Louise Cordet

Louise Cordet was a phenomenon in English pop/rock for about two years, beginning when she reached number 13 on the charts with "I'm Just a Baby," released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22English+Decca%22">English Decca</a> in 1962. She was lucky enough to hit just as a new wave of British rock & rollers were coming to the fore, even though her sound was a little on the wimpy romantic side to fit in with British beat. As the daughter of a major television personality (and god-daughter of Prince Philip) with a convent school education, her origins were very different from the working class origins of most British rock & rollers, but she found an audience and held onto it, and for a time bidded fair to be <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca+Records%22">Decca Records</a>'s answer to <a href="spotify:artist:05kB8yh0Bbxj73qH63Ob3C">Helen Shapiro</a>. In 1963, Cordet appeared in two movies, Just for You and Just for Fun; the latter, a follow-up to 1962's It's Trad, Dad, was particularly notable, presenting Cordet performing "Which Way the Wind Blows," which many onlookers regarded as the best music clip in the movie and the highlight of the entire film. In some ways, Cordet's career anticipated that of <a href="spotify:artist:7mlge4peaoNgzTsY6M32RB">Marianne Faithfull</a>, as it took her from a convent school into a world of pop stars, London night spots, and concert tours with <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3UmBeGyNwr4iDWi1vTxWi8">Gerry & the Pacemakers</a>. Indeed, she is said to have taught <a href="spotify:artist:4STHEaNw4mPZ2tzheohgXB">Paul McCartney</a> a dance or two on his arrival in London, and <a href="spotify:artist:0k28Q9z0g181ywFCfQcfcI">Gerry Marsden</a> originally wrote "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" as a number for Cordet, before his group recorded it. Her final single, "Two Lovers," was a dazzling treatment of a Motown classic, drenched in heavy guitars and a great beat, and nearly as alluring as <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>' cover of "You've Really Got a Hold on Me." By 1965, however, Cordet had stopped recording and, ironically, became part of the cadre of hangers on surrounding <a href="spotify:artist:7mlge4peaoNgzTsY6M32RB">Marianne Faithfull</a>, serving as French pronunciation advisor at <a href="spotify:artist:7mlge4peaoNgzTsY6M32RB">Faithfull</a>'s May 11, 1965 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca+Records%22">Decca Records</a> recording session, and also doing her best in the press as a publicist for <a href="spotify:artist:7mlge4peaoNgzTsY6M32RB">Faithfull</a> during this period. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi