New J.J. Psychedelic Orfeon


Band members                             Related acts

- Francoise Bette -- vocals

- Francis Bouchat -- sax

- Andre Burton -- vocals

- Michele Eraly -- vocals

- Frederic Flamand -- vocals

- Jean-Claude Frison -- vocals

- Daniele Kelecorn -- vocals

- Francis Mahieu -- vocals

- Chantal Maassen -- vocals

- Viviane Mastin -- vocals

- Jean-Luc Manderlier -- keyboards

- Patrick Roegiers -- vocals

- Marie-Eve Schuermans -- vocals

- Jean Trenchant -- guitar

- Madeliene Van Bellinghen -- vocals

- Pierre Van Den Branden -- bass

- Guy Vanderhodstadt -- drums, percussion

- Thierry Vreux -- vocals

- Martine Williquet -- vocals

 

 

 

- none known

 

 

 


 

Genre: pop

Rating: 1 star *

Title:  Futopie

Company: Decca

Catalog: 193.465
Year:
 1969

Country/State: Belgian

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: Belgian pressing

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 6263

Price: $150.00

 

Out of the 35,000 LPs I own, this is probably one of the rarest. though it's far from the best ...   Probably a pretty good example of the adage rare isn't necessarily good.   An album may be rare because it sucks.

 

I've scoured the internet and hardcopy reference materials and as far as I can tell, there's virtually nothing to be found about this Belgian outfit and what few tidbits you can find seem to be patently misleading, or simply wrong.  Credited to The New J.J. Psychedelic Orfeon, major league collectors have slapped 1969's "Futopie" under the psych umbrella which is actually pretty funny since the collection was based on a musical comedy staged by the Belgian Theatre de l'Alliance under director Henry Chanal.  The music was written by future Wallace member Andre Burton and the lyrics were penned by Nathan Grigorieff.  So if you bought into the hype and spent a couple of hundred bucks on this one, you were probably going to be pretty pissed off.   The whole thing was in French so there wasn't a great deal I could tell you about the lyrics or the overarching plotline, but the general feel was exactly what you'd expect from a stage show - campy and way too cute for it's own good, though it was probably more enjoyable if you saw it live.  (Against that backdrop the cover art suddenly made sense).  The eighteen selections featured eleven singers (including Burton), but I've got to tell you, none of the singers made much of an impression of me.  In fact, I'd tell you that was the case for the entire album.  As you'd expect from a stage show, the music bounced all over the spectrum including stabs at conventional pop ('Tu Es Belle, Princess'), pseudo-operatic ('Quand Elle Es Nee En Utopie'), and even tango ('Tango De Zut').  Unfortunately, with one of two exceptions, very little on the album made a lasting impression.

 

"Futopie" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Le Roi Pompom   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:56

2.) Si J'etais La Loi   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:50

3.) Quand Elle Es Nee En Utopie   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:00

4.) Faut Epouser    (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:20

- 'Faut Epouser' at least sporting a halfway decent pop melody, with Marie-Eve Schuermans and Chantal Maassen turning in some nice ya-ya girl vocals.   rating: *** stars

5.) Gutenberg   (Andre Burton - Patrick Roegiers) - 1:33

6.) La Revolution   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:08

7.) Tango De Zut    (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 1:38

8.) Tu Es Belle, Princess   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 4:05

9.) Swing De L'emancipation   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:40

 

(side 2)
1.) Rock de General   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 1:50

'Rock de General' sounded like a third rate Sha Na Na outtake (assuming those guys sang in French),   rating: * star

2.) Au Contraire   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:05

3.) Lorsque Dieu Crea La Femme   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:07

With Martine Williquet handling lead vocals, 'Lorsque Dieu Crea La Femme' was another slice of ya-ya girl pop.  The interesting thing about this one was that Williquet's voice sucked.  Hearing her struggle to stay in tune reminded me a bit of late-inning Marianne Faithful (had she been French).   rating: * stars

4.) Je M'arquebalance   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 0:45

5.) Chanson De Portrait   (Andre Burton - PNathan Grigorieff) - 2:25

' Chanson De Portraithad the album's best pop melody, but was sunk by Francoise Bette's horrible little-girl voice, the irritating 'kissing' sound effects and Burton's lounge singer vocal (was it me or did he sound like Dan Aykroyd impersonating a lounge singer ?)  rating: ** stars

6.) Les Modules   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 2:47

7.) Je Suis Une Ombre   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 3:15

8.) Bede, Berde et Berde   (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 0:50

9.) Le Roi Pompom    (Andre Burton - Nathan Grigorieff) - 1:13

 

As I said, one of the rarest LPs in my collection, and possible one of the worst.  Don't fall for the hype.  This is pretty horrible !  Maybe it would have made a better impression if you'd been living in Belgium in the late-'60s ?

 

 

 

 

 

BACK TO BADCAT FRONT PAGE

BACK TO BADCAT CATALOG PAGE

BACK TO BADCAT PAYMENT INFORMATION