The French Connection, Special Bulletin Edition: Et Maintenant, Le Dernier Vestige De Rita Mitsouko N'Est Plus Non Plus...

Cancer did it again. The evil, no-good, very bad S.O.B got Catherine, too. Having seen her life partner and bandmate Fred Chichin die suddenly of what the French call un cancer foudroyant, a rapidly evolving, ultra-agressive cancer, in 2007, now Catherine Ringer has suffered the same fate yesterday. Les Rita Mitsouko died with Fred in 2007, but now the last trace of this unpredictable, one-of-a-kind band is gone, by the same cruel fate that took her soul mate 19 years ago. Poetic? Or just more proof that we haven't made huge inroads in fighting that evil, no good, very bad S.O.B.? I let you decide. 

Come to think of it, Catherine Ringer was, as far as I recall, the last concert I went too...five years or so ago. Ah, tempus fugit. Her stage presence and rock'n'roll give-no-fucks spirit, even at an anvanced age of 63, finally turned me around on Les Rita Mitsouko, a band I admittedly didn't get for a long time. Too shrill, too bizarre, too....French, maybe? My wife has been a fan since her teens, but that group kind of always got on my nerves, though my opinion started to change when I got her the band's last album Varieté for a birthday. It was an acoustic-based album, a much more gentle and melodic adventure than the shrill New Wave and post-punk stuff from the 80s. 

Catherine Ringer in that very concert. The dude in the hat on the far left is her youngest son, Raoul.

Anyway, after coming away from that concert with a new appreciation for Madame Ringer, I compiled a little album of Rita Mitsouko (and a then-recent Ringer live track of a band song) stuff that first saw light of day over at Farq's place. And now, to honor Ringer and Les Rita Mitsouko? I'll pull this out of mothballs. And oyt's a weird sense of deja vu taht exctly three weeks ago I was writing a eulogy for Dolly Parton. What the hell is this, dead musician tuesday? 

Les Rita Mitsouko (they added the 'les', so people would stop thinking it was Catherine Ringer's name, instead of the band's) were obviously made for the 80s and the second wave of New Wave. They were misfits, they were vaudeville performers, they were deeply they're own thing. Theatrical, provocative, and for a couple of years, on the forefront of the new and exciting rock and pop that was sprouting from the alte 70s on. They passed by a couple of different styles over the years, leaning into synth pop, art pop, even experimenting with jungle and drum'n'bass rhythms in the 90s. And through it all, they were always Catherine and Fred, she the former porn actress with an extroverted voice and a 'don't mess with me' attitude, he the pencil-moustached silent pole of the band. They were an odd couple, and they were perfect for, and with, each other. 

Now, I mentioned that I didn't 'get' Les Rita Mitsouko until a couple of years ago, and even then, some of their more thatrical and shrill work is still not for me. I can admire parts of it from a distance, but I'd rather not listen to it, particuarly, which is fine. You will see in the accompanying comp that I was really picky in what I like about and from the band. It doesn't necessarily have all the best-known hits from the band, and those that are here are not in the versions that hit the airwaves in the 80s. For "C'est Comme Ca" I used a live version of Catherine Ringer and her band that comes closest to the barnstormer it was in concert. I used edited remixes for both "Andy' and "Marcia Baila", their breakthrough hit in 1985 and a tribute to Catherine Ringer's dance teacher Martia Moretti, who - like the two persons that would pay tribute to her would in the future - died of a quick acting cancer in 1983. Yup, there's thread here, though not a good one. 

A whooping seven songs come from Variéty, their last album, that started to turn me around on the band, and since I already have the French version at home, I decided to use the English-language versions of the songs for this comp. In other cases, I just kept the bits I liked, like the instrumental intro of "Elevator" or bits of an improvisation piece, or jam, called, well, "Jam". I took the bits I liked and used them as short breaks in betwen songs. And I coul not decide wheteher I like the original version of "Don't Forget The Nite" or the Tony Visconti remix better so I decided to keep both. So, enjoy Do The Mitsouko! for what it is, a deeply personal selection of favorites from Les Rita Mitsouko. 

C'est la mort qui t'a assassiné, Marcia

C'est la mort qui t'a assassiné, Fred.

C'est la mort qui t'a assassiné, Catherine. 

C'est la mort qui nous assassinera tous, mes amis.

Mais aussi...

Même si, même si tout disparaîssait,

Je serais près de toi...

R.I.P. Catherine Ringer, 1957-2026