Music of France
Related: cabaret - French house music - Radio Nova - vaudeville
Tracks: "Je t'aime... Moi non plus" (1969) - Gainsbourg and Birkin
La Surface de réparation (2002) - Renaud Papillon Paravel
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Renaud Papillon Paravel is a French musician from Toulouse, he is - together with Englishman Andy Votel - one of my musical discoveries of the 2000s. More info at his French Wikipedia page. His style is very reminiscent of Serge Gainsbourg. [Aug 2006]
People: Claude Debussy - Eddie Barclay - Jacques Brel - Brigitte Bardot - Manu Chao - Dalida - Serge Gainsbourg - Alain Goraguer - Edith Piaf - Richard Pinhas - François Kevorkian - Renaud
Histoire De Melody Nelson - Serge Gainsbourg [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
French Cuts Vol.2 () - Various [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
A1 Petula Clark Un Jeune Homme Bien (A Well Respected Man) A2 Claude Nougaro & Michel Legrand Tout Feu Tout Femme A3 Sophie (3) Je Ne Fais Pas D'Histoires (It's Not Unusual) A4 Anna Karina Roller Girl (From TV Musical Comedy 'Anna') A5 Jacques Dutronc Les Cactus A6 5 Gentlemen Si Tu Reviens Chez Moi A7 Michel Polnareff La Mouche B1 Françoise Hardy Comment Te Dire Adieu (It Hurts To Say Goodbye) B2 Perrey & Kingsley Swan's Splashdown B3 France Gall Teenie Weenie Boppie B4 Herbert Léonard Laissez Entrer Le Soleil (Let The Sunshine In) B5 Les Surfs If You Please (Pitty Please) B6 Gaynael Romentale Et Sentimentique B7 Jean-Jacques Perrey Porcupine Rock B8 Serge Gainsbourg Couleur Café C1 Phonoboy C'Est Ma Vie C2 Stone (6) C'Est Ma Vie C3 Delizia J'Ai Rendez-Vous C4 Antoine (2) Je Dis Ce Que Je Pense Et Je Vis Comme Je Veux C5 Noel Deschamps Pour Le Pied (Bird Doggin') C6 Nino Ferrer Alexandre C7 Sylvie Vartan Ne T'En Vas Pas (Comin' Home Baby) C8 Antoine (2) Une Autre Autoroute D1 Serge Gainsbourg Requiem Pour Un C... (From OST 'Le Pacha') D2 Georges Garvarentz Nues Dans L'Eau (From OST 'Sapho') D3 Natacha Snitkine Jeu De Telephone (Music To Watch Girls By) D4 Brigitte Bardot Je Danse Donc Je Suis D5 Laurent Lombard Papa Twist (Exclusively Extended Version) D6 Jack Hendrix Rhythmofeeling D7 Cesar Camargo Mariano & France Gall Zozoi D8 Les Parisiennes On Recoit, On Envoie
French Cuts Vol.1 () - Various [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
French Cuts 3 (2005) - Various [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
This compilation is only available in England an Germany. Apparently these comps were released by a München based nightclub called Atomic Cafe. The cover art is of course of the Citroen DS. Vol.2 features a Citroen SM.
The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl from Paris (1998) - Francoise Hardy
The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl from Paris (1998) - Francoise Hardy [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Françoise Hardy (born January 17, 1944 in Paris) is a French singer and actress.
Françoise Hardy signed her first contract with the record label Vogue in November 1961. In April 1962, shortly after finishing school, her first album Oh oh Chéri appeared, with the title song written by Johnny Hallyday's writing duo. The flip side of the record, "Tous les garçons et les filles" became a huge success, with 2 million copies sold. She had long hair and usually wore jeans with a leather jacket while accompanying her songs on the guitar.
She sang in English, Italian, Spanish, and German occasionally. In 1963, she represented France in the Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson with L'amour s'en va and took fifth place. In 1968, she received the Grand Prix du Disque Académie Charles Gros.
