2 posts tagged “sacha distel”

A very nice chap by the name of Apollo introduced me to Dizzler, a media player that allows one to stream (legally) music, video and radio. It’s pretty good and I incorporated it into my Facebook page, after programming in a bunch of songs, two videos and one radio station (Rix FM in Sweden).
   It’s not without its faults. Monica Zetterlund, one of Sweden’s top jazz artists, isn’t even represented on Dizzler. Sacha Distel has four songs, and one of them doesn’t even sound like him. KCSM-FM, the jazz station in the Bay Area, is not among the radio choices. On Facebook, I can’t see the search box words (black text on a black background is not a very good idea) and when I can see them, they’re set in Arial or Arial Rounded—two typeface families I intentionally uninstall from all our company computers as they breach notions of good taste and common decency.
   Apollo does admit it is more geared toward pop songs and the US, however. And despite its shortcomings, it does have enough songs for me to have a wee playlist of favourites. I’d still recommend it and hope that its catalogue becomes more comprehensive. Having the complete songs on my Facebook page is a nice touch.

Two videos here that are very worth sharing, especially since I am the Sacha Distel of the south. Apart from the being dead thing. And smashing a Porsche during a sex act in the car.
   The first is Sacha and ex-girlfriend Brigitte Bardot, before the world figured out she was a right-wing freak. Sacha figured out she wasn’t the girl for him when he found her in bed with another bloke. Not a good look. But, time heals, and the two of them perform that famous song, ‘Le soleil de ma vie’.
   But the trade mark song is ‘La belle vie’, which Sacha wrote in the 1960s. The English lyrics, ‘The Good Life’, came before the French ones and were popularized by Tony Bennett. But here’s the dude who wrote the song singing it.
   I remember during the (French) heat wave in 2003, Sacha had a bit of a revival, including a local version of This Is Your Life. Every channel I turned to, there he was, singing ‘La belle vie’. It was a bit weird, since it was my own trade mark song of sorts around that time. Hearing the master do it, however, makes me look like an American Idol loser.
   Enjoy these two, in a purer, pre-Spice Girls time.