Our pick of the pops: November 2007

Our pick of the pops

With a kiss

Britain’s Kiki Dee had to wait until the mid-1970s before enjoying any success, though listening to this track from 1966, it’s hard to understand why. The song was issued on her Kiki in clover EP, released to tie in with the soundtrack to the film Doctor in clover. It’s a massive production and Kiki’s yearning vocals fit it superbly. She also released a version in German.

Ines Taddio

So wenig Zeit

Proving that you can teach an old, er, singer new tricks, Ines Taddio’s final German release was this gem from 1965, a version of Diana Dors’s Too little time. The 36-year-old Italian actress and singer recorded a string of Schlager-styled singles for the Austrian and German markets from 1956. Interestingly, she was massively popular in Hungary and also toured Russia.

Chantal Goya

Laisse-moi

French singer Chantal Goya took the lead role of Madeleine in Jean-Luc Godard’s Masculin féminin, a classic of French nouvelle vague cinema, released in 1966. Laisse-moi was one of six tracks sung by Chantal, taken from her first four releases, and an EP was released to coincide with the film’s release. She later moved into singing children’s songs. Shame.

The Breakaways

Here she comes

Liverpudlian trio the Breakaways were formed when Vicki Haseman, Margo Quantrell and Betty Prescott quit the Vernons Girls in 1960 to form their own group. By the time of this release – a catty Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich composition, tucked away on the B-side of their 1963 single That boy of mine – Betty had been replaced by Jean Ryder. The song is a request by Ready steady girls! visitor Glenys, who used to live round the corner from Vicki and says she remembers her being very glamorous.

Betina

Como el viento

Betina was born María de las Mercedes Massager Tarragó. In 1967 the 17 year old from Barcelona won the Benidorm song festival with Entre los dos. Shortly afterwards she took part in the Mediterranean song festival with T’estim i t’estimaré, sung – somewhat controversially – in Catalan. Our choice is her version of the ultimate winner, Salomé’s Com el vent (the only other Catalan entry), sung here in Spanish.

Patricia Carli

Le lion

Born Rosetta Ardito in Italy in 1943, she moved to Belgium at a very young age. At 20, she launched a recording career, consisting mostly of easy listening ballads, including her version of the Eurovision-winning Non ho l’eta, which both she and Gigliola Cinquetti had performed at the San Remo festival in 1964. We prefer the much cooler Le lion, from 1967.