Today is flea market day! The alarm clock rang at 6 AM, and here you are, eyes barely open, headlamp on, and battery-powered portable record player in hand, searching for a bargain: a near-mint Black Sabbath for €1 (sold by the owner's daughter who went to get a coffee), a bin of Gainsbourg for a handful of peanuts, or some random Blue Note (since they're all worth a fortune) lost among the pan flute records. Suddenly, your gaze is drawn to the illustration of a children's record. The trap has just closed, the quest can begin.
Tom Thumb
This record is a tale from the Petit Poucet collection, the children's label of the record company Musidisc, very active in the 60s. This record is, for example, Cinderella, reference PP59: colors, lines, title, everything is fascinatingly perfect. On the back, we see that the collection includes at least 12 titles (25 in total, in fact), but as long as we haven't come across the second one, we can still get out of it. But then, a few stands later, boom: The Three Musketeers! Same line, same colorist talent, same artisanal calligraphy work. Wait a second: the first one is signed, the second one too... good heavens, of course!
Denise Chabot
And yes, that's how we discovered Denise Chabot, an essential illustrator in the 60s/70s vinyl record industry. Because in addition to the Petit Poucet collection in 33 and 45 RPM, her work can be found on children's compilations, film scores, 25cm classical records, historical records... She even had a less successful period with cover records of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles or (again) nursery rhymes with a coarser line. But it's always a pleasure to stumble upon one of her creations, and to ask with a detached air to the seller, surprised by our choice: how much is this vinyl record?
