French Retro Pop: Claude François

Claude François (1939--1978)

Imagine the daggiest thing of all time. Then double it. Then put it in a silver suit. Then add dancers! That’s the best way I can describe France’s 60s/70s national treasure Claude François, or “Cloclo” as he is better known to his throngs of adoring (now very old or dead) fans.

His hits are countless. His dance moves, unbeatable. And by “unbeatable”, I of course mean utterly insane. But having been thoroughly converted to the church of Cloclo during my time in France, I can confidently say there is no better way to kick off 2013 than with a little “Cette année-là”!

What’s that you say? This reminds you of another song? That’s because it IS another song! “Cette année-là” was first released by Frankie Valli and the Four Season as “Oh, What a Night”.

Les Tubes de l'été en France- une retrospective

Chaque été en France, revient le traditionnel tube de l’été.

L’été en France est bien souvent synonyme de vacances, fête et farniente. Les chansons populaires de cette saison (les « tubes » de l’été) reflètent donc cet état d’esprit léger et festif avec un rythme entrainant et des paroles simplistes.

Eurovision 2012: France’s Entry

Anggun

The French Eurovision act for 2012 goes by the name of Anggun. Originally from Jakarta, Indonesia, she released her first record at the age of 9, launched her international career in 1994 and has to date released five albums in French.

A French citizen since 2000, she has become extremely popular, releasing songs in several languages across Europe, the US and Asia. She says that despite not being born in France, the chance to represent the country at Eurovision will be a fantastic opportunity to truly represent the France of today, comprising a mix of many cultures.

The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the country which won last year's contest. SBS host Julia Zemiro will be covering the event (broadcast schedules to be announced). To hear her discuss next year’s Eurovision competition as well as an abundance of other fascinating subjects, have a listen to our podcast, where we chat with her over coffee.

Cinéma Français: “Un Monstre à Paris”

Those of you who relished the bande-annonce of this new, wonderful french animated feature film (featured on this site earlier), will appreciate this musical extract from Un Monstre à Paris, performed by French national treasures Vanessa Paradis and -M-. Click “read more” to view more extracts!

Musique française: Georges Brassens’ La mauvaise réputation

Jeune, Georges Brassens, fils de maçon, n’aime guère l’école hormis les cours de lettres qui lui apprennent l’amour de la poésie. En 1940, il vit à Paris et travaille comme tourneur au sein de l’usine Renault. Parallèlement, il commence à composer, mais le STO le condamne à partir pour Allemagne. De fait, ses camarades déportés constituent son premier public. Après la guerre, il devient anarchiste et collabore au journal Le Libertaire.

Médias Français: madmoiZelle

madmoiZelle is a fabulous and playful French teen girls’ magazine/webite, with massive amounts of highly entertaining (albeit quite feminine) content to enjoy over the winter break. Here is some of the best of its light-hearted fare:

Pour rire: 30 abominables raisons de faire des enfants
Cinéma: Des affiches de films et leurs (supposés) plagiats
Cinéma: Ce que Disney nous a vraiment appris
Moi, moi et moi: 20 réponses interdites à un Je t’aime

Like Elle.fr, madmoiZelle has its own video channel, with manifold French musical acts, such as Juliette Katz, who performs une belle version acoustique de sa chanson “L’antidote” (above).

French Retro Pop: Nicolas Peyrac’s Je Pars...

Nicholas Peyrac est né 1949 en Bretagne, dans la petite commune de Saint-Brice-en-Coglès. Lorsque ses parents ont divorcé, il a passé un an à New York avec sa mère, avant de retourner vivre avec son père en Bretagne. Fils de médecins, il a suivi des études de médecine.

Après une période de dépression suite à la disparition de sa mère, en 1993 il s’est éloigné de Paris pour s’est installé en Californie d’abord, puis à Montréal.

Nicolas enjoyed a string of hits in the seventies and eighties, including Je pars..., So far away from LA and Et mon père.

Also a writer, Nicholas’ novels have included Qu’importe le boulevard où tu m’attends and J’ai su dès le premier jour que je la tuerais.

French Retro Pop: Patricia Kaas’ Mon Mec à Moi

Discovered singing in a club in 1985 by Gérard Depardieu, Patricia Kaas had a series of hits off her first album, Mademoiselle chante..., including “Mon Mec à Moi”.

Patricia Kaas’ debut album
Mademoiselle chante...

Born in 1966 in Lorraine to a French father and German mother, Patricia grew up in Stiring-Wendel, a French commune on the German border, where she spoke only “le Platt”, a German dialect, up till the age of six.

Patricia became best known in France, Germany in Russia. Next year she will release an hommage album to Édith Piaf, Kaas chante Piaf, which will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the legend’s death.

Click “read more” to view les paroles (lyrics), courtesy of patriciakaas-online.fr.