Milva - Moi je n'ai pas peur

Moi Je N'ai Pas Peur

a look at the music of Vangelis Papathanassiou

Introduction
In 1981 Italian singer Milva (short for Maria Ilva Biolcati, born in Goro, Ferrara) decides to record an album based on Vangelis' most known songs until then. Additionally Vangelis composes five more songs to complete the album. As with her second cooperation with Vangelis 'Tra Due Sogni', this album is released in two languages, in French named 'Moi, je n'ai pas peur' and in German named 'Ich hab' keine Angst'. Milva to this day is still a popular singer in Europe, especially in Germany and France.

Tracklist

Both 'Moi, je n'ai pas peur' and 'Ich hab' keine Angst' contain the same songs, only with different titles. The following list shows the differences between the two.

Curiously, the song 'Da oben ist sein Zimmer' (Il s'appelait tendresse) is later re-used on 'Tra Due Sogni' (1986).

Tracklist on 'Moi, je n'ai pas peur'

Song	Moi, je n'ai pas peur	Ich hab' keine Angst
To the unknown man	Moi, je n'ai pas peur	Ich hab' keine Angst
La Petite Fille De La Mer	Pluie sur la mer	Sie sind noch Jung
Athenes ma ville	Gavroche de l'an 2000	Christine
It's Five O'Clock	Le drapeau de l'humanité	Kennst du das auch ?
So Long Ago So Clear	Lui	Er
Ignacio	Pas d'amitié a moitié	Freunde, die keine sind
-	Je suis tres bien toute seul	Ich bin so gern allein
-	Petite femme	Du hast es gut
-	Le matin d'apres	Der Morgen danach
-	Les enfants	Kinder
-	Il s'appelait tendresse	Da oben ist sein Zimmer

Credits
Vangelis is credited for composing and thanked for his 'artistic, musical and friendly collaboration'. Judging from the music on the albums it is not likely that he actually plays on them.

Discography

Moi, je n'ai pas peur

LP
1981 RCA PL 37503

Single
1981 Moi, je n'ai pas peur/Pluie sur la mer RCA PB 8787 France

This album unfortunately was never released on CD.

Ich hab' keine Angst

LP
1981 Metronome 0060.383 West-Germany
1981 Metronome 32571-2 West-Germany (Record Club edition)
1981 Seven Seas K28P 337 Japan
1990 Metronome SEL-RG 2033 South Korea

Single
1981 Ich hab' keine Angst/Christine Metronome 0030.361 West Germany
1981 Du hast es gut/Der Morgen danach Metronome 0030.386 West Germany

CD
Metronome 811631 West Germany
Seven Seas KICP 209 Japan
South Korea Metronome DG0031 / DG8986

Generally speaking "Moi, je n'ai pas peur" is harder to find than "Ich hab' keine Angst".

Recording Studio
The album is recorded in Berlin, Studio III Hansa.

Miscellania

	Milva must have been pretty impressed by Vangelis' music, as she did a number of albums where she covers some more songs. In 1983 she recorded 'Mehr Glueck Als Verstand', a cover of the Jon And Vangelis hit 'I'll find my way home'. The song is released on the album 'Unverkennbar'
	Other songs include 'Dicono di me' and 'Forse Chissa', covers of 'To the unknown man' and again 'I'll find my way home', which can be found on her 1983 Italian released album 'Identikit'.
	Some of the songs on 'Ich hab keine Angst' Milva also performed during her many live performances. A good example is the double LP live album 'Das Konzert', which includes 'Ich hab' keine Angst', 'Kensst du das auch', 'Er', Du hast es gut', and 'Da oben ist sein Zimmer'.

Lyrics

For all the lyrics of 'Moi, je n'ai pas peur', go to: Vangelis and Milva Lyrics: Moi, je n'ai pas peur

For all the lyrics of 'Ich hab' keine Angst', go to : Vangelis and Milva Lyrics: Ich hab' keine Angst

Review

Here Vangelis teams up with fiery red-haired singer Milva (born 1939 in Italy) who has a smoky night-club Marlene Dietrich-type of voice, speaks German, Italian, English and French fluently and works in a variety of styles, which include real-oper (Weill/Brecht), tango and melodic pop music. This album belongs squarely to the latter category and uses six older Vangelis compositions as well as five new ones. The older pieces are mostly well-known favorites – the exception 'Athenes Ma Ville' first appeared on ‘Fais Que Ton Rêve…’ and later on the 1974 Melina Mercouri album ‘Si Melina…’, which is probably where Milva got to know it from.
In all likelihood, Vangelis' input for this album ends with the compositions, because the texts, arrangements, performances and production are all credited to Milva's own team, working in a Berlin studio. This would make sense, as Milva has basically always been a touring outfit, taking a band out on the road to promote the latest album. Therefore the arrangements are tailored more towards a conventional guitars, piano, drums combination, with more of a “rinky-dinky” sound rather than the smooth sounds Vangelis would use. All these contributions by Milva’s team are up to a decent standard but nothing more. Her thoughtful singing remains excellent throughout however, and tracks like 'Sie Sind Noch Jung/Pluie sur la mer' and 'Freunde, Die Keine Sind/Pas d'amitié a moitié' are quite well done. The five new pieces are nice but nothing special, the sort of stuff a man like Vangelis dashes off in quick succession. Maybe Milva made a visit to his London studio to obtain this material in raw form. Once in a while some sounds crop up that at least sound like the way Vangelis might have done them, particularly in ‘Der Morgen danach/Le matin d'apres’, with a typically dreamy atmosphere.
The language Milva sings is relevant to the impression the album makes. In the German version it sometimes veers towards schlager, in the French version it sounds more like chanson. Apart from obviously the language and the ordering of the tracks, there’s only one actual difference in terms of arrangement: the French track ‘Petite Femme’ has a girls’ choir, which is lacking in its German counterpart.

Review by Ivar de Vries

Movements