''Rita Mitsouko'' is the début studio album by the French

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

group Les Rita Mitsouko. It was released in April 1984 and includes the singles "Restez Avec Moi" and " Marcia Baïla". The album was recorded with veteran producer Conny Plank at Conny's Studio,

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and Studio Rita Mitsouko, Paris, with overdubs in Conny's Place. Receiving positive reviews, the album was originally released as an LP, cassette and CD in April 1984. CD editions include five bonus tracks. The artwork was designed by Les Rita Mitsouko and Atiai with photography by Bernard Pichon and Jean-Louis Sautreau. At the time of release the group was simply called Rita Mitsouko. In the interim between the début and 1986's ''

The No Comprendo ''The No Comprendo'' (Long title: ''Les Rita Mitsouko Présentent The No Comprendo'') is the second studio album by French pop rock group Les Rita Mitsouko. It was released in 1986 and includes the singles "Andy", "C'est Comme Ça" and "Les Hist ...

'',

Catherine Ringer Catherine Ringer (, born 18 October 1957 in Suresnes, France) is a French singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, choreographer, actress, and co-founder of the pop rock group Les Rita Mitsouko. She is also the daughter of ...

and

Fred Chichin Frédéric "Fred" Chichin (; 1 May 1954 – 28 November 2007) was a French musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was part of the pop-rock duo Les Rita Mitsouko, along with Catherine Ringer, whom he met in 1979. Prior to his w ...

amended their name, adding 'Les' to 'Rita Mitsouko'. The decision was made to negate the possibility that audiences would identify the name as referring to Catherine Ringer only as opposed to a musical group.www.ritamitsouko.org/TheNoComprendoUK
Catherine and Fred decide to add 'LES' to 'RITA MITSOUKO' at this point to avoid mistakenly identifying the band only as Catherine's.

Singles

"Restez Avec Moi" preceded the release of the album but failed to chart. It was backed with "Dans la Steppe", a song that was later re-recorded by the group and issued with the shortened title "La Steppe" on 1993's ''

Système D ''Système D'' is the fourth studio album by French pop rock group Les Rita Mitsouko. It was released in 1993 and reached number seven on the French Albums Chart. ''Système D'' includes the singles "Y’A D’La Haine", "Les Amants", and "Femme ...

''. " Marcia Baïla" became a surprise hit single in France the spring of 1985. The song had a long chart trajectory, remaining on the Top 50 charts for 29 weeks. It debuted at #33 on April 27, 1985, and climbed regularly until it peaked at #2 for three consecutive weeks. In all, it spent 17 weeks in the Top Ten."Marcia Baïla", French Singles Char
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved November 14, 2008)
The song was Rita Mitsouko's first big hit and propelled them to considerable fame.

Reception

''Rita Mitsouko'' received positive reviews from the majority of critics. The French edition of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine named this album the 20th greatest French rock album (out of 100).Magazine ''Rolling Stone'', n°18 of February 2010,

Track listing

Personnel

; Musicians * Fred Chichin -

Framus Framus is a German string instrument manufacturing company, that existed from 1946 until going bankrupt in 1975. The Framus brand was revived in 1995 as part of Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG, in Markneukirchen, Germany. The company's cus ...

, Telecaster,

Fender Coronado The Fender Coronado is a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, announced in 1965. It is manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The aesthetic design embodied in the Coronado represents a departure from previous F ...

Höfner Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German (originally Austro-Bohemian) manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments, such as violins, violas, cell ...

, Oberheim,

Vcs3 The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS release ...

, emulator, rhythm computer, drums, tambourine, bells * Catherine Ringer - vocals, Elka Rhapsody, organ, piano, Oberheim,

, Arp,

, Spanish guitar, rhythm computer, drums ; Technical and visual * Conny Plank, Rita Mitsouko - producer * Conny Plank, Fred Chichin, Dave Hutchins - recording * Conny Plank, Dave Hutchins - overdubs * Rita Mitsouko, Atiai - cover concept, artwork * Atiai - neon design, back cover coloriseur, front cover, thanks for use of his rhythm computer * Jean-Louis Sautreau - back cover photography * Bernard Pichon - front cover photography * Jade House Ltd., Mankin Industries - management

External links

''Rita Mitsouko'' release history

References

{{Authority control 1984 debut albums Albums produced by Conny Plank Virgin Records albums Les Rita Mitsouko albums