Les Femmes

1. La Bolduc - La grocerie du coin

2. Geneviève Toupin - Plus les années passent

3. Gaële - L'accent d'icitte

4. Mareva Galanter - Bang bang (featuring Jacno)

5. Nicolas Coyez - De la surface de l'eau (feat. Leslie Phillips)

6. Censia - Je me vois avec toi

7. Camille - La jeune fille aux cheveux blancs

8. Fredrika Stahl - Les jeux sont faits

9. Valérie Leulliot - Mon homme blessé

10. Coralie Clement - Tu seras à moi

11. Soha - Ma mélancolie

12. Marie-Pierre Arthur - Ma tête à off

13. Balthazar - Le l'allemande

14. Laurence Hélie - Kérosène

15. Aurélia O'Leary - Il a neigé sur l'idéal

16. Olivia Ruiz - Les crêpes aux champignons

17. Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band - Chere Bassette

18. Thee Headcoatees - Ça Plane Pour Moi

19. Caïman Fu - Vent d'automne

20. Shy'm - Le blues de toi

21. Les Elles - Pamela Peacemaker

Let's French: An In Depth look at La Bolduc

This week's Pardon My French is covering female francophone artists. La Bolduc was one of the most influential Quebecois artists of the 1930s, with her repertoire stretching over 300 songs she wrote.

La Bolduc is often considered Quebec’s first singer/songwriter. Her musical style combined her Irish and Quebecois heritage and touched on the life on everyday people in Quebec.

She was born Mary Rose-Anna Travers in 1894, to an Irish mother and Quebecois father. Her large family was poor, but she learned the most from home. Her family was bilingual and her father taught her how to play the fiddle, accordion, harmonica, spoons and Jew’s harp. She took from the Irish melodies and French-Canadian folk tunes to create a style based on the passed down traditions of both cultures.

At the age of 13, in 1908, she moved to Montreal where she became familiar with the urban working world, especially for a woman. Her father was a lumberjack, but Bolduc took jobs at textile mills and as a maid. She moved to the Massachusetts in 1921, after family hardships with her new husband and general hard times.

Her musical career began in the 20s when she started to play in small troupes. She signed her first record label in 1929 and began playing more and more in folk festivals, which helped her family financially. Her songs were about working class people which became popular during the Great Depression.

In the 1930s she was producing records often and touring around Quebec and New England. Her songs were about local and international issues that were important to everyday people: Dionne Quintuplets, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the New deal, Hitler, R-100 dirigible, etc,. However, in 1937 she was in a car crash and in hospital, it was discovered that she had cancer. She passed away in 1941, but influenced what is known as the “Chason” style in Quebec.

hey hey hey hey ladies!

All female playlist for this week's Pardon My French! Tune in to CJAM 99.1fm or www.cjam.ca from 2:30-4pm, Thursday, August 26th (and every Thursday)!

All Up North

1. Marcel Beneteau - Un P'tit Verre de Bierre
2. 3 Gars Su'l Sofa - Tout le monde est là
3. Plastic Lite - Grumble grumble
4. De Temps Antan - Le Petit Voyage
5. DobaCaracol - Fièvre
6. La Nouvelle Frontière - Pacification
7. Plume Latraverse and The Plumettes - La ballade des caisses de 24
8. Pheek - J'Ouvre
9. Amylie - Mes oreilles
10. La Bottine Souriante - R&C
11. Louise Forestier - Y'avait-il quelqu'un
12. Geneviève Jodoin - Allo mon chum
13. Soupir - Larmes de métal
14. Daniel Boucher - La vie comme une vue
15. Pépé - Le mangeux de bines
16. Ève Cournoyer - En avant
17. Les Abdigradationnistes - Flux optique
18. O Linea - Duel
19. Chic Gamine - Tristesse suspendue

