Francoise Hardy – Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles – Ltd Orange & White Vinyl [Import]

LIMITED EDITION, SOLID ORANGE & SOLID WHITE, 500 PIECES. Franoise Hardy auditioned for Vogue Records at 18 and went on to top charts with her very first release, a 1962 self-titled record now known as “Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles” based on it’s hit song. From there, the infamously timid Hardy became one of the few French pop stars of the era to cross over, jetting from England to France to record, serving as a muse to designers like Yves Saint Laurent, and inspiring Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger. That debut showcases Hardy at her simplest, wringing rockabilly-tinged pop magic from modest jazz percussion and steel guitar. Hardy wrote most of her own material, setting her far apart from her peers, and on her debut she penned every song but two. Her lyrics would never hew this close to y-y traditions again: See the “whoa-oh-oh” echoing on tracks like “Il Est Tout Pour Moi” and her cover of Bobby Lee Trammell’s “Oh Oh Chri”. The title track “Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles” remains an iconic vision of Hardy’s aesthetic: frank music for romantic wallflowers. “They walk in love without fear of tomorrow,” she sings in French of the young couples she watches on the street. “Yes but me, I’m single with a tormented soul, yes but me, I’m single because nobody loves me.”