Ah yes, The Primitives. I loved their fuzzy ‘n husky late-80s single Crash, singer Tracy Tracy was on par with her ‘blonde pop’ rivals, Wendy James of Transvision Vamp and Darling Buds‘ Andrea Lewis. Pitchfork rightly said that The Primitives were the role models for current bands like Best Coast and Vivian Girls.
The Primitives reformed and made a new album, Echoes and Rhymes. It features covers of songs sung by girls, like ‘Turn off the moon’ by Lolita-actress Sue Lyons, and ‘Single Girl’ by Sandy Posey. You guessed it, there’s also a French tune (with a heavy accent) – Amoureux d’une affiche, originally sung by Laura Ulmer. The daughter of actor Georges Ulmer, Laura had a few hits in France in the 60s before moving to Canada. There, she recorded some more and acted in (tv-)movies. To be honest, I’d never heard of Laura, I seemed to have missed Mordi’s post on her. Thanks to FS-regular Anna Maria for the tip!
Laura Ulmer – Amoureux d’une affiche
The Primitives – Amoureux d’une affiche
Sky’s verdict: As for a few of the originals, see Legrand Mellon, Polly Niles, Sandy Posey, Adam & Eve or Dutch favorites Shocking Blue. Even FS’s secret mastermind Roy Black only knew four of the originals, and that guy knows everything. The Laura Ulmer cover actually is the least impressive on this gorgeous rarity bonanza of an album, balancing ultra-coolly between Motown copycats, Northern Soul, Garage goodies, girlie psych-outs and Sunshine Pop. Surely the most hip album of the year, including a Jesus & Marychain-like version of Olivia Newton-John’s 1966 debut:
The Primitives – Till You Say You’ll Be Mine
She looks like the younger sister of Camille, she has a band that’s both ‘fantastique et fantasmagorique’, she performs in a smoking and she covered Michael Jackson, Madonna (while wearing antlers) and Yves Simon. Amazoniaque, a song about a bad dreaming, Amazonian-whipped person by author/singer Simon, is the one French track on her EP, that was released in January. Paris-based Christine & the Queens toured with The Dø, and when you hear her glacial electronic pop, you’ll see why. Lykke Li, Class Actress, Camille + Oomiaq, that part of the pond. A very nice part of the pond, I’d say. Dip in.