Doing It Like the French

1. Manu Chao - Le Rendez Vous
2. Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Porte en Arrière (feat. Emmylou Harris)
3. Nous Non Plus - Fille atomique
4. Eartha Kitt - Avril Au Portugal (The Whisp'ring Serenade)
5. Sean Lennon - Parachute (l'éclipse)
6. Rufus Wainwright - Les feux d'artifice t'appellent
7. Leonard Cohen - The Lost Canadian (Un Canadien Errant)
8. Feist - Tout Doucement
9. Les Sans Culottes - Allô Allô (Hello I Love You)
10. Arcade Fire - Une Annee Sans Lumiere
11. Josephine Baker - C'est lui (Version 1934)
12. Iggy Pop - Les feuilles mortes (Marc's Theme)
13. Julie Doiron - Je Le Savais
14. Andrea Lindsay - Gin Bombay
15. Ian Kelly - La Terre
16. Samantha Shelton & Michael Andrew - The Man With the Big Sombrero
17. Paul Cargnello - Une rose noire
18. Lhasa - J'arrive à la ville
19. Stacey Kent - Désuets
20. CocoRosie - Bisounours
21. Fredrika Stahl - Les jeux sont faits

* Un gros merci à Annie pour m'aider cette semaine <3

Let's French: An In Depth look at Eartha Kitt

This Week on Pardon My French, we will be featuring french music by non-francophone artists. Tune this Thursday, from 2:30-4pm and hear music from Eartha Kitt and many others.

You may know Eartha Kitt as the purring Catwoman on the 1960s Batman TV series. Perhaps you recognize her voice from the cartoon Emperor’s New Groove (2000) as the ancient and evil Yzma. Who can’t sing along to her sexy hit from the 50s “Santa Baby”? Her career began in the mid 40s until she passed away in 2008.

Born in South Carolina, Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith) had a hard childhood. Her mother was half Cherokee, half African American. Eartha was a product of a rape. She lived in Harlem with her aunt after being abandoned by her mother and suffered abuse from her family members. After quitting school at 15 and ran away from her adopted home; living in subways and working odd jobs. By chance, she was offered an audition and became a part of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, the renowned African-American ballet troupe. After touring America and Europe, Eartha was noticed in France and she decided to move there in 1949 after resigning from the dance company.

In France, she became popular for her “exotic” looks and interesting voice, often compared to Josephine Baker. Many earlier African-American performers who had come over to France in the 1920s and 30s gained the most success there because of the racism and segregation they faced back home. Performers like Paul Robeson, Josephine Baker, Nina Mae McKinney, Anna May Wong. Eartha picked up the French language easily, after being exposed to foreign languages in Harlem and New York. Her work in cabaret remains some of her most notable pieces.

She was discovered by Orson Wells and was cast in production of Faust. She moved back to the United States in the 50s, where she became notable in film and music. She continued her French repertoire with “C’est si bon”, but her most famous song was “Santa Baby” in 1953. She was a star on Broadway for years, continued in to film in unfortunately minor parts because of the racism that persisted in the 1950s. She was unofficially blacklisted in 1968 (during her popular role as Catwoman), when she told the first lady exactly what she thought about Vietnam. She did not return to the United States until 1978, where she continued her film and theatre roles until her death in 2008.

New Day of the Week, Same Great Tunes!

1. Les Trois Accords - Merci c'est trop

2. Fragile Fatal - Contredanse

3. Stereo Total - Larmes de métal

4. Avec pas d'casque - Débouler ensemble

5. TTC - Travailler (Orgasmic Remix)

6. André Guitar - La grenouille

7. Patrik et les Brutes - Ma Corvette

8. Nathan Abshire - Mama Rosin

9. Vincent Delerm - Veruca Salt & Franck Black

10. Idir featuring Féfé & Leeroy - Je viens de là où l'on m'aime

11. David Marin - Pour un dix

12. Ariel - Règlement de comptes, violence gratuite et cynisme non-constructif (C'est quoi ton problème?)

13. Thomas Dutronc - Comme un manouche sans guitare

14. Bourvil - A bicyclette

15. Fred Fortin - Dollorama

16. ZAZ - Ni oui ni non

17. Payz Play - Il Était 2 Fois...

18. Métal Urbain - Pop poubelle

19. Elisapie Isaac - Moi, Elsie