In 1981, she married her long-time friend and colleague Jacques Dutronc, with whom she had already had a son (Thomas Dutronc) in 1973. In May 2000, she had a comeback with the album Clair Obscur. Her son played the guitar, and her husband sang the duet "Puisque vous partez en voyage." Iggy Pop and Étienne Daho participated, as well. She currently lives near Paris. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7oise_Hardy [Dec 2005]
In France, the conservative defenders of the classic French chanson had prejudices against many of those artists - for example Françoise Hardy or France Gall. "Our music was very simple; simple songs, influenced by English and American pop music. Back then, we were called the 'yeh-yeh-singers' in France because we supposedly imitated the English and kept saying 'yeah'" (Françoise Hardy). --http://www.panatomic.de/content/releases/fc1/infoe [Dec 2005]
See also: French music - pop music - 1960
Shake Sauvage: French Soundtracks, 1968-1973 (2000) - Various Artists
Shake Sauvage: French Soundtracks, 1968-1973 (2000) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Take for example the Deep Note series, audio CDs that compile cuts from classic 1970s porn films. They do their best to ensure plenty of wa-wa guitars, analog synthesizer music, random bits of dialogue and yes -- the sexy saxophones. Inside Deep Note: Music of 1970s Adult Cinema is the newest in the series, further fetishizing the genre with more cheeseball grooviness and includes a 16-page booklet and an eight-page full color digipack. People who love this music might also enjoy 1970s softcore/horror Spanish director Jess Franco's soundtracks, such as the music to his cult lesbian vampire film Vampyros Lesbos. In fact, there were oodles of softcore and erotic horror films made in Spain, France and Italy in the 1960s and '70s that were tracked with a lot of very cool music -- Chet Baker worked with Jess Franco on a few films -- and music collections from these classics are usually hidden gems that suggest influences such as Bossa Nova, nouveau lounge and campy funk. Some favorites from my collection include the Beat al Cinecitta series, the Easy Tempo series (through #6) and Shake Sauvage. --http://www.tinynibbles.com/pornmusic1.html [Aug 2005]
J'Aime les filles () - Jacques Dutronc
J'Aime les filles () - Jacques Dutronc
Image sourced here.
Jacques Dutronc (born April 28, 1943 in Paris) is a French singer, composer, and actor. On March 30, 1981 he married the singer Françoise Hardy, with whom he had already had a son (Thomas Dutronc, born 1973).
Dutronc's early hits were written in collaboration with journalist Jacques Lanzmann. Songs like "Et moi, et moi, et moi," "Les gens sont fous, les temps sont flous" and "J'ai mis un tigre dans ma guitare" have a tight, dry, even tuneless intensity reminiscent of Bob Dylan circa Bringing It All Back Home, mixed with some of the humorous, deadpan affect of The Kinks. Later songs veer more toward jazz and variété française.
Dutronc's "La fille du père Noël" and David Bowie's "Jean Genie" share a riff likely derived from the Yardbirds' accelerated version of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man." The Belgian singer Arno recorded a medley of the Dutronc and Bowie songs ("Jean Baltazaarr") with the American singer Beverly Jo Scott that makes clear their similarities.
In 1973, Dutronc began a second career as an actor in the film Antoine et Sébastien, directed by Jean-Marie Périer, a career that would afterward occupy the greater share of his attention. Directors for whom he has worked include Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Lelouch and Maurice Pialat.
He is celebrated in the 1997 Cornershop song "Brimful of Asha": "Jacques Dutronc and the Bolan Boogie/The Heavy Hitters and the Chichi music."
He currently lives in the town of Monticello on the island of Corsica. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques Dutronc [Dec 2005]
See also:
French pop music list at Amazon
L' Incendie (1974) - Areski & Brigitte Fontaine
L' Incendie (1974) - Areski & Brigitte Fontaine [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Brigitte Fontaine, born in 1940 in Morlaix, Finistère, in the Brittany region of France, is a singer of avant-garde music from the 1970s, known almost exclusively in her native France.
During the course of her career she employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, spoken word poetry and world rhythms. She collaborated with such celebrated musicians as Serge Gainsbourg, Jean Claude Vannier, Areski, Sonic Youth and Art Ensemble of Chicago. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Fontaine [Aug 2005]
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of music or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung. Spoken-word is often done with a musical background, but emphasis is kept on the speaker.
