Michel Polnareff - "Michel Poinareff" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2008/1966 (Universal)

The Lou Christie of French rock is Michel Poinareff.  Well, mostly due to his vocal style, which can go as high as the stars, if he chooses that route.  Ponareff's first album is classic French pop.  Still, I suspect that he wanted to go beyond his country's borders.  Side one I presume was recorded in England, due that he worked with lyricist Keith Reid, who either at the same time or a tad later, became the words-man for Procol Harum.  He also used Charles Blackwell as an arranger, who worked with Burt Bacharach on the soundtrack "What's New Pussycat" as well as working with my favorite eccentric producer Joe Meek.  So, with those two, our M. Poinareff was in excellent hands. 

This is a very strong debut of a songwriting talent, who is still with us, and for me, a mysterious figure.   In fact, I suspect he's a mystery to a lot of people.  Like the tide in an ocean, he comes and goes as he pleases.  Still, from 1966 to the end of the 1970s, he was an iconic presence in France.  Visually stunning, but with an incredible knack for writing memorable melodies.   There's not a bad cut on this album, and I would recommend it as an introduction into the world of Poinareff.  The garage rock sound of "La Poupée Qui Fait Non," "Time Will Tell"  (lyrics by Reid) and his fifties orientated (and could be a Morrissey favorite) "Love Me, Please Love Me" are essential cuts. 

Michel Polnareff - "Âme Caline" EP, Vinyl, 7" 45 RPM, France, 1967 (Disc'Az)

If Lou Christie was French.  This perfect French pop EP is Michel Poinareff at his height, creatively speaking.  Polnareff has the tendency to go over-the-top, in that I suspect his life was one of the great lows and intense highs.  "Ame Caline", the opening song of this EP, is a piano ballad, but sweeping strings, and Polnareff's Lou Christie-like high voice coming in, as a wave hits the beach.  Compared to other French pop at the time there is a bite and a greater music scope or landscape in his work.  A lot of his early work is an odd combination of garage rock meets grandeur arrangements.  "Le Roi des Fourmis" has a lot of percussion, a prominent organ, and is beautifully arranged into a wall of sound.  

Beside this EP, I have a greatest hits collection that I purchased in Fukuoka Japan.  Again, it's not hard to locate Polareff in Japan, it seems he's a well-known figure there compared to the United States, which is not the easiest place to find his recordings (although, not impossible).   Since I don't read French, I'm sure there's information about him that is missed between the languages.  Still, I suspect that he's a very unique figure in the French pop world.  He writes his material, and I sense no one controls his output except himself.  

There are four songs on this EP, besides the two mentioned already there's "Fat Madame" sung in English and co-written by Ray Singer, who worked with the British band Nirvana.  An excellent track which weirdly reminds me of Cockney Rebel.  Or if Steve Harley meets Peter Noone of Herman Hermits fame.  The last track "Le Saule Pleureur" is a sonic soup of various ingredients.  A mixture of flute, unique backup vocal, - in 1967, it was a great year for experimentation in the pop format, and I think Polnareff was very much part of that world.