Paradis Sauvage
Long before she muscled her way past Kate and Winona to become what she’s mostly known as today, Mrs. Johnny Depp, the sultry Vanessa Paradis had, and still continues to have, a long and furtive career. One as an actress, playing alongside household French legends Gérard Depardieu, Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Reno. Another as a sucessful model, most notably for Chanel (including the classic Jean Paul Goude bird cage commercial). However it was her 1988 overnight, breathy pop hit Joe Le Taxi that originally thrust the then 14 year old nouveau waif into the spotlight where she’s remained a staple French celebrity ever since.
Joe Le Taxi also spawned numerous covers. While 90% of them were just rehashes of the original I did manage to flag down a few standouts. Funny enough, 3 out of 4 of today’s selections were by Japanese artists. First a driving tech-house cut from Hanayo, who even more remarkably is an ex-geisha, ex-Merzbow collaborator and ex-model for John Paul Gaultier who currently lives in Berlin and gets serious accolades from the likes of Soulwax. Speaking of which, fans of that squelchy electro Soulwax/Justice sound may also dig Tokyo’s immi. And third in our Nihon trifecta is a slower quirky technopop version from Jun Togawa, who by the way also gets lofty avant-garde praise from up on high via the likes of Jim O’Rourke. And lastly and not Japanese at all is a minimal, lo-fi, synth pop-ish rendition by French-German duo Stereo Total (who ironically enough are big in Japan).
Hanayo – Joe Le Taxi
immi – Joe Le Taxi
Jun Togawa – Joe Le Taxi
Stereo Total – Joe Le Taxi
Enjoy!
LS
PS For mon frére in Thee Versions Galore Facebook Fanclub, got the originals sur le mur…
