Description
Absolutely brilliant 20 track compilation of kitsch French cha-cha, mambo and other Latin and tropical styles. Featuring absurd lyrics, unusual arrangements and crazy cover songs. LP includes printed inner sleeve + download code.
Tropical music and France go way back. Just think of the period between both world wars, when the Paris of the roaring twenties fluttered to the sound of Latin-American orchestras. The influential Brazilian musician Pixinguinha came through in 1922, the charismatic Cuban singer Rita Montaner triumphed a few years later at the famed Palace and the brilliant clarinettist Stellio from Martinique had everyone dancing through the night to the beguine (a dance style from Martinique).
The record starts out with an esoteric organ, a guitar straight out of a western, a vibey rhythm section, a speeding saxophone, a glamorous voice, a curious keyboard, a slightly panicky tempo... "Please Mr Hitchock!" calls out a voice from the unknown, on an arrangement that's about to lose control. The tone is set. "Eins Zwei Drei", cries out Spartaco Andreoli, creator of the Chachacha for tunas, lyrics that are absurd accompanying music that isn't so much so. And this is just the beginning...
