Les Rita Mitsouko - "Rita Mitsouko" LP, Vinyl, LP, Album, France, 1984 (Virgin)

Les Rita Mitsouko is my favorite band.   At first, I thought that they are my favorite French rock n' roll band, but the truth is they are my number one favorite band.   If one can call them a band.  Les Rita Mitsouko was a couple:  Catherine Ringer and the late Fred Chichin.  Both were multi-instrumentalists and wrote the songs together.  Like The Cramps and Sparks, they were a perfect individual unit who used outside players, but the main core is always the two of them. "Rita Mitsouko" is their first album.  I loved them by the first note on the first song of side one "Restez Avec Moi."   The rhythm is very much a Bal Musette dance, and it's a combination of electronics and guitar that makes this song irresistible.   If one can fall in love with a human, then inevitably a listener can fall in love with Les Rita Mitsouko.  

Catherine Ringer is one of the significant figures in contemporary music, and the fact that she's unknown in the United States is apparently a crime against culture.  Her voice and even more important, her stance, is a beauty to behold.  There are individuals that for no other reason that they just have that "it" quality, which is a rarity, and Ringer oozes personality and talent.   She's up there with her country's Juliette Gréco or Edith Piaf but is obviously both a traditionist as well as a standout in any category of popular music.   Chichin and Ringer have a robust sexual aura as well as classic groove chops, and I can never resist their sensual pull to their music. 

If I have to make a comparison to their sound, I think of Iggy Pop's "The Idiot" as the closest album that kind of resembles Les Rita Mitsouko's sound and world.   There is a strong "I don't give a damn" quality in their work, that's is essential rock n' roll spirit.   Wonderfully unique, and equally charming at the same time.   Their first album "Rita Mitsouko" captures a freshness that I find so enticing that their work is close to falling in love for the first time. 

Les Rita Mitsouko - "Variéty" Vinyl, LP, Album, 2016 (Because Music)

Les Rita Mitsouko is Catherine Ringer and the late (and great) Fred Chichin.  A remarkable French band from the 1980s to the 21st century.   "Variéty" their last album, due to Chichin's death, is an album of many pleasures.  Ringer is one of the great figures in rock/pop music period.   Her expressive attitude and voice and sense of wonder are way beyond other singers of her generation.  Why she is not an icon here in the United States or in the U.K. can only be that most of the songs are in French.   It is the English speaking world's loss if one cannot dwell on Ringer's (and Chichin's) world. 

"Variéty" after repeated listenings is a treasure to behold.  Joyful, witty, strong melodic moments, and superb performances.  Mark Plati is the (not so) secret presence on the album.   He worked with David Bowie for numerous years, and he brings a Bowie touch to the project that reminds me a bit of that singer's "Hours" album.  Very straightforward approach to the song, but hidden textures that unfold on repeated hearings.   In a healthy world, these songs would be played on the radio on a consistent basis.  Alas, that's not the world that we live in.  

Catherine Ringer - "Ring n' Roll" Vinyl, 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, 2011 (Because Music)

These days when I think of the word France I immediately think of Catherine Ringer.   She and her late partner in crime, Fred Chichin were in Les Rita Mitsouko, not only the greatest band in France, but I think one of the great groups of the 1980s.  Chichin a great multi-instrumentalist and co-writer along with Ringer was a force of nature that couldn't fail to charm.  When I heard their album in Los Angeles at my friend's studio, I was seduced by the first song on side one.   Since the tragic passing of Chichin, I worried about what will happen to Catherine Ringer.   Worries are worries, but "Ring n' Roll" (released in 2011) is as great as any Les Rita Mitsouko album. 

Ringer has that 'it' quality that is difficult to define.  A great beauty, but the additional charm of her personality and force is breathtaking at times.   Beside Grace Jones, there is not another chic artist like Catherine.  She can walk into the room and transform it into another dimension.  So when she gets hold of a song, it's a wow moment.  On the most elementary level, I think of her as a French female Iggy Pop.   Another artist who has that 'it' quality that is hard to dispute or understand.  For one, Ringer knows how to rock.   As a singer, she can sing the most heartbreaking melody, but then in a flip of a coin, she can be hysterical.  Truly a star at its most glamorous and profound stature.  "Ring n' Roll" is 12 songs long and not a bump in the road for the entire album.  She works with RZA, Mark  Plati (one of David Bowie's great musicians), who I presume is her son, Rauol Chichin (on guitar), and a Japanese artist by the name of Coba.  Which funny enough the song, "Rendez-Vous" sounds like a Shibuya pop song from the 90s, but with Ringer bringing the music to a more textural level.  

Life cannot be a bowl of cherries for our Catherine, but when I listen to this album, I'm smiling from Side A to Side C (three-sided album).    The production (by Ringer, as well as RZA and Plati) is always a surprise, in that it follows the logic of one's imagination.   It has the Iggy "Lust for Life" zeal, but I feel Ringer takes it to the next level - a genius level.  One of the great artists of the 20th and 21st century.  

Les Rita Mitsouko - "The No Comprendo" CD, Album, France, 1987 (Virgin)

In 1987, I was visiting my friend Erik Blum in his studio in Los Angeles, and he played this album by Les Rita Mitsouko, and I was immediately transformed into a  hardcore fan.  At the time, or that first listening experience, I thought to myself T Rex meets Sparks, but singing in French.   It's a very confining album made by a couple, who were totally self-contained.  And with help and assistance from Tony Visconti.   Somehow a friend of mine made me a VHS tape of their videos off this album, and that was another little explosion that went off in my body. I must have been the only person in the United States that had a copy of all their videos at the time.  I have never seen such a visually appealing and seductive band like Les Rita Mitsouko.  In two words: Catherine Ringer.

Ringer is what one would call "the real deal."  She's the gift that keeps on giving.  I want to say she resembles or perhaps even influenced by Edith Piaf, but that's wrong.  I think she is even better than Piaf!  This woman can walk across a room and cause an emotional riot within me.  For me, she represents everything that is good regarding a musician and the perfect set of songs.  "No Comprendo" is perfection as practiced by a skilled duo (with her husband the late and great Frank Chichin) with the right attitude, and performance (of what I have seen on numerous live videos) that is perfectly made out of our elements.  She's too good to walk among us, humans!

"No Comprendo" is a combination of chanson and synth-pop, with rock overtures.  Catherine and Frank played most of the instruments, with the help of Visconti, and Ringer's vocals are exceptionally heartbreaking, fun, and of course, erotic.  Ringer, who worked with Sparks and told Serge Gainsbourg to fuck off is clearly a hero of mine.   Why Ringer is not the biggest star in the English speaking world is beyond my brain.   In three words:  I love her.