One of the most common sorts of spoken word performances is performance poetry, where a poet either reads previously-published poems, or reads poems specifically written to be performed aloud. Another kind that has gained popularity in recent years is political and social commentary, done in such a way that it is, while still prose, somewhat more artistic than a typical speech. Spoken word artists are often poets and musicians. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoken_word [Aug 2005]
Music of France
France has long been considered a centre for European art and music. The country boasts a wide variety of indigenous folk musics, as well styles played by immigrant from Africa, Latin America and Asia. In the field of classical music, France has produced a number of legendary composers, while modern pop music has seen the rise of popular French rock, hip hop, techno/funk, and pop performers. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_France [Aug 2005]
see also: music - France - 1974 - avant garde
Chanson is a French word for song.
In English language contexts, the word is often applied to any song with French words, but it can also be applied more specifically — to refer to classic, lyric-driven French songs, to refer to European songs in the cabaret style, or to refer to a diverse range of songs interpreted in this style. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a chansonnier. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanson [Nov 2005]
French house music
French house is a late 1990s form of house music, greatly influenced by 1970s and 1980s disco and funk, as well as the productions of Thomas Bangalter. The music can be noted by the infamous "filter effect" (e.g. Daft Punk). French house may have vocal samples, which are mostly English and not French. A good example of French house is Music Sounds Better With You (1998) by Stardust. --adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_house [Aug 2005]
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginzburg, (April 2, 1928 – March 2, 1991) was a poet, singer-songwriter, actor and director.
He was born in Paris, France, the son of Jewish Russian parents. He had a daughter, Charlotte, with Jane Birkin; and a son, Lulu, with his last partner, Bambou (Pauline Von Paulus, related to Friedrich Paulus). --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Gainsbourg [Aug 2005]
Je t’Aime Moi Non Plus [...]
Late one night in the winter of 1967, Gainsbourg and Bardot went into a dimly lit studio in Paris and recorded Michel Colombier's arrangement of Je T'Aime in an intimate two-hour session. The two singers were squashed into a small, steamy glass booth; engineer William Flageollet witnessed what he described as "heavy petting". Word leaked to the press that it was an "audio vérité" recording, with the Sunday paper France-Dimanche reporting that the four minutes and 35 seconds of "groans, sighs, and Bardot's little cries of pleasure" set to almost churchlike organ music gave "the impression you're listening to two people making love". --http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4128684,00.html [Aug 2005]
Je t'aime, moi non plus (soundtrack, 1976) - Serge Gainsbourg [FR] [DE] [UK]
Je t'aime... moi non plus is the title of a controversial song written by Serge Gainsbourg, arranged by Michel Colombier and sung by Gainsbourg and his soon-to-be girlfriend, Jane Birkin who replaced actress Brigitte Bardot after the latter's then husband's protest.
The song was known much for its racey undertones and the simple repitition of the phrase "I love you" detailed by Birkin's breathy moans. The song debuted at #1 on the UK charts and ironically at #69 within the US. The tune would go on to be the influence for the disco classic "Love To Love You Baby" by singer Donna Summer and legendary producer Giorgio Moroder, both of whom would later duet "Je t'aime" in its original form.
Je t'aime... moi non plus is also the name of a 1976 feature film, directed by Serge Gainsbourg, starring Jane Birkin, Patrick Dewaere and Joe Dallesandro. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je_t'aime..._moi_non_plus [Aug 2005]
See also: 1967 - 1969 - Serge Gainsbourg - Brigitte Bardot - Jane Birkin - Je t'aime... moi non plus
OK Chicago/Yellow Train (1974) - Resonance
Pierre Bachelet's 1974 ode to blaxploitation, complete with an opening salvo of gun shots, which I believe has been sampled in many a reggae track. The B-side "Yellow Train" is a perennial favourite of American DJs David Mancuso and Danny Krivit.
Pierre Bachelet (May 25, 1944 - February 15, 2005) was a French singer-songwriter with a gentle romantic voice. One of his hit songs was "Ecris-moi". He sang for some movies, for example Emmanuelle.
