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Early in my career, I had the chance to spend most of a year in
Europe. Most of that time was spent in London, which wasn't exactly a
hardship. The rest was in Brussels, a rather more challenging
location for one so unworldly and linguistically challenged. But I
made the best of the situation. And without meaning to, and in full
recognition of its political incorrectness in our current political
climate, I developed a fondness for various aspects of both French and
Dutch culture. Including French music1; the language, the
accent and the stylings combine into something wonderfully seductive,
even when you have no idea what they're singing about. Or perhaps
especially then.
Listen to a little of Françoise Hardy and see if you don't
agree. Before long you'll be moving on to the hard stuff:
Piaf.
- What I remember of Dutch pop isn't worth mention.
Seems to me the Dutch stations played mostly other countries'
music anyway. Especially ABBA; lots of ABBA.
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