L'Affaire Louis' Trio

4-29-10

L’Affaire Louis’ Trio – “Le Retour De L’Age D’Or”

My friend Bob G. hipped me to the French band from Lyon called L’Affaire Louis’ Trio

( = Louis’ Busy Trio) about ’87 or so. While I like all of their albums, my favorite is their 2^nd album “Le Retour De L’Age D’Or” ( = The Return Of The Golden Age )(Barclay Records France, 1988).

I never had a particularly easy time finding French CD’s in Los Angeles, but once I knew this existed, it was somehow easier for me to request it from Japan – my friend Wes O. still runs Rockit mail-order and he orders from Japan all the time – and has for 25+ years. I was more than happy to fork over whatever it was going to cost, as I had absolutely loved their debut CD “Chic Planete”. The booklet in this Japanese edition has all the words to the songs, in French, of course. It contains the songs:

1. Bois Ton Café
2. Le Retour De L’Age D’Or
3. Religado
4. Paradis D’Amour
5. Annie
6. Bois Ton Café, Il Est Tard
7. Succes De Larmes
8. Histoires De Fous
9. Bob et Linda
10. Adieux a L’Amour
11. Adieux a L’Amour – Final
12. La Ballade
13. Un Jouet Qui Nous Plait

This album is about 45 minutes long – I’ve never seen an LP of it, but it must exist. I have vinyl (7”) for “Succes De Larmes”, which also has a super music video that a friend taped off of French TV for me. I’ve also got a couple of CD Singles that pertain to this album. Yes, this is the album I loved so much that I read about an upcoming tour, got the Paris dates…actually flew to Paris to check ‘em out at the Olympia theatre…only to discover that the whole tour had been re-scheduled for several months later.

This is one of the CD’s that made life in the late 80’s amusing for me. It’s French pop music of a very high order – funky, chic – yet nostalgic. Even if you can’t understand French, you can tell these guys are having a great time – the sense of humor is very present. Still in the dark? Are you a fan of Les Rita Mitsouko, Etienne Daho or Les Innocents? Give L’Affaire Louis’ Trio a try – with this album.

Believe it or not, I recently found an “extra” copy of this album in my collection – another Japanese copy, in fact. If you’d like to own it, I’d be happy to send it to you – leave your comments, and by May 3^rd, 2010 – I’ll announce who is the “winner” – tell me why you’d like to hear this album or give me any reason why your collection would be a good home for it.