Japanese pop music dynamo Takako Minekawa is known to be a fan of Bachelet.
Bachelet died at his home after enduring a long illness. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Bachelet [Jan 2006]
Featured on: Shake Sauvage: French Soundtracks, 1968-1973 (2000) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
See also: blaxploitation - French music
L' Enfant Assassin des Mouches (1972) - Jean-Claude Vannier
L' Enfant Assasin des Mouches (1972) - Jean-Claude Vannier [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Album Details
The Debut Release from Finders Keepers Records, We Present the Seminal 1972 Album from Serge Gainsbourg's Right-hand Man Jean-claude Vannier. Recorded During the Same Sessions as Gainsbourg's Highly Acclaimed Masterpiece "Melody Nelson" it Follows in a Similar Avant-garde Rock-opera Vein. "l'enfant Assasin Des Mouches" (The Child Fly-killer) is a Supernatural Tale Written by Gainsbourg Depicting the Journey of the Young Child Travelling Through a Nightmarish "Fly Kingdom". Vannier Narrates the Story with Sparse Music Concrete Sounds Coupled with Choirs, Funky Beats, Cowbells, Wah-wah Guitars and Ethnic Strings. Comparisons Could Be Made with Some of Frank Zappa's "Hot Rats" Material and Alain Goraguer's Creepy "La Planéte Sauvage".
French House [...]
There’s a new sound on the block these days; distinctive, deep, and oh, so stylish. Brewed from a concoction of jazz, hip-hop, electronica and the spoken word, with rhythms spiced by Africa and Latin America it’s a soundtrack for prowling the cosmopolitan metropolis. It’s coloured Yellow and it’s accent is French. --1996, source unkownFrancois Kevorkian [...]
From early DJ gigs in the disco wonderland of late-'70s New York City to his current stint at Manhattan's Body and Soul, Kevorkian has been at dance music's epicenter — be it disco, new wave or house — since its inception. As a producer, mixer and remixer, he's worked with Larry Levan, Arthur Baker, The Smiths, The Cure, Cabaret Voltaire, U2, Eurythmics, Ashford and Simpson, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and Yazoo and others. Disco devotees will remember his Gold-certified mix of Musique's “Push Push in the Bush” issued on Prelude Records, the influential disco label he helped run as head of A&R from 1978 to 1982. In 1987, he opened the recording facility Axis Studios, which has attracted leading artists such as Madonna, Todd Terry, Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige. -- Lucinda Catchlove [...]Brigitte Bardot [...]
Brigitte Bardot enjoys the reputation as the most famous European pin-up girl of the twentieth-century. She had been depicted as "moodier, tougher, more independent, and adventurous than Marilyn Monroe..." Like Monroe she has had a chequered life in private and public. Bardot, however, has proved the more durable.
1. Madrague 2. L'appareil A Sous 3. Les Amis De La Musique 4. Je Me Donne A Qui Me Plai 5. Invitango 6. C'est Rigolo 7. Faite Pour Dormir 8. Moi Je Joue 9. Une Histoire De Plage 10. Ca Pourrait Changer 11. A La Fin De L' Ete 12. Maria Ninguen 13. Je Danse Donc Je Suis [I Dance, Therefore I Am] 14. Ciel De Lit 15. Les Omnibus 16. Ah! Les P'tites Femmes
Serge Gainsbourg [...]
Serge Gainsbourg was the dirty mouth of French pop. He was a singer, producer and writer of songs like "Le poinçonneur des lilas" (1958), "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (1965, by France Gall), "Harley Davidson" (1968, by Brigitte Bardot), the all-time favorite "Je t'aime... Moi non plus" (1969, with Jane Birkin), "Dieu fumeur de havanes" (1980, with Catherine Deneuve), "Love on the beat" (1984) and "Lemon Incest" (1984, with Charlotte Gainsbourg). He was also a film director and wrote the soundtracks for more than 40 movies. Serge Gainsbourg introduced the French to jazz and reggae
Jazz in France
Nazi Germany's brutal occupation of Paris, France began June 14, 1940. Until the plug was pulled, Paris nightclubs had been some of the premier hosts of the American Jazz movement. Black American jazz musicians, artists and dancers had discovered Paris after the Harlem Renaissance through the tales of returning black servicemen from WWI. These artists were grateful to the French for the opportunity, respect and pay equity that would not come to America until over 40 years later.
