Sunday, July 12, 2015

Line Renaud

Artist: Line Renaud
LP: 7" single
Song: "It's Over" 
[ listen ]

Question: What do you get when you cross Judi Dench with Peggy Lee and then stick the results next to a middle-aged gay guy who's heavy into leather? Answer: This Line Renaud photo

My friend Virginia invited me to brunch with her yesterday over across the water at the Bremerton Bar & Grill; she had a buy-a-meal-and-get-the-second-one-free coupon! After an hour-long ferry ride westward from downtown Seattle, then a delicious meal and lots of coffee, we set out for a few of Bremerton's thrift stores, including St. Vincent de Paul, which had been closed during my Sunday visit to the city just a few weeks ago for my sister's graduation. This Line Renaud 4-track promo 7" (free with an issue of Holiday magazine back in 1968) is one of the things I found there. Line's promo record, plugging her "Line Renaud's In Love" LP, is, of course, all about love. Side one ("Goodbye My Souvenirs" and "It's Over") is all about mourning; love is cruel and it makes you want to die. Then side two comes along ("Summer Love" and "Love Is the Little Things") and gives you hope; love flows back into life and the cycle begins again. It's all very French. I've chosen to focus here on the lowest point, the rock bottom before things get better, mainly because that's when the string arrangements are at their best. You can read more about Line Renaud on Wikipedia here, visit her website here, and there's a neat Line Renaud video clip from 1956 included here:

Line Renaud on YouTube:
[ "C'qu'on Est Bien" ]

[ Line Renaud ]

1 comment:

bitter69uk said...

The only track I know by Mademoiselle Renaud is "Sexe" (hypnotic and minimalist exotica - the "Justify My Love" of its era). I used to play it a lot when I DJ'd at Dr Sketchy.