by Greg Adams
Claudine Longet's gold-selling debut tenders light, airy French pop like Jane Birkin without her eroticism or Serge Gainsbourg's kitsch. &A Man and a Woman (Un Homme et une Femme),& with its uncredited male vocalist, sounds like a Gainsbourg duet, but elsewhere Longet and her breathy, girlish voice take center stage. Three songs from the album charted, with &Hello, Hello& performing very well in adult contemporary circles. Longet's cover of The Beatles' &Here, There and Everywhere& aroused some interest, but her rendition of Mary Wells' &My Guy& is simply adorable. Sixties French pop of the sort heard on Claudine enjoyed a renaissance in the '90s thanks to bands like Stereolab and Ivy, and the album will please backward-looking explorers inspired by that trend as well as nostalgic easy listeners.