Paris (AFP)

They had met 40 years ago. Fred Chichin is no longer there but the air always takes care of electricity when their repertoire sounds. Demonstration this weekend with Catherine Ringer who sings Rita Mitsouko at the Philharmonie de Paris.

The definitive name of the group does not appear until 1981, but the two stars combined their tracks on stage and outside two years before. The sudden disappearance of Fred Chichin at the end of November 2007 puts an end to the most creative duo of French rock.

"I do not feel that anyone occupies the place they occupied," observes rock-critic Michka Assayas, interviewed by AFP. "They have always had a place apart, they have never been part of a current, have never been worn by a fashion, they came from elsewhere."

This pair had "a link with the artistic avant-garde, surrealism, dada", adds the author of a dictionary of reference rock. "It was seen in their first clips, in their way of dancing, it was almost like seeing Jean-Christophe Averty, they were clearing a territory that the general public did not know".

The aesthetics of their videos mark the spirits, with the costumes of Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler for "Marcia Baila" and the leg Jean-Baptiste Mondino for "C'est comme ça".

The signature of the Rita is also this "squeaky" side, like "The little train" that "talks about the concentration camps on a childish melody," says Michka Assayas.

- "An insane singer" -

"Some songs are a bit mysterious text (...) I liked it, it was not so obvious, that the gay and flowery side could hide something atrocious or painful," says Catherine Ringer in a video on the site of the Philharmonie. It was part of my writing (...) in my lyrics, there are many facets ".

Assayas remembers his first contact with their music, when "young critic at Rock & Folk, in the 45 rpm section" he received "Do not forget the nite".

"I found that very well, what I was capturing was that there was a link with T.Rex, they had the same producer, Tony Visconti, who was also that of Bowie and Sparks" . With these, the Rita sang "Singing in the shower".

Assayas finds them a "modern, urban side", and "unlike the stars at the time, Telephone then Aubert for example, there was this more international side, that they did naturally, like a fish in the water".

Catherine Ringer, in the eyes of the current columnist of France Inter, is "a demented singer, the greatest rock singer in the broadest sense in the world". Saturday and Sunday, she sings the Rita at the Philharmonie. The party begins this Friday, the day of the release of the anthology Rita Mitsouko (remastered albums in CD or vinyl), with a party that brings together the "Amitsouko", or formations chosen by Catherine Ringer as Fat White Family, Midnight ( where we find the children Ringer-Chichin), Lulu Van Trapp or Roberto Basarte.

© 2019 AFP