Esclave d'Armande

Keeping up that eighties-vibe, and steering a bit away from the fragile filles, thanks to Pierre Peppermoon. He send me L'Esclave Endormi by French 80s heroine Armande Altai. She looks like a drag queen, but there's no doubt she's a real woman if you hear her, erm, operatic voice (more evidence: she did the Vagina Monologues). Nowadays, she's the voice-coach for contestants in Star Academy (French Idols, so to speak) and a bit of a gay-icon. In the seventies, the Syrian born Altain acted on stage and in movies, in the eighties she made the seminal Nocturne Flamboyant album, produced by Martin Hannett (of Joy Division-fame) and musicians from bands like Magazine and Visage play on it. The dramatic, epic and gripping L'Esclave Endormi is on that album from 1983. A few years later, Amsterdam's Hubert Baars, aka the androgynus Richenel covered the song for a Belgian record label. It was picked up by 4AD, owner Ivo Watts himself even remixed the song. After that, Richenel crossed over the popworld, scored a few hits (in English), and then faded away. Still, his version of The Sleeping Slave is as impressive as Armande's.

Armande Altai - L'Esclave Endormi
Richenel - L'Esclave Endormi