Search - Dalida :: Le Petit Gonzales

For completists only

Sasha | at sea...sailing somewhere | 07/11/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There are 10 Volumes of Dalida's complete recorded work for "Barclay" company during the period 1956-69 and this one is nr.5 - unfortunately I think its her weakest of my first five CD's.Gifted with rich,troathy voice and beauty,Dalida somehow changed her style to achieve more mass-appeal,paying price of popularity and succes with songs that were far bellow her standards.Documentary about her life shows that she was incredibly populat at that period,but even at volume 4 there was already "Itsy Bitsy Petit Bikini" that clearly predicted in which direction her music would go - and now she goes further with covers of "Speedy Gonzales",Adriano Celentano and Mina at their most silliest ("Mille Bolle Blu"!) and novelty "Pepe" in which her singing is "decorated" with something like hick-ups.There are also covers of Helen Shapiro ("You Don't Know"),and Neil Sedaka ("King Of Clown"),together with Dalida's attempts to sing rock and twist.It's not really so bad,but it's very dissapointing compared to her earlier music.I guess it's interesting to hear from historical perspective,as what was pop music in France in early 1960's but my recommendation would be everything else she recorded earlier.When all is said and done,Dalida would not be remembered for singing "Speedy Gonzales".The last & best song on this CD is (again) cover of Pete Seeger's "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" which is actually quitte appropriate for a singer whose artistic integrity slipped downhill at this point in exchange for record sales."