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Like many disco groups of the 70s, Saint Tropez was a producers' brainchild, in this case of American producers Laurin Rinder & W. Michael Lewis who had already been successful with disco groups El Coco and Le Pamplemousse.
Saint Tropez was a female ménage-à-trois, three good-looking women, striking in lesbian poses on the covers of the first two albums Je T'aime (1977) and Belle de Jour (1978), both hugely successfull disco albums with big symphonic orchestrations and a tight disco backing, all the instruments played solely by the two producers.
Je T'aime offered Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin's well-known classic in an equally sensual disco symphony. They also covered material by Van McCoy and Gregg Diamond's "Heart To Heart" (sung in French as "Coeur à coeur"), originally written for The Andrea True Connection.
Belle de Jour followed the same formula, yielding two successful 12"s "One More Minute" and "Fill My Life With Love", and also covering Gloria Gaynor's "Most Of All". Typical for this kind of studio projects, lots of different singers were involved in the project.
After a four year hiatus, Rinder & Lewis revived Saint Tropez in 1982 for a third album, Hot and Nasty, which leaned more towards R&B but still kept the lush orchestration of the first two albums. It yielded the single "The Love Stealers", a cover of Peaches & Herb's disco hit.
A curiosity for all three Saint Tropez albums was a continued story, an audio film noir in French, telling the story of Nicole who's fallen in love with a woman assailant whom the Paris Police, as well as Interpol, are looking for. It started as "Violation" on Je T'aime, on Belle de Jour it was the title track and "When You Are Gone", and on Hot and Nasty, it was "Femmes Fatales".
The third LP cover read an editor's note: "With respect to Femmes Fatales, the fundamental question before us is what will happen to Noicole's lover [...] Perhaps in St. Tropez IV we will learn the answer to this." But there never was a fourth Saint Tropez album. Only a final 12" single "Morning Music" saw the story continue on the B-side "The Chase" which closed the book on Saint Tropez. The group's three albums were all released on CD in 1994, and several Greatest Hits compilations followed.
One of the most intriguing singles of 1982 was Saint Tropez's "Femmes Fatales," which became an R&B/disco hit in the U.S. despite the fact that it was performed entirely in French. "Femmes Fatales" doesn't contain any actual singing-rather, this piece of musical film noir (which involves sex and a murder) combines French dialogue with a lush Euro-disco track. Even if you don't speak a word of French, the song “sounds” interesting.
Although "Femmes Fatales" is the best known item on Saint Tropez's third album, Hot and Nasty, the rest of the LP is also worth hearing. Chic is a major influence on this album; from "Save This Night for Love" to "Midnight Fantasy," Hot and Nasty is full of Chic-minded grooves that are pleasing even though they aren't as unusual as "Femmes Fatales."
Also enjoyable are "I Let Love Slip Right Through My Hands" (which Gloria Gaynor recorded in 1980) and a steamy cover of Leon Haywood's "I Want to Do Something Freaky to You" (the melody that Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg used on their 1993 hit "Nuthin' But A G Thang"). Except for "Femmes Fatales," Hot and Nasty is a solid LP that both disco and R&B fans can appreciate.
Monalisa was a member of “Saint Tropez” with hit song hit song “Femme Fatal” from the hit album, “Hot and Nasty” which peaked at #51 on the Billboard R&B Albums Chart in 1982.
Members
(1977) Suzanne Mireille, Ida Boros, Louis Aldebert, Monique D'Ozo
(1978) Pam Feener, Venetta Cloud, Marilyn Jackson, Myrna Matthews,
Lisa Roberts, Jean-Paul Vignon, Carmen Twillie
(1982) Phyllis Rhodes, Lyndie White, Mona Young
Hot and Nasty Tracklist
1. Love Stealers
2. Midnight Fantasy
3. I've Been Watching You
4. Save This Night for Love
5. Femmes Fatales
6. Say the Word
7. I Want to Do Something Freaky with You
8. Bein' with You
9. I Let Love Slip Right Through My Hands
10. The Love Stealers [Remix]
11. Morning Music
12. The Chase
Albums
1977 Ja T'aime
1978 Belle de Jour
1982 Hot and Nasty
1994 Icarus
Singles
1982 Bein' with You
1982 The Love Stealers
1994 Ja T'aime [Single]
1998 You're My Heart, You're My Soul
Billboard Chart Positions
1977 Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus Dance Music/Club Play Singles #5
1979 One More Minute Dance Music/Club Play Singles #8
1979 One More Minute The Billboard Hot 100 #49
1979 One More Minute R&B Singles #90
1982 Femmes Fatales R&B Singles #43
1982 I Want to Do Something Freaky with You R&B Singles #71
1982 The Love Stealers Dance Music/Club Play Singles #47
1983 Morning Music Dance Music/Club Play Singles #61
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