It's the first shopping Saturday of the season and time for another Blagg GOFGOF (Get One Free, Get One Free). This one involves the strange story of Claudine Longet.
Longet, now 82, is a Parisian-born Franco-American singer and actress who appeared in many huge hit U.S. TV shows and films in the 1960s, at her peak starring alongside Peter Sellers in the box-office hit 'The Party'. She was also a very successful recording artist, frequenting the U.S. Billboard chart on many occasions and earning a Gold disc for her 1967 debut album 'Claudine'.
In 1975 however, Longet's career came crashing down when she was arrested for the murder of her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir Sabich.
In her defence at the trial, Longet claimed that the gun accidentally discharged as she was being shown how to use it, but the prosecution claimed that she was nearly 6ft from Sabich at the time and the skier had been bending down.
Procedural mistakes by the defence team barred the trial from hearing some further evidence and Longet was eventually found guilty of negligent homicide and ordered to pay a fine and spend 30 days in jail of her own choosing. She chose to go in at weekends.
Interestingly, the singer was supported throughout by her ex-husband Andy Williams who paid for her defence and even drove her to court every day. Williams famously said of his ex-wife "She's the mother of my children and we never stopped being friends".
Following the criminal trial, the Sabich family sued Longet via a civil case and an undisclosed settlement was made out of court with the added proviso that the singer never discuss the killing or the settlement. Since then Longet has maintained a completely private profile.
'I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You' is a December 1967 release of a song written by Margo Guryan, the writer taking ten years to release her own version. It's since been covered by St. Etienne (1998) and then in 2013 by the Scottish Indie band The Garlands.
I'd intended on just adding Claudine's version for its gorgeous mid-60s pop feel but The Garlands have added an Indie zing to it and I couldn't choose between the two. This could very well have been a three-hander as St Etienne's version is very good too, but I'll let you chase that one down.
I'm not doing all the heavy lifting here.
Claudine Longet:
The Garlands:
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