Lio (Belgian pop) Premier Album LP 1980 Canadian press NEAR MINT VINYL

$

38

Lio

Premier Album

Attic Records LATF_5005 LP 12" 33RPM 1980 (Canada)

Lio's first album was in many ways a perfect meeting of the minds, with the still-teenage singer working with members of fellow Belgian act Telex, among others, to create what was then a perfectly state-of-the-art album that still holds up remarkably well. If the following Suite Sixtine was even more of a new wave classic thanks to the participation of Sparks and their attendant revamp of many of the songs here, Premier Album is hardly a wash, with Lio's later interest in any number of pop styles foreshadowed throughout. The opening "Amicalement Votre" ranks up with Blondie's girl group/'60s reinterpretations -- and clearly the New York group was a strong source of inspiration throughout -- while "Le Banana Split" rides that feeling even more strongly, resulting in her first European hit. There's slick Europop with disco leanings like "Comix Discomix" as well as slower shades of AOR ballads (sonically at least) like "La Petite Amazone," but the heart of the album is sweetly merry proto-synth pop such as "Amoureux Solitaires" and "Bebe Vampire" that practically fizzes upon listening. There are all sorts of sharp surprises to the arrangements throughout, though -- consider the great string arrangements that swirl through numbers like "J'Obtiens Toujours Ce Que Je Veux," another hint at future paths. And who could knock a salsa-tinged song with the almost Serge Gainsbourg-like title of "Speedy Gonzales"? There are some jarring moments at points -- her delivery on a cover of "You Go to My Head" has an uncomfortably whining edge not apparent in later efforts -- but nothing truly off. The 2006 reissue includes four bonus tracks, notably an early extended version of "Le Banana Split," as well as the shoulda-been-on-the-album genius of "Je Ne Sais Pas Dire Oui" and a Spanish version of an album cut, "Amantes Solitarios."

Tracklist
A1 Amicalement Vôtre 
A2 J'Obtiens Toujours Tout Ce Que Je Veux 
A3 Comix Discomix 
A4 La Panthère Rose 
A5 You Go To My Head 
A6 Amoureux Solitaires 
B1 Si Belle Et Inutile 
B2 Bébé Vampire 
B3 Speedy Gonzales 
B4 La Petite Amazone 
B5 Le Banana Split 
B6 Oz 

Phonographic Copyright (p) – Ariola Benelux B.V.
Copyright (c) – Ariola Benelux B.V.
Manufactured For – Attic Records Limited
Distributed By – Attic Records Limited

Concept By – Marc Borgers
Lyrics By – Elli Medeiros (tracks: A6), Hagen Dierks (tracks: A1 to A4, B1 to B6)
Music By – Jacno (tracks: A6), Jay Alanski (tracks: A1 to A4, B1 to B6)
Photography By – J.-P. Maurin, Jeep Novak
Producer – Dan Lacksman (tracks: A1 to A5, B1 to B6), Marc Moulin (tracks: A1 to A5, B1 to B6)
Producer, Arranged By – Jacno (tracks: A6)
Recorded By – Alan Ward
Written-By – Gillespie (tracks: A5)

Came with lyrics inner sleeve
Comes with different "dresses" for Lio on the rear cover

Vinyl is NEAR MINT in a printed paper inner sleeve in a picture sleeve in GOOD condition (edge wear, ring wear)

Note About Shipping To The U.S.
We are located in Canada, but have registered ourselves on eBay.com instead of eBay.ca because it gives us significantly better global exposure.  The problem with this is that eBay wants us to charge shipping appropriate to US, where media mail and other options make for fairly reasonable delivery costs. We tried it for a while but ended up losing money on shipping or having to cancel the orders because we couldn't afford to ship for those rates. To manage this we have set the US shipping to run a calculator based on an American location (we chose Plattsburgh as fairly close) and charging according to UPS pricing.  This avoids the cancellation issue, but appears to the buyer to be a prohibitive shipping cost and misrepresents the shipping as being only expedited. If you give us your postal code we will see if we can offer a more reasonable option, but generally we can get a single LP by air to most places in the continental US for $11, a few bucks less for ground.
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