A Fine Pair

Delving into the deepest recesses of raï, this compilation serves as a tribute to its roaring years, but also as a rejuvenation of the genre in its sulphurous, subterranean version. It seemed like a good idea to dig into nearly untraceable cassettes, thus confirming it’s in the oldest of Oranese pots that the very best of raï is to be found. Just 50 years ago, no one would have believed even a bit in a genre seemingly bound to forever turn round and round in its native Oran, laying low in one of its many coastal road clubs.

Betty Farnwell, a rich widow living in Nice, decides to marry Philippe, a good-looking but self-interested man. No sooner has he got married than he meets bewitching young Eve, Betty's niece, and falls for her. Eve becomes his lover but the trouble is that she happens to be as calculating as he is. As a result she plans to marry a rich young man as Philippe is bound by the ties of marriage. Philippe can't stand such a prospect and decides, with the complicity of the young woman, to murder Betty…

Once Upon A Time is the definitive last word on Family. A long-awaited 14 disc box set that collects the band's entire back catalogue for the first time…