Saturday, January 6, 2007

Claudine Longet

Deciding there is not enough about Claudine on the net (especially images), I decided to create and post some myself. Please contact me if you wish to use them, primarily so I can see them being used and feel chuffed. :-)






A vidcap I took of Claudine from "The Party. (with a filter to buff it up a little).

Friday, January 5, 2007

Tribute to Claudine

Firstly I’d like to state that this site is purely intended as a fan site and a tribute to one of my personal favourite female vocalists. A huge thanks must go out to “Cuddle up with Claudine” and “Love Claudine” (both are also linked under friends of Claudine).
Most of the images and information I have obtained are from them.

I suggest you visit these sites if you wish to know more about this amazing woman.

The begining:
I hope you don't mind but I'd really like to start at the begining. It all started when I was a little boy and thought girls were dumb and grown ups falling over was funny, ok well, that still gets a giggle, but you know what I mean.

When I was about ten years of age I watched “The Party” by Peter Sellers. As we all know, the late Mr Sellars was one of the greatest comic geniuses of our time whose universal language of laughs appealed to both children and adults alike, so naturally as a child, I found the movie hilarious.
Thirty years and some hard lessons in life later, "The Party" comes on late night television, and I decide to see if it contains the same giggle factor as it did when I was a toddler. Naturally the laughs came in different places but they still came true and fast. That was until Ms Longet appeared. Initially I was taken back by her
delicate beauty and gentleness, but it wasn’t until she sang that my jaw dropped, and I fell in love.
It was a song called “Nothing to Lose.” Written by another master Henry Mancini, who was quoted as saying: “
That's what I get for writing a nice song for a comedy. Nobody's going to hear a note of it."
Well I’m happy to say Mr Mancini, it is one of my favourite pieces of music on film.

I decided I needed to know more about this incredible woman.
After searching the net I soon discovered that there was very little information regarding her artistic talents.
Just a few dedicated fans, who are vigilantly holding the flag and share an appreciation and love for her music.
So I decided to collect what information I could, and create another site, to sing her praise and let the world know about the amazing talent which is Ms Claudine Longet.
Although it is a lifetime away, I would just like to say thank you Ms Claudine, for your music and inspiration.

A brief biog:
Claudine Georgette Longet
, Born in Paris on the 29th of January (Aquarian)
At the age of Nineteen Claudine was a lead dancer in the Folies Bergere in Las Vegas where she met and fell in love with the incomparable crooner Mr Andy Williams (Mr Moon River). They married on Christmas day in 1961 and immediately set about making a family. Claudine had three children to Mr Andy Williams, Noëlle, Christian and Robert. Claudine resurfaced seriously from the domestic front in 1964, and relaunched herself into the entertainment world, embarking on a career as an actress in popular television shows of the day. But it wasn’t until 1966 that Claudine started her short but prolific recording career, going on to release no less than seven albums between 1966 and 1972. All the while still working in television, and maintaining a family. It was during this productive period that she also appeared in a couple of films, most notably: “The Party” with Peter Sellers.

With her whispy French accent, Claudine was presented to the public as a gorgeous doe-eyed innocent, and toward the end of her recording career she was really starting to identify herself musically and define her distinctive sound. Regrettably, this was all cut short after Claudine was involved in a tragic accident. After the trauma of losing a loved one and constant media harassment, Ms Longet vanished from the public eye as quickly as she had arrived, deciding instead to concentrate on raising her children, but leaving behind a wonderful legacy which is her music.


~*~


Claudines Music:
Claudine's ethereal voice and soft accent is very intimate and personal. At the risk of sounding clichéd, I would easily liken it to a friend sitting with you on a bad day and singing all your worries out the door. However, I think it's only fair to warn, this music is not everyone’s musical flavor (no music is), but if you do manage to acquire this taste, beware, it’s seriously addictive.
I only wish there was alot more of it to be had… ALOT more!
Claudine’s range of music (from my collection at least) is quite varied, from tender ballads such as “I think it’s going to rain today”, (a personal favourite), to fun bubblegum 60’s pop, like “I don’t intend to spend Christmas without you”. All of them completely lovable and (as is the case in this household) extremely playable, again and again and again….
For me there are a few icons which stand out and represent the Sixties' fun and reckless pop culture, such as “Georgie Girl”, "Twiggy" and “Lolita” (another Sellers masterpiece), and standing right along side these celebrations of love and innocence, is the definitive sounds of Ms Claudine Longet.

For me she encapsulates the naive era of a new beginning (being the 60’s) an exciting world changing from black and white to technicolour. With a continuing underlined theme, and the message is as simple and old as time itself… all we need is love.


Notable Achievements:


The award winning recording of "The Little Prince" ~ 1974
________________________________________________

Albums -

Claudine ~ 1967
The Look of Love ~1967
Love is Blue ~ 1968
Colours ~ 1970
Run Wild, Run Free ~ 1970
Bonsoir Claudine Bonsoir ~1970
We've Only Just Begun ~ 1971
Golden Prize ~1971
Let's Spend The Night Together~ 1972
Sugar Me ~1993
The Best of Claudine Longet ~1994
A&M Digitally Remastered Best ~1999
The Very Best of Claudine Longet ~2000
Cuddle Up With Claudine Longet ~2003
The Look of Love/Love is Blue ~2005
We've only just begun/Let's Spend the Night Together ~2005
Hello Hello: The Best of Cluadine Longet ~ 2005


________________________________________________


Television and Film


One Enchanted Weekend (1962)
HcHale's Navy (1963-1964)
Dr Kildare (1963)
Ship's Doctor (1963)
The Big Raffle (1963)
Operation Grief (1964)
Silver Service (1964)
Combat! (1964-1967)
Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964)
The Lonliest Place in the World (1965)
Mr Novak (1965)
The Silent Dissuaders (1965)
Twelve O'Clock High (1965-1966)
It Takes a Thief... Somtimes (1966)
Underground (1966)
The Sadness of a Happy Time ( 1966)
Hogan's Heros (1966)
Run for your Life (1966-1967)
The Rat Patrol (1966-1967)
The Word would be Goodbye (1967)
The Partisian (1967)
The Last Harbor Raid (1967)
The Name of the Game (1968)
Fear of High Place (1968)
Massacre Harbor (1968)
The Party (1968)
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers" (1969)
The Rockford Riddle (1969)
The F.B.I. (1969)
Caesar's Wife (1969)
Love, American Style (1970)
Love and the Minister (1970)
Alias Smith and Jones (1971)
Journey from San Juan (1971)
How to Steal an Airplane (1971)
The Streets of San Francisco (1973)
The Set-Up (1973)
The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond (1975)

___________________________________________


On a foot note:
Due to a severe lack of information and resources on the net regarding Ms Longet, I would like to plead to anyone with Claudine Longet paraphernalia, magazines or images to please scan them, and contact me.

Thankyou kindly.

Regards,

Z3N