The Dirteez.........Cramps a la Francaise !

The Dirteez were, still are ? the nearest thing that France got to having their own version of The Cramps. Formed around Clint Lha Zar and Wild Cat Lou (I'm guessing that's not her real name) in Paris around the mid 80's.

  The Dirteez circa '88-89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They started off well with a great single released in 1988 called UFO with Mad Boys on the flipside (Krezimikroid was the label, probably self produced), this was followed up with a second 7" on French label 'Go Get Organised'  Gypsy Rose Lee/The Beast inside. A lovely little ditty about a stripper ! There's a bit of confusion around this as I think the single wasn't officially released and possibly came out as a promo for their debut album (Anyone know for sure, feel free to let me know) as I found my copy in the ridiculously expensive Parisian record shop 'Monster Melodies' .

1st 7". L-R  Red River Fred (Bass), Wild Cat Lou (Guitar), Clint (Vocals) and Sly Fire (Drums).

Their first album (in my opinion, their best) 'The Wild Side of Love came out in 1990 on G.G.O. and it was very soon after the release of the album, that things started going wrong for them. The label went bust and this resulted in very poor distribution of the LP and with no label behind them the promotion disappeared too. It was around this time 1991-2ish that the original line up split with both Fred and Sly the drummer leaving the group. Clint and WC Lou (faux pas for a name if there ever was one !) left Paris around this time ending up in Marseilles where they currently reside.

http://dirteez.free.fr/     Website, all in French incidently.

The Dirteez first album: The Wild Side of Love

After they quit Paris, there were no releases until 2000, a gap of  8-9 years although they appear to have made up for lost time by releasing 4 more albums and 3 (?) singles, the last album coming out in 2006 and their 1st album getting a digital re-release only last year (2013).....hunt it down, it's well worth it.

They're still keeping the flame burning and play where and when they can.....

 

A+ les gars.