The other day we stumbled upon an Instagram post by a London-based character with the handle @slightly_worn. He claims to be a lover “of all things tried and tested” and writes that his lockdown self care includes more drinking and smoking during the pandemic. Ha ha. But his other self-care prescription was a resolution to listen to more 1980s Euro pop. Well! While we’re not terribly excited about the smoking and excessive drinking bit, we thought the Euro pop binge was a great idea. If you’re not familiar with European pop music from that era, you don’t know what you’re missing. Well, OK, maybe you do. But, on the off chance you don’t spend all your time listening to Mozart, Beethoven, or John Cage, you might want to expand your musical horizons. So, as our boats sit bobbing up and down in the St-Malo harbor, we thought we’d make a few introductions. We’ll start with a hit by Princess Stéphanie of Monaco (You can call her Steph de Monac’ if you want to sound ‘80s branché.) and proceed from there. Here we go (all links are to YouTube music videos and as of January 2021 they were all up and working):
Stéphanie de Monaco Irresistible (Recorded originally as Ouragan (Hurricane), in French
Jakie Quartz Mise Au Point
Jean-Jacques Goldman (with Michael Jones) Je te donne and a more recent cover by Génération Goldman
Pierre Bachelet Ecris-moi (N.B. You have to wait over a minute for the hook. So a little patience required.)
Rose Laurens Africa
Céline Dion Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi This song won the Eurovision Song contest in 1988.
Yves Duteil (the French James Taylor. Sort of.) Les Choses qu’on ne dit pas (Duteil is known for the poetry of his lyrics. Admittedly, his songs are not pop, but anybody who listened to French radio in the ‘80s would be familiar with him. Most young women had his albums in their record collections. And for those of you who use music to teach French, here’s one more; It’s the story of a clockmaker/seller who goes off to war and, one day, shows back up at the workshop door. It’s a charming little story with a catchy melody. And it features a tuba! Clémentine et Léon.
Dorothée Pour Faire Une Chanson (this is a song for children, but it’s got a great pop bounce.
Fiorella Mannoia Ascolta l’infinito
Münchener Freiheit Bis wir uns wiedersehen
Nicki Mit Dir des wär mei Leben
And this bonus track: License IV singing the raucous Viens boire un p’tit coup à la maison (Come over and have a little drink at the house)
You’re welcome.
When it’s safe to leave the house again, come see us in France! And bring your deck shoes. We’ll go sailing.