Russell Mael on the opener, at Studio Davout
On 7 November 1988, Les Rita Mitsouko released Marc & Robert, their third studio album, on Virgin. Hip Kit opens the record and runs 4 minutes and 57 seconds. Fred Chichin and Catherine Ringer wrote it. They produced it with Tony Visconti, who had already produced The No Comprendo in 1986. The sessions were at Studio Davout in Paris and at Visconti’s Studio Good Earth in London. Visconti engineered the album and mixed Hip Kit. Gordon Vicary mastered the record.
The voices are Catherine Ringer, Russell Mael of Sparks, and a backing singer credited only as Ginger. Sam Smith, the English session guitarist, plays the guitar solo. The sleeve lists Ringer, Chichin and Visconti among the players on the track. Ron Mael, Russell’s brother, does not play on Hip Kit. He plays keyboards on two other songs the brothers brought in, Singing in the Shower and Live in Las Vegas, the second of those only on the CD.
The meeting happened on a US tour. Les Rita Mitsouko played a small club in Los Angeles, and Ron and Russell Mael came backstage. Ringer and Chichin already owned Kimono My House, the Sparks album from 1974. The brothers said they liked the first two Rita records, and the four of them agreed to work together. Ringer and Chichin offered Hip Kit as the song she would sing with Russell. The other two collaborations were Sparks songs.
On our side, we gave them Hip Kit, the opening track, where I sing a duet with Russell. We recorded at Studio Davout in Paris.
(Catherine Ringer, Les Inrockuptibles, 28 July 2021)
Ringer and Mael trade lines over a fast beat, and the guitar solo cuts across them. Visconti mixed this side of the album himself. Jesse Johnson, the former Time guitarist, remixed the whole record, but his mixes were kept only for Tongue Dance, Singing in the Shower and Live in Las Vegas. Hip Kit stayed with Visconti’s mix. The cover photograph is by Luc Choquer, and Fabrice Pernisco designed the sleeve.
Hip Kit was not a single in 1988. The first single was Mandolino City, on 1 November, backed with Smog. Singing in the Shower followed on 29 November: number 37 in France and number 24 on the US dance chart. The album reached number 35 in France and was certified gold there in 1989, for more than 100,000 copies. In late 1990 William Orbit remixed Hip Kit for the remix album Re, and Hiroyuki Nakano directed the video of that remix. The LP, cassette and CD all came out that November, and the CD adds Live in Las Vegas as a bonus. The recording to start with is the 1988 album track, before Orbit.
Jackie | 9 October 2026
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Not overrated. If anything people forgot how tight Hip Kit is. That is all.
Chris | 10 October 2026
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Same. Glad I am not alone on that.
Bea | 10 October 2026
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I never knew that detail about the session. Changes how I hear the intro. Replay button abused.
Emma | 11 October 2026
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Solid chronicle. I forgot how sharp Les Rita Mitsouko sounded on this one. Sharing this in the group chat. Expect chaos.
Sofi | 12 October 2026
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anyone else think the live versions of Hip Kit are better? Studio still wins for me though. Coffee got cold while I finished the article. Acceptable.
Paulo | 12 October 2026
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Opened the article, heard the riff in my head before the embed loaded. Classic. Also the comments section on old forums was wild about this.
Greg | 13 October 2026
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Not overrated. If anything people forgot how tight Hip Kit is. Also the comments section on old forums was wild about this.
Bruno | 13 October 2026
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I argued with my brother about Hip Kit for years. This is my exhibit A. Good piece.
Rosa | 14 October 2026
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Cool. Now I want the deep cuts around Hip Kit too.
Lina | 14 October 2026
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Heard Hip Kit a thousand times. This reminded me why it stuck.
Nadia | 15 October 2026
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first time I heard Hip Kit was on a burned CD. Still got the scratches in my head. Sharing this in the group chat. Expect chaos.