I am a Calamity

Chapter 1: I Am A Calamity

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Back in the early 80's in the French city of Beaune, three teenage girls were looking for a way to fight off boredom.
"What about having our own rock band?" one of them said.
"Wow! Great!" the others said.
"Well, think about your education first" their parents said.

That's how young Caroline Augier, Isabelle Petit and Odile Repolt made the most of their leisure time to learn playing the guitar, as well as to look for sound equipment and for opportunities to sing rock'n'roll, either imported or their own.
Odile playing the guitar They chose the stage name "Les Calamités" (meaning "The Calamities"), and gradually became Saturday-night regulars in their region. Not surprisingly, they happened to meet a band from the neigbouring town of Dijon, called The Snipers and whom they were to remain very close to.
In 1983 both bands recorded on the same Snapshot compilation LP, Les Calamités with a title declaring "I am a Calamity" and a chorus that went:

Je suis une calamité (I am a calamity)
Un baton de dynamite allumé (A stick of dynamite alight)
Amis un peu de délicatesse (Take it easy friends)
Ou alors en quatrième vitesse (Or as quick as a flash)
Vous n'aurez plus comme seul devoir (Your only remaining duty will be)
Que d'égoutter comme une passoire (To drip like a colander).

They sure still had a long way to go to the Hall of Fame, but their fate was in the hands of Rock'n'Roll fairies and their career, soon in Marcelle's.

Left to right : Caroline, Odile and Isabelle