A taste of 60's Europe tonight with one of the major players in the "ye`-ye`" movement, France Gall. Gall, like her compatriot Francoise Hardy epitomized all that was sexy and engaging about French Girl Singers of the 1960's. On the one hand there was the fresh-faced and breathless innocence of their appearance, while on the other hand there was the sly and darkly charged message of their songs made for an unbeatable combination and a long and enduring genre in popular music in France. Some of it translated, though not very well, to American audiences. Hardy did an album in English which wasn't met with success. From a commercial standpoint, Ye`-Ye` was best left as the sole property of the French and singers like France Gall have become indelibly stamped with the genre.
Tonight it's a single released in 1964. Laisse Tomber Les Filles was a big hit for Gall. Loosely translated it means "Leave The Girls Alone" and it was composed by another French icon, Serge Gainsbourg. It's typical of the ye`-ye` genre; an upbeat mood with a dark tone. It's been recorded a number of times by a number of other artists - but this was the hit version.
