I recently made my first ever musical purchase at Whole Foods — a budget-priced three-disc set entitled, Café Paris: 42 Classic Songs from France. One track from 1967 tickled my ear – Brigitte Bardot’s “Oh, Qu’il Est Vilain” – with its spryly humorous organ, naive recorder lines, and cuckoo chorus:
“Oh, Qu’il Est Vilain“
Brigitte Bardot (1967?)
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How surprising to discover that this 1967-infused piece of pop was apparently issued first in Mexico on a Bardot 4-song EP (“Harley Davidson” b/w “Contact“) – though only as a B-side – before the song would find release in France the following year on a different EP (“Ce N’est Pas Vrai“) where “Vilain” would again be relegated to a B-side. What gives?
1967 EP
Mexico
1968 also saw the release of long-player, Brigitte Bardot Show, where “Oh, Qu’il Est Vilain” serves as side two’s kick-off track. Curious to note that in 2009 Mercury France reissued the 1968 French EP.
