A reader on Brad Warthen‘s blog expressed her lack of appreciation of the “Mad Men” scene in which Don’s new young wife sings him a song in French.
No, it’s not much of a song, but that’s not the point. It was meant to evoke a certain sense of what 30ish, white, button-down people thought was particularly cool, sexy and sophisticated at that point in cultural history (1965).
You might say the scene’s cultural antecedent was the below scene in “The Pink Panther” (1963). The singer is Fran Jeffries.
Below that, you’ll find an original video of Gillian Hills singing the song in 1962. Gillian later appeared in a ménage à trois with David Hemmings and another girl in “Blow-Up,” the ultimate mid-60s cool movie (much spoofed by Austin Powers).
That’s all for now. We’ll try to keep up with this stuff for you. Our time machine is standing by.
You can buy the Jessica Pare version of the song on vinyl at the “Mad Men” site.
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