Louise Cordet

Louise Cordet is the daughter of Captain[4] Marcel Boisot of the Free French Air Force and the French-born Greek actress Hélène Cordet.

In 1940, as a trainee cadet pilot with no more than 20 hours' flying time, her father flew a Morane 315 training aircraft without navigation equipment or maps from Meknès in Morocco to Gibraltar in response to Charles de Gaulle's appeal of 18 June.[5][6]

Her mother's parents helped Prince Andrew and Princess Alice of Greece after their exile in 1922, resulting in a lasting friendship between the two families.

Cordet is a goddaughter of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,[7][8] and was educated first at the French Lycée in Kensington, London,[9] and then at a convent school.[3]

When she began singing she took her stage name from her mother, Hélène Cordet, who had adopted the surname early in her own professional career, as an actress and TV hostess.[2]

After signing to Decca Records, she released "I'm Just a Baby" in 1962, which hit No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart.[10] The song was composed by Jerry Lordan and produced by the former Shadows drummer Tony Meehan.[1][3]

She also appeared in the films Just For Fun (1963) and Just for You (1964).[10]

Cordet undertook tours with the Beatles, Roy Orbison and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Gerry Marsden is said to have initially written the song "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" for Cordet,[3] although the Gerry and the Pacemakers recording was released almost simultaneously, in April 1964.[11] She recorded a four-track EP for French Decca – three tracks in French (including a French-language version of the English song, "Around and Around", plus her version of the Beatles' song "From Me to You").[11] Her final single was a cover version of the Motown tune "Two Lovers".[3][11] Composed by Smokey Robinson, "Two Lovers" featured Jimmy Page on guitar on Cordet's version. She also toured in 1963 with Paul & Paula, Tony Meehan and Jet Harris, with the concert promoter Arthur Howes,[12] but by 1965 she had stopped recording.[10]

She served as the French pronunciation adviser at Marianne Faithfull's 11 May 1965, Decca Records recording session.[3]

She is married to a Greek national and has three children. Her eldest son is the singer Alexi Murdoch.[9] She now lives in Greece, but also has a home in London.[9] Her late brother, Max Boisot, was an architect, and professor of strategic management at the ESADE business school in Barcelona.

• Interview with Harkit Records, March 2010