British singer Louise Cordet got a U.K. Top Twenty hit in 1962 as a teenager with her first single, "I'm Just a Baby," but never made the hit parade again despite issuing a couple dozen tracks between 1962 and 1964. This exemplary compilation has all of them, including her six singles, a 1963 British EP, a couple songs from the 1963 Just for Fun soundtrack, and nine tracks (all but one sung in French) released only in France. Cordet had a mild voice that might have been more suited to straight adult pop than the pop/rock she usually recorded, and was more a late relic of the U.K. teen idol pre-Beatles pop years than she was a part of the British Invasion. Combined with the ordinary and innocuous material she was given to sing, that makes this something for British rock/early-'60s girl singer completists, as well annotated and illustrated as it is. There are some tracks of note, if more for their origins than Cordet's interpretations, particularly "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," which she released (and which was a flop) in early 1964 shortly before Gerry & the Pacemakers issued their famous international hit version. Her cover of "From Me to You" from a May 1963 French EP is one of the earliest and most obscure covers of a song by the Beatles (with whom she toured that year), and like some of her other recordings, had a faint Twist rock/"y‚-y‚" sound. She also made an unlikely venture into Cajun-flavored pop/rock on the 1963 single "Around and Around," and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying"'s flip, "Loving Baby" (written by producer and ex-Shadows drummer Tony Meehan), has some eerie tones a little reminiscent of Joe Meek's work. She was ill-equipped for harder stuff, however, and the sloppy arrangement of Mary Wells' "Two Lovers" on her final single misses some chords key to the classic original. ~ Richie Unterberger
Professional Reviews
Record Collector (magazine) (p.89) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[W]ith covers of Dionne Warwick's 'Don't Make Me Over' and Mary Well's 'Two Lovers' proving quite attractive alongside her French-language recordings."
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