“I've lived a life that's full/ I've travelled each and every highway/ And more, much more than this,/ I did it my way...” In the voice of Wagdi Francis, Frank Sinatra's iconic My Way is reminiscent of the old days when thousands of rapturous fans filled the gardens of the Palestine Hotel in Alexandria's Montazah resort, cheering on their beloved pop band Les Petits Chats. Coming into being today is Les Petits Chats Singers, a four-man reunite made up of the same people: Sadek Gallini, Sobhi Bidair, Pino Phares and Wagdi Francis. Already they're preparing for a big comeback, to take place on 2 September in Alexandria, city of memories. In the studio rehearsal — once again, at the Vibe — Francis is followed by Sobhi Bidair who sings Michael McDonald's Ain't No Mountain High Enough, balancing out the lines of the backing vocals and the chords of the lead guitarist, Pino Phares. In his turn, Sadek Gallini infuses ABBA's Dancing Queen with an energy all his own; his gusto has clearly stood the test of time. While Les Petits Chats recall “the melodies of the good old days”, as Francis puts it, they take the same pleasure in singing together now as they did decades ago, letting the music absorb their sometimes contrasting personalities. Wagdi Francis was the founder and principal dynamo of Les Petits Chats. A strong backbone through the years, he managed the band's repertoire and concerts, drawing in new musicians and ensuring that they all remained at the highest artistic level. “It all began with our love to music. We launched in 1967 as a quintet that included Ezzat Abou Ouf on keyboards, Omar Khairat on drums, guitarists Freddy Rizk and Bert Andresia; I was the main vocals. When Freddy left, the late Omar Khorshid joined. In 1968, we started thinking of expanding the band and that is when Sadek came in...” Thus Wagdi Francis explaining the genesis of Les Petits Chats in his distinctive, serene voice while, listening, Sadek Gallini's face lights up. He is quick to provide his own share of memories: “I used to play guitar with other bands, I never sang before meeting Wagdi and before joining Les Petits Chats.” With a teasing sparkle in his eye, Gallini looks at Sobhi Bidair, the well-known tenor, to his left. “Sobhi used to come and watch me sing.” “Yes, I was a kid among them; that was before my hair turned white,” Bidair giggles. “I replaced Sadek when he got married and left the band.” Gallini offers an immediate clarification: “It was 1975, I left to perform with Ezzat [Abou Ouf] in the Cats band.” Les Petits Chats kept evolving. There was Lukas, who played flute and saxophone; the great voices of late Talaat Zein and Hussein Serag Rady, keyboardists Hany Shenouda and Hany Meimary; several other journeymen joining along the way. Though the band's lineup was changing every now and then, for many years their popularity soared. Concerts across Egypt were soon supplemented with regional appearances: in Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait etc. “It was a very rewarding experience,” Francis explains. “We worked hard and had fun while singing covers in many languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian and later on even Portuguese. I tried to play base but without success, so I continued as vocals.” Pino Phares, the lead guitarist who joined the band in 1969, notes that at that time the music scene had completely different dynamics. “Playing covers was not as easy as it is today. Now, everything is computerised and sequencers provide ‘minus one' accompaniment to any given song. Anyone can make a full performance using the karaoke system. Les Petits Chats did not use sequencers and as we sang the best known songs from the Western repertoire, we found an audience that connected with us through the music that they loved. We performed in front of the cream of society and we attracted whole families, with many following us around from one concert to the next.” Gallini agrees: “It was unbelievable, we had the time of our lives; it would make you jealous.” Nodding, Francis takes his time: “Egypt did not see this before Les Petits Chats. We managed to make a big shift in the music scene. Of course there were many other bands that followed our formula. 1967 was a threshold for several Egyptian bands that started singing Western music, replacing foreign musicians who had dominated the genre.” In addition to the long history of successes, Francis underlines the great artistic synergy that the band members share even today; eye contact is sufficient for them to understand each other. For his part Pino Phares explains how with Les Petits Chats he always felt at home: “I joined the band when I was 18. It became my second family, those guys were my brothers. We performed, travelled and had a lot of fun together.” Phares goes on to stress their respect for each other and the remarkable artistic ethics that bound them. Les Petits Chats's golden age was in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s concerts became more sporadic until the band stopped performing in the mid-1990s. Through the years, the band members' artistic and personal paths took different turns. A number of musicians who joined Les Petits Chats also launched their independent successful careers, becoming celebrated names in Egypt's culture scene; some hit the ground running internationally. Francis continued with Les Petits Chats until the early 1990s, Gallini joined a variety of bands. Bidair pursued his operatic studies in the UK, became one of the finalists of the 1981 Pavarotti International Competition, was decorated with the title of Cavaliere from the Italian government, served as director of Cairo Opera Company more than once and was awarded the Egyptian Opera Shield of Honour. Now, it is with his own ensemble Sobhi and Friends that he periodically returns to pop music, with Gallini joining him on stage on regular basis. Phares went back to classical guitar, which he performs solo until the present. Other members who will not take part in the Alexandria concert, such as Omar Khairat and Ezzat Abou Ouf, are among the best known Egyptian artists of their generation, a musician and an actor respectively. In Sherif Nakhla's documentary dedicated to Les Petits Chats Ezzat Abou Ouf sums up his years with the band: “The 1960s generation was unique. It had its own charisma; it had its own perspective on life.” He goes on to point out that though today he has become a big star of the Egyptian cinema, “all of that means nothing compared to the stardom of Les Petits Chats.” On the other hand, we fondly recall the powerful voice of Talaat Zein who passed away in 2011. Who can forget the late Lukas' saxophone, last heard during Les Petits Chats' last big comeback which took place in Palm Hills in May 2010? Throughout the decades those and many other cats have not been forgotten and, as their 2010 reunion proved, they still have the magical power of rekindling the hearts of the older generation and fascinating the younger. Francis says the new concert will be an attempt to relaunch the band. “We will see how it goes,” he says. In Alexandria, the singers will be joined by Nayer Nagui who worked on some arrangements of the songs and who will also play piano. Rami Soussou will play keyboards, Elhamy Amin percussion. The backing vocals will include members of Sobhi and Friends: Jacqueline Rafik, Noha Kaiss, Mona Salah and Maha Mohamed. The evening will present a selection of their best-known hits, from Michel Sardou to ABBA, Frank Sinatra and Andrea Bocelli. The concert will close the 12th Bibliotheca Alexandrina Summer Festival (6 August-2 September).
