Claude François twists, in Arabic

In 1962, French pop star Claude François released the single "Le Nabout Twist," in Arabic and in French, under the pseudonym Kôkô. Here's the Arabic version (well, it's not all in Arabic, but a mix of Arabic and French).

Why did this big French star release a song in Arabic? As I have blogged about previously, he was born in Ismailiyya, Egypt, in 1939. His father worked as a shipping controller in the Suez Canal. The family was forced to leave for France in 1956, in the wake of the Tripartite Aggression. Apparently, his departure from Egypt was something he always regretted.

I don't have time to try to translate the Arabic, and am not sure I understand it all in any case. His pronunciation certainly is not perfect, but the sentiment, the gesture, of recording in Arabic, is certainly admirable. Apparently the song didn't do well in France but was well received in "Africa" (at least so say the notes on the youtube vid.) 

You can learn more about Claude from this review of a 2012 French biopic about the star, courtesy Arun Kapil.

I don't know what Le Nabout is. For some reason I think it's the name of a traditional Egyptian dance, but I'm not sure.

Appearing on the same EP was "Ali Baba Twist," a cover of an original by Bob Azzam. I actually prefer this "twist" to "Le Nabout." Check it out. 

And here's Bob Azzam's version: 

Here is a link to the French version "Le Nabout Twist"

Ecoute-moi mon petit chéri
Si tu veux maigrir il faut danser
Le Nabout... Twist

{Refrain:}
Le Nabout, le Nabout, c'est la danse que vous appelez le twist
Le Nabout, le Nabout, il y a bien longtemps que cela existe
Le Nabout, le Nabout, c'est une question de force abdominale
Le Nabout, le Nabout pour garder la ligne c'est radical

Je ne peux pas dire quand j'ai posé la question
Il n'y a rien de mieux pour la digestion
Après le repas c'est une occasion
De perdre son ventre et pas la télévision

{au Refrain}

Vous allez me dire "c'est américain"
Ne croyez pas ça car il n'en n'est rien
Et vous nous voyez là tout excités
On n'a pas attendu Elvis Presley

Allez allez
Allez allez
Y a pas mieux
Allez allez
Allez allez
Tu viendras mon amie
Allez allez
Allez allez
Et tous deux la nuit
Allez allez
Allez allez
On fera tous les deux twist twist twist
Twist twist twist
Le Nabout
Twistez le Nabout
Le Nabout
Allez twistez tous le Nabout
Le Nabout
Allez on va twister comme des fous
Le Nabout, le Nabout
Le Nabout, le Nabout
Le Nabout, le Nabout

(plus some mention of hashish)

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Dalida shares her Arab culture with Enrico Macias and Claude François

Dalida, born in Shobra, Cairo, to Italian parents. Enrico Macias, an Algerian Jew, born Gaston Ghenassia, in Constantine, Algeria. Both huge stars in France. Part of the secret of their successes was that their music sounded a bit exotic, but for them to have used their background in the Arab world as more than frills would have been met with racist hostility. The Arabness therefore manifests itself in small doses. As in this case, in some sort of variety show, where Enrico greets Dalida in Arabic, with "Ahlan wa sahlan Dalida, salamaat salamaat" (welcome Dalida, greetings, greetings). She responds, "Ahlan wa sahlan ya Enrico, ezzayyak? Kuwayyis, ilhamdou lillah?" (Welcome Enrico, how are you? Well, thank God?"(The clip is not dated, but perhaps it's after Dalida recorded her string of hits in Arabic, starting with "Salma ya Salama," and so now it was somewhat more acceptable for stars like her to refer to their Arab roots -- in her case, cultural roots.)

They proceed to do a duet of Dalida's first hit, from 1956, "Bambino." Watch Dalida do the original here, back in the days when she wore her hair dark.

It's worth recalling that Jean Dujardin does a version of "Bambino," in Arabic, in his hilarious spy spoof, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. You can check that one out here.

Enrico did not record in Arabic (other than some hints or a few words) until 1999, when he released his  terrific Hommage à Cheikh Raymond, his tribute to his teacher and father-in-law, the grand master of malouf, Raymond Leyris.

And then there is this clip, of Dalida with another great French star, Claude François. They open by speaking of the fact that they both were born in Egypt, and that one of Claude François' parents was Italian. They then proceed to sing some duets in Italian.

Claude François (author of "Comme d'habitude," the original of "My Way") was born in Ismailiya, Egypt, in 1939. His father worked as a shipping traffic controller in the Suez Canal. The family left for France in the wake of the Tripartite Aggression (a.k.a. Suez War) of 1956.

Dalida recalled her first meeting with Claude François in 1963, when they became friends, thus: “Nous nous sentions tous les deux déracinés...Ensemble, nous parlions en égyptien” (We both felt uprooted...Together, we used to speak in Egyptian -- i.e., Egyptian Arabic). (Catherine Rihoit, Dalida, 1995, p. 344)