Filed under: Life
I received an email a few days ago announcing the death of Fred Chichin, one half of Les Rita Mitsouko, a French band who he formed with his partner Catherine Ringer in 1979. Les Rita Mitsouko released their first self-titled album in 1984. The band shot to fame in France the following year with the single Marcia Baila, which was taken from the album. I remember taping the song on my radio back then and playing it over and over, and I still love it now.
Marcia Baila (1985)
Their second album, The No Comprendo (1986), remains their best record to date. Produced by long time Bowie producer Tony Visconti, it featured a string of singles that really established the band in France. Songs such as Andy (a song based on the cartoon character Andy Capp), Les Histoires D’A, C’est Comme Ça and Nuit D’ivresse, which featured on the soundtrack of the film of the same title, showed a few different sides of the band, from the electro funk of Andy to the driving rock of C’est Comme Ça. This is the only album of theirs I ever bought (apart from Bestov, their…er.. best of, a couple of years ago), but I’ve always had a soft spot for their quirky and non-conformist approach.. Around the time of The No Comprendo, they refused to play on any TV show where they couldn’t play live, a stance that not many few bands were ready to take then.
Andy (1986)
C’est Comme Ça (1986)
In 1988, Catherine and Fred released Marc & Robert, their third album, which featured the great single Le Petit Train and a brilliant duet with Sparks, Singing In The Shower Tonight. Re, released in 1990, saw the band embrace the dance scene by asking a few high profile dance producers (Mark Moore, Fat Freddy, William Orbit) to remix a handful of their tracks. Since, they have continued to deliver records on a regular basis; Système D (1993), Cool Frénésie (2000), La Femme Trombone (2002), with an acoustic live album published in 1996 and a second live album this time with l’Ochestre Lamoureux, a classical formation in 2004.
Singing In The Shower Tonight, with Sparks (1988)
Their seventh- and last – studio album, Variety, was released earlier this year and was hailed as their best since The No Comprendo by the French press. The album was released in two versions: one in French, with three songs in English, and one totally in English, which some interest over here. The band were in the middle of a tour that had them play the Scala in London in October, which I was very tempted to go to but didn’t.
Fred passed away on Wednesday 28 November after a two month battle with cancer.
