Today marks the beginning of “oh man, I need an awesome gimmick theme to fill up content for another month” month—or as I like to call it when other people are around, “covers month.”

We’ll start with France Gall and April March in a tale of two singers. Gall was one of the leading stars of the French pop movement in the 60s, consorting with the likes of Serge Gainsbourg and Michel Berger. Her origins, however, were much more humble; the woman formerly known as Isabelle Gall released her first single in 1963, just a month shy of her sweet sixteen. Her father filled in for many of the duties, including writing some of her songs, and prior to her solo career Isabelle had played with her brothers in a small band. On the other hand, first looks are deceiving. For instance, Gall’s father wasn’t just any old supportive dad; he was Robert Gall, an accomplished songwriter who had penned songs for Edith Piaf. And Gall’s first single managed to sell 200,000 copies in France, catapulting her instantly into the limelight. “Laisser Tomber Les Filles” was another one of her Gainsbourg-penned early singles, though it’s been overshadowed by “Les Sucrettes” and “Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son.”

But a lot of great covers come from forgotten classics placed in the right hands, and you could do much worse than Elinor Blake, better known as April March. For a French pop revivalist, Blake is perhaps not what you’d expect; her previous claim to fame was an animator on Ren and Stimpy (though she’s played in other bands) and she wasn’t even French. Her interest in all things ye-ye was confusing to the French producers she met, many of them wondering if she was serious about performing in a style many French people saw as a relic at best, and as a faint embarassment at worst. Of course, April March was indeed serious—”Laisser Tomber Les Filles” was one of March’s first tentative steps towards reviving the French pop sound of the 60s, and it’s a spectacular remake. Records like Gainsbourgsion and Paris In April (which also featured an English version of “Laisser Tomber Les Filles” called “Chick Habit”) convinced Bertrand Burgalat that April March was the real deal, and in 1999 the two created Chrominance Decoder. The rest is history.