Lil Louis* – French Kiss

French Kiss is basically one of the most influential songs in House Music and the late 80’s. Infamous for its moaning part near the middle of the song. Make sure you don’t play it loud near your parents or they’ll hit you with a chancla (sandal). Jokes aside I actually love French Kiss and Jupiter. Dance your ass off like you don’t care!

I really can't see why this track is so revered, tbh. It's really nothing special, and sex moaning in songs is really cringey as well. I mean, it's not terrible, but it seems to have this air of reverence around it, and I think largely, it's underserved. Wargames on the flipside is also absolute bilge, bordering on unlistenable.

Of all the releases of French Kiss, the reason to pick up the original 12" is because of Jupiter - proper top quality acid house!

It's a sprawling mess trying to accurately list the countless near identical versions of the Diamond Records release. I can add to the fun:

During the mid to late 90's plenty of these freshly circulated; solid black retail standard vinyl & squeaky clean labels. You could grab one in Tower, or HMV in the UK. The earlier copies with translucent qualities are definitely scarcer, & definitely the originals, distributed under Chicago's Gerkhin distribution. These records were mostly stamped with the Gherkin logo, & possessed a raw 'indie' quality of labels & vinyl, plus they sound completely different. Imagine a good Larry Sherman pressing, if there was such a thing, i.e slight background noise but beautiful loud clean analog sonics (& without the issues that blighted Sherman's 'DIY' pressings) & that's how they sound; engineered for club play.

On this release page, that is what you should be seeing. However, Discogs policy on listings states that this quality of translucent vinyl when held to the light is subjective and not enough to warrant a unique release. The labels & etchings or at least one, should show a difference.

The later reissues are a little less exciting in terms of mastering, & a sh*t load are completely unofficial. There was a separate release page for the translucent brown (or green, personally never seen) vinyl which has just been merged into this main release due to having visually nothing to suggest it is a separate release. At a glance maybe, but they feel & sound quite different. The white label Diamond copies that preceded all releases were translucent also, & us Chicago / Gherkin heads know it. So this release page will have many variants for sale under the same listing. If your a collector looking for a true original, hopefully this might be helpful.

The Discogs community agree to disagree on the translucent copies warranting a separate pressing page. If you decide to create one, it will be merged into this one unfortunately. BUT - keep this info in mind and alive!

Ask the seller to confirm if your looking specifically for the earliest press, which will appear translucent under bright light.

Is there any version of this tune without the moaning?
cheers

Word of advice...don't play this loud in your bedroom your Parents might think you having a sly w**k you have been warned!!

TBH I think it's all really about Jupiter. What an acid stomper that tune is. It's like the Clink Street/RiP version of French Kiss. Raw and relentless.

French Kiss might have originally came out on Westbrook Records. Sherman Burks wanted to sign it, but Bam Bam decided to turn it down. The UK release might have been released by City Beat. City Beat's then Club Promotions Manager, Nick Halkes, had agreed to license it for £2,000 but a week later the price had been upped to £25,000. City Beat couldn't afford this, so FFRR stepped in and licensed it.

If there was one record which defined an era, I would have to say "French Kiss" is that record. It's now 20 years old and yet it is one of those tracks that always sounds like running into an old friend that you have not seen in a while. True, I can still laugh about the uptight club owner who fired me on the spot in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, when I let the part with the moaning come in,
and I never even gave it much thought. That is until about seven months later when I am in some muddy field in England with 17,000 people getting the full effect. Driving back from Boston to New York one Saturday night in early 2009, I must have been trying to find a proper tune on FM radio for about two hours and suddenly on 107.5 wbls, I lock into "French Kiss" and remember what the New York skyline looked like when we were blasting that track through an Alpine 6 Cube radio. 20 years never looked or sounded so good.

I have also just realized after 15 years since I bought this 12" it's pressed on green vinyl.....hold it up to the light...Jupiter is awesome 303...shame about the apparent Armando rip off though.