Where do I begin?

We bade a sad adieu to another of the all-time great composers this week - M Francis Lai, the man who composed hits for (among many others) Edith Piaf, Engelbert Humperdinck, Perry Como, Petula Clark, Yves Montand, Johnny Hallyday, Françoise Hardy, Charles Aznavour and Nana Mouskouri; wrote scores for blockbuster moves and also for soft porn (notably Emmanuelle); and worked with an esoteric mix of the great and the good, including Roger Vadim, Elton John, Michael Winner, Bryan Forbes, Peter Hall and Alan Delon.

And here, for your delectation, is a soupçon of his prodigious output...

Mireille Mathieu - Un homme et une femme

Yves Montand - La Bicyclette

Carly Simon - Hard To Be Tender

Zizi Jeanmaire - Je me champs élyse

Shirley Bassey - (Where Do I Begin?) Love Story

RIP Francis Albert Lai (26th April 1932 - 7th November 2018)

"And you keep it just for fun, for a laugh, ha ha ha"

If anyone cared enough to try and unravel the lyrics of Peter Sarstedt's haunting classic Where Do You Go To My Lovely? .... they might hit upon a reference to "Zizi Jeanmaire":

You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair

Who? I hear you ask.

Well, now, for your delectation - here is the lady herself. Good job she's not allergic to feathers!

Zizi Jeanmaire - Mon Truc en Plumes

Zizi Jeanmaire on Wikipedia