Among the less-explored avenues down which the top British pop stars of the 1960s were expected to wander involved foreign-language interpretations of their English-language hits. From Marianne Faithfull to Cliff Richard, an ability to at least sound like you were conversant in German, Spanish,... [+] Expand

Among the less-explored avenues down which the top British pop stars of the 1960s were expected to wander involved foreign-language interpretations of their English-language hits. From Marianne Faithfull to Cliff Richard, an ability to at least sound like you were conversant in German, Spanish, French, and Italian was de rigueur, with even the Beatles and David Bowie grabbing the foreign phrase book at least once in their careers. Sandie Shaw was among the giants in this arena, recording sufficient foreign-language versions that you could stuff a box set with the things. As it happens, fans must currently console themselves with single discs devoted to her Spanish, Italian, and German recordings respectively -- although, to borrow the title of an earlier (English-language) hits collection, all three are "nothing less than brilliant." The Spanish set features 25 tracks, including many of her biggest hits (the album itself is titled for "Puppet on a String"), together with a wealth of album and EP sides that may not immediately leap out at the browser, but which repay investigation regardless. Versions of "Tonight in Tokyo," "Ask Why," and "Gypsy Eyes" are at least the equals of their familiar counterparts, while songs that labored beneath trite (or worse) original lyrics are vastly improved if you can't understand what she's on about -- "Monsieur Dupont" comes to mind, but so does "Puppet on a String." Of the major hits, "Girl Don't Come," "Message Understood," and "Long Live Love" all take on a new bounce and vigor, and while few Anglo-American fans could ever claim to prefer these versions to the familiar oldies, a change is as good as a rest. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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