Scopitone was a 1960s era type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of modern music videos. The first Scopitones were made in France. I became aware of these videos through my brother-in-law Carl. He first showed me them last September while we were busily preparing to travel to Lopez Island for Robyn’s wedding. I don’t know if Carl was nervous about traveling there, but I was. We watched his Scopitone music videos, as a sort of pre-game warm-up exercise. He later sent us the DVD. “Pussy Cat A Go Go”, performed by Stacy Adams and the Rockabily Boys, was the first video on the disk. Yes it is plainly misogynistic, but it is also a product of it’s time, plus it’s French. The second video, “What I Say”, by Sylvie Vartan is not sexist, but it is even more French, Est ce Que Tu Le Sais.
You realize all of those dancers are probably in their 70’s
But their lawyers aren’t …
I snuck under the radar with “Pussy A Go Go”, but ran a foul of the copyright lawyers with “What I Say”. I guess that some lawyers must have good taste.