Listen to “The French Connection” July 20 show

By Michael Stevenson

Show #3 July 20, 2025

Tonight’s abbreviated show is only one hour, désolé pour ça. Even so, we’ll hear a classic Tin Pan Alley song performed by the legendary Maurice Chevalier; a set of music from Oscar-winning singer/composer Camille Dalmais; the sublime harmonica of Toots Thielemans, and in the middle show, the first “Rock ‘n Roll” song recorded in France.
D’accord!

WRIU FM Sundays 7 pm

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

The French Connection, hosted by Mike Stevenson, is broadcast Sundays at 7 pm from WRIU, Kingston, 90.3 FM,

Mike Stevenson

Each week on The French Connection, we will explore the wonderful varieties of French music, from the early 1920s to present day: Chanson, Jazz, Folk, Jazz Manouche and Rock n Roll.

Our show is intended for not only the Francophile, but also the music lover thus far unaware of the long and rich history of French chanson. The French Connection welcomes your comments and song suggestions for future shows.


Show #3 JULY 20, 2025 Playlist :

  1. Boris Vian “J’Suis Snob” ( 1955)
  2. Camille “Mon Petit Veux” (2002)
  3. Zaz “La Vie en Rose” (Piaf) 2013
  4. Moriarty “Isabella” (2010)
  5. Toots Thielemans “The Blacksmith Blues” (1961)
  6. Maurice Chevalier “You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me” (Fain/Kahal) 1930
  7. Noel Harrison “The Windmills of Your Mind” (Legrand/Bergman) 1968
  8. Henry Cording and his Original Rock and Roll Boys“Rock n Roll Mops”  (1956)
    Henri Cording (aka Henri Salvador ), Vernon Sinclair (aka Boris Vian ) and Mig Bike (aka Michel Legrand )
  9. Camille “Guns of Brixton” (Simonon) 2004
  10. Camille “Le Festin” (Michael Giacchino) 2007
  11. Camille “Mi Camino” (2025)
  12. Les Baxter “The Poor People of Paris” (Monnot/Roussard) 1956

Listen to The French Connection’s Bastille Day Celebration Speciale

By Michael Stevenson


THE FRENCH CONNECTION

From WRIU, Kingston, 90.3 FM, welcome to our show, The French ConnectionI am your host, Mike Stevenson.

We broadcast from the University of Rhode Island’s Memorial Union every Sunday at 7 pm EST, following Wayne Cresser’s Picture This – Film Music on the Radio.

Mike Stevenson

Each week on The French Connection, we will explore the wonderful varieties of French music, from the early 1920s to present day: Chanson, Jazz, Folk, Jazz Manouche and Rock n Roll.


JULY 13 SHOW

Our Bastille Day Celebration show included sets of music by two legends of chanson, Charles Trenet and Serge Gainsbourg. We also played three renditions of La Marseillaise, and closed with a set of anti-war songs.
A complete list of music played on the show is below.

The FRENCH CONNECTION PLAYLIST JULY 13, 2025

My New Radio Show: “The French Connection”

By Michael Stevenson


Mike Stevenson, host

You’re listening to WRIU, Kingston, 90.3 FM. It’s 7 o’clock and our show is called The French ConnectionI am your host, Mike Stevenson.

We broadcast from the University of Rhode Island’s Memorial Union every Sunday at 7 pm EST, following Wayne Cresser’s Picture This – Film Music on the Radio.

Each week on The French Connection, we will explore the wonderful varieties of French music, from the early 1920s to present day: Chanson, Jazz, Folk, Jazz Manouche and Rock n Roll.

Play List :: THE FRENCH CONNECTION :: July 6, 2025

  • BORIS VIAN “J’suis Snob”
  • PATACHOU “Mon Homme”
  • FRANCIS CABREL “Simple Twist of Fate”
  • MADELEINE PEYROUX “J’ai Deux Amours.”
  • JACQUES BREL “Qu’avons-nous fait, bonnes Gens”
  • ZAZ “Le Long de la Route”
  • from “CHOCOLAT” Movie Soundrack “Minor Swing”
  • KEREN ANN ”Jardin d’hiver”
  • GILBERT BECAUD “Plain Soleil”
  • HENRI SALVADOR “Dans mon Ile”
  • PAULINE CROZE “Samba Saravah”
  • ETIENNE DAHO & SWINGLE SINGERS “Timide Intimide”
  • TOOTS THIELSMAN “The Mountain Whistler”
  • FRANCOISE HARDY “Pas Gentile”

Paris Can Wait, Macron’s Slackers, Office Space

By Michael Stevenson

PARIS CAN WAIT
Bonjour my friends!
Last night I watched the movie Paris Can Wait as a mindless diversion from Rachel Maddow’s frustratingly futile plans for a Trump impeachment and the continuous Harvey-Irma hurricane disaster reports. This cable news diversion was a bit more mindless than I could tolerate, however. Although I loved the many French restaurant dining scenes (particularly the Châteauneuf-du-Pape pouring into oversized wine glasses) and the footage of a curiously unoccupied Pont du Gard, I’ve seen better stories on The Hallmark Channel, watching with my 87 year old mother, while both of us drown-out the romcom dialogue with talk about our Red Sox. Mom loves Mookie.
This is the first feature film from Eleanor Coppola (the wife of Francis Ford Coppola) and the story is somewhat autobiographical, with lovely Diane Lane playing a recently empty-nested “Anne” (Coppola) who undertakes a surprise road trip from Cannes to Paris, alongside the flirtatious Frenchman Jacques (Arnaud Viard), who is a business associate of her husband (Alec Baldwin as the Francis Ford You-Know-Who character).
Will Jacques be nimble and quick enough to grab some nookie with Anne? After about 30 minutes you’ll stop caring about either of these graying cuties, and your only concern will be if the local wine shop is still open.

MACRON, LUMBERGH AND THE SLACKERS
Reuters News reports President Emmanuel Macron faces the first challenge on the streets to his business-friendly reform agenda today, when workers from the hard-left CGT union will march through French cities to protest against a loosening of labor regulations.  Macron told French business leaders: “I am fully determined and I won’t cede any ground, not to slackers, nor cynics, nor hardliners.”

Slackers? Mon Dieu!

My French friends – don’t fall for this shit! Ask any American worker if they would prefer your 35 hour work week and many holidays  to our 24/7/365 days-a-year model. Only the most jealous and/or deluded will claim ours is superior to yours in terms of overall health and happiness. Don’t allow Macron to become President Bill Lumbergh. You’ll be working Saturdays, mes amis.

BILL LUMBERGH, OFFICE SPACE
Speaking of Office Space, here’s some great clips from YouTube.