FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions

Home

Français

How can I listen to the Calamités ?
A. - The easiest way is to purchase their compilation CD C'est complet, which includes all their songs ever recorded. It can be bought on line, i.a. at Last Call Records, Amazon.fr, Amazon.com, CDnow, FNAC.com, NRGmusic or alapage.com.
One may find second hand copies of their original vinyl-only records, especially their single Vélomoteur . You can also buy their first records at New Rose in France or the US release of their LP from Posh Boy.

Two tracks, "Toutes les nuits" and "Malhabile", can be downloaded as mp3 at punkmodpop.free.fr.

I can't listen to the sound samples!
A. - You must get an audio/video software for QuickTime (or .mov) documents. You can download the free version of QuickTime Player at Apple / Quicktime website.
If your browser supports a QuickTime plug-in, the sound sample should appear and play on a new page. Otherwise you should be able to download the sound sample and then play it with your audio/video player.

Why don't we see the Calamités on TV any more ? nor on radio, by the way...
A. - You're wrong: in 2001 they appeared on French TF1 in the show Toutes les chansons ont une histoire. And the TV documentary series Babylone Yé Yé, after having been shown on Canal + in 1999 and 2000, was broadcasted on Canal Jimmy, RTBF, TV5 and Paris Première (Odile and Isabelle are interviewed in part 1 of the series only).

And Vélomoteur is part of the regular play list of Bide-et-Musique, the web-radio you can even watch without listening. (Don't forget to vote for Vélomoteur to make this song played more often on that radio.)

In which way were Les Calamités an exceptional band?
According to Enzo, who happened to meet them at the time of their rock career : "What seems important to me, is that Les Calamités proved there was a way to be an excellent rock group and to be NORMAL. That's not a way to put the blame on the others, but it was utterly refreshing, in that world of overdeveloped egoes, to see girls completely at ease with themselves. It was striking at that time, it is even more striking looking back at it."

What's the difference between Les Calamités and The Calamities?
A. - Les Calamités was the name of the group everywhere, except in the US where their distributor rename both the group and the album as The Calamities. They are thus known as The Calamities in America but should not be mixed up with another group called The Calamities , even less with the German girl band Calamities.

What ranking did Vélomoteur reach in the charts?
R. - According to the month-by-month consolidated charts by Daniel Sueur (in his book Hit parades 1950-1998, Paris, 1999, Alternatives et Parallèles publishers), Vélomoteur appeared in the French top 30 during three months: ranked 18 in March 1988, 13 in April and 20 in May.

Was it because their song Vélomoteur was about a moped that Les Calamités were said to play garage rock?
A. - No. Definitely not.

E-mail your question