Pussy Cat

Our pick of the pops

French singer-songwriter Pussy Cat was part of girl group Les Petites Souris before recording a string of solo releases in the mid-to-late 1960s.

She was born Evelyne Courtois and began her musical career as a member of the five-piece girl group Les Petites Souris. The group released just one four-track EP, Ce n’est pas triste, on the RCA Victor label in 1964 before splitting up a year later.

Evelyne stuck with the label and launched herself as a solo singer, after taking the stage name Pussy Cat, from the Tom Jones song What’s new pussycat?

Her first EP, released in January 1966, comprised versions of four Anglophone hits: Ce n’est pas une vie (the Small Faces’ Sha-la-la-la-lee), Stop! (the Moody Blues song of the same name, which had also been covered Brit girl-style a year earlier by Julie Grant), Les temps ont changé (the Spokesmen’s Have courage, be careful) and Mais pourquoi (Betty Everett’s You’re no good).

For her second EP, issued in July the same year, she turned to French writers for three of the songs, La la lu (the lead track), Moi je préfère ma poupée and Je n’ai pas pleuré. However, it also failed to attract the attention of record buyers.

At the end of the year she released her third EP, which included Si vous avez déjà aimé (a version of the Hollies’ Have you ever loved somebody),

Arrêt d’autobus (another Hollies cover, this

time of Bus stop), J’avais juré (Herman’s

Hermits’ Listen people) and the original Je te

dirai.

When it failed, she took a break from recording.

For her comeback in 1968, she opted to

record some of her own material. The first

release, Dans ce monde de fou, proved that

she could write as a catchy a tune as any she

had covered.

She followed it with a single comprising two of