Histoire De Coeur – Lost French Synth-Pop 7’ers & Euro-Bombs (1980-89) is the unwieldy title of a new compilation that came out in July. It’s an LP with 12 tracks of hard-to-find synth singles, available from London label CTR. You might remember this label from their 2012 called Fame or ‘Jon Savage’s Secret History of Post-Punk’, which was reissued in 2021.
As with the Mexican Tecno Pop compilation, many of the tracks haven’t been licensed for streaming, which means there is no digital version of this release. You can get a t-shirt though, with the logo of 40° à l’ombre. This was a French tv show from the 80s and apparently several artist included in this collection performed on the show.
The opening track by Corinne Tell and also the title-track came out in 1987 and you can listen to it below. But one of the ones not available digitally is this beautiful French take on italo from Fanny Forest – also from 1987.
”Amour combat” by Tangui is perhaps one of the most well-known tracks on the comp. Released in 1987, even has a video and is quite hard to find. All in all this is a brilliant compilation that might introduce you to some overlooked gems. I immediately got a copy of ”Electric Eyes” by Géraldine Danon, another one that you can’t hear on the bandcamp page. Danon (pictured at the top) released several singles in the 80s but soon became more famous as an actor.
