This clip from Adam Curtis' documentary Century of the Self tells the story of a group of psychotherapists who began working with nuns from the Los Angeles Immaculate Heart convent in the early 1960s. The liberating effect of this therapy caused the nuns to question the rigid strictures of convent life and unleashed powerful sexual forces within them, turning them into radical lesbian nuns.
At around the same time a Dominican nun in Belgium called Sister Luc Gabriel recorded an album of her songs which was released under the pseudonym Souer Sourire (Sister Smile). Her song Dominique went on to become a global hit and Sister Luc became the first nun to reach No. 1 in the American pop charts. Liberated by her fame Sister Luc left the convent in 1967 to continue her musical career under her own name, Jean Dekkers. She embraced lesbianism and wrote released a single in praise of contraception - "Glory Be to God for the Golden Pill" - but it was a commercial failure. Beset by financial problems Jean tried to relaunch her career in 1982, recording a synthpop version of Dominique. The rather spectacular results can be seen below. Note the transformation from Dominican novitiate to radical lesbian.
Ironically the success of Dominique proved fatal. In 1985 Jean and her girlfriend Anne Peche committed suicide with barbiturates, citing their money trouble in their suicide note. The cause of Jeans financial woe was a backdated $62,000 tax bill served on her by the Belgian government for her share of the 'Dominique' royalties, which she was unable to pay as all of her royalties had been given over to the convent.
Souer Sourire - Dominique(1963)
Jean Dekkers - Dominique (1982 disco version)
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