direction from saccharine ye-ye pop and embraced a decidedly French version of the Mod and psychedelic sounds coming over from England and the U.S. Produced by Denis Bourgeois and arranged by Alain Goraguer, the material found here -- penned in 1964 and 1965 -- is more consistent in quality than her earlier records. Another Gainsbourg composition, Laisse Tomber Les Filles, borrowed its vamp directly from Neal Heftis surfadelic Batman Theme groove and is among the sets many highlights. Another is the hip Euro-pop-cum-jazzy fusion of Le Coeur Qui Jazze by her father Roger Gall and Goraguer that provides an early example of the more disciplined and mature singer who would emerge during the 70s. On Se Ressemble Toi et Moi is a melancholy, melodic pop/rock ballad with horn and strings that equals the best mid-60s Burt Bacharach/Hal David material, while Le Temps de La Rentree is an unusual, jerky-tempoed, minor-key track that melds harpsichord and driving guitar, its Galls best rock number of the decade. These two tracks demand a place on any responsible anthology of Galls best work. TAvait Prevenue -- also penned by her father with Vline Buggy and Guy Magenta -- is modeled on the girl group sound pioneered by Phil Spector and Luther Dixon. Un Prince Charmant, by Jacques Datin and Maurice Vidalin, is a catchy ye-ye number delivered with a bright, colorful horn chart framing an unforgettable melody. There are songs that arent quite as successful. The Roger Gall/Alain Goraguer composition Au Clair de La Lune is an example: Its formulaic melody and twee production combine to reveal Galls limited vocal range. Nounours is sad lyrically, yet bright and tuneful musically, as it weds chanson to breezy American-styled pop. Closer Bonne Nuit (also penned by her father and Goraguer) combines a nursery rhyme melody and lyric with jangly folk pop instrumentation to send the record off optimistically. While Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son doesnt approach the high-water mark set by 1968, it does offer some of Galls greatest material from the era and points to the direction she would follow through the end of the decade and into the 70s. ~ Thom Jurek