Honi Soit (album)

Honi Soit is a 1981 album by John Cale. All songs were written by Cale, except "Streets Of Laredo", a traditional song arranged by Cale.

Andy Warhol suggested the album should be called "John and Yoko", and provided the cover art, in black and white, but against Warhol's wishes Cale colorized it. The musicians on this album are listed as the crew of fighter airplane, with Cale as the flight surgeon.

The album's title is an abbreviation of the phrase "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (French: "shame upon him who thinks evil of it"), the motto of the British Order of the Garter. The spelling of the word "Honi" is old French, it would nowadays be spelt "Honni".

The album is Cale's only album to date to chart in the US, reaching #154.

Track listing

All songs written by John Cale, except "Streets Of Laredo", which is Traditional, arranged by John Cale.

Side A

1. "Dead Or Alive"
2. "Strange Times In Casablanca"
3. "Fighter Pilot"
4. "Wilson Joliet"
5. "Streets of Laredo"

Side B

6. "Honi Soit (La Première Leçon de Français)"
7. "Riverbank"
8. "Russian Roulette"
9. "Magic & Lies"

Single

"Dead Or Alive" b/w "Honi Soit" 7" UK & NL 1981.

Personnel

• John Cale: guitar, keyboards, viola, lead vocals ("flight surgeon")
• John Gatchell: trumpet
• Jim Goodwin: keyboards, synthesizer, background vocals ("gunner")
• Peter Muny: bass, background vocals ("wing and prop")
• Robert Medici: drums, background vocals ("navigator")
• Sturgis Nikides: guitar, background vocals ("hellcat")
• Bomberettes (members of the Mo-dettes): background vocals on "Fighter Pilot"

External links

• http://www.stereosociety.com/honisoit.html Interview with Mike Thorn, producer of Honi Soit