The French, for their part, were obsessed with all things Negro due to the Primitivism movement in art and the spirit of "Negritude". Negritude was a manifesto of Black intellectual expatriates that stood for self-determination and a total rejection of all Western influence, the reclamation of what was truly their own. New forms of art were finally able to bloom under this broad acceptance and generous patronage. Pre-WW2 Paris served as a welcome home to jazz luminaries Arthur Briggs, Dexter Gordon, Benny Carter and dancer Josephine Baker (nicknamed "Le Jazz Hot") among others. [...]
More cds
- Moon Safari (1998) - Air [1 CD, Amazon US]
Moon Safari, the first album proper by this pair of middle-class Frenchmen [Jean-Benoît Dunckel , Nicolas Godin ], easily survives unscathed from its billing as that most deadly of sub-genres: dinner party music. True, Moon Safari, with its blatant bliss-provoking easy listening chimes, sits well beside Everything But the Girl's Walking Wounded or Portishead's Dummy, but the album is steeped in too much musical verve and gallic humour to become as dull as Chardonnay. "Sexy Boy", the first single, is a rock-out slab of electronica about a toy monkey, for instance--hardly the thing to discuss in polite society. This album's highs come with their two marriages with the contributing vocals of American Beth Hirsch. "All I Need" and "You Make It Easy" are shockingly successful, with Hirsch bringing gravitas and sincerity, flagging the album with strong emotional pointers in the midst of their musical adventures. If you didn't know, you'd think her words were sampled from a lost jazz classic--that's how good this record sounds. --Charlie Porter - La Mer - Charles Trenet [Amazon US]
1. Mer (Beyond The Sea) 2. Rendez-Vous Sous la Pluie [Rendezvous in the Rain] - Johnny Hess 3. Grand Cafe 4. Vous Êtes Jolie [You're a Pretty Girl] 5. Ah! Dis Ah! Dis Ah! Bonjour [Oh! Say Oh! Say Oh! "Good Morning"] 6. Oiseaux de Paris [the Birds of Paris] 7. Vieille [the Old Woman] 8. Jardins du Mois de Mai [Gardens in the Month of May] 9. Pic... Pic! 10. Prés de Toi, Mon Amour [Close to You My Love] 11. Verlaine 12. Terre! [Earth] 13. Cigale et la Fourmi [the Cicada and The Ant] 14. En Écoutant Mon Coeur Chanter [as I Listen to My Heart Singing] 15. Seul... Depuis Toujours [Alone... Since Forever] 16. Retour À Paris [Return to Paris] 17. Tombé du Ciel [Dropped from the Clouds] 18. Retour des Saisons [as Seasons Come and Go] 19. N'Y Pensez Pas Trop [Don't Think Too Much About It] 20. Marie, Marie 21. Annie-Anna 22. Mes Jeunes Années [in My Younger Days] 23. Rou Dagobert [Dada-Gogo-Bébert] 24. Ohe, Paris! [Hello There, Paris!] 25. Douce France [Gentle France] - Boris Vian chante Boris Vian [Amazon US]
1. Les Joyeux Bouchers 2. Le Deserteur 3. La Java Des Bombes Atomiq 4. Le Petit Commerce (Inedit 5. Complainte De Progres 6. Cinematographe 7. J'suis Snob 8. On N'est Pas La Pour Se F 9. On N'est Pas La Pour Se F 10. Je Bois 11. Le Petit Commerce 12. Bourree De Complexes 13. Ah! Si J'avais Un Franc C 14. Barcelone (Inedit) 15. A La Peche Des Coeurs (In 16. Calypso Blues (Inedit) 17. Mozart Avec Nous (Inedit) 18. La Java Des Chaussettes A 19. J'suis Snob (Inedit)