Histoire+de+la+Musique+Francaise

=HISTOIRE DE LA MUSIQUE FRANCAISE = = = =** THE EARLY YEARS ** = 
 * 1)  Mistinguett Mistinguett
 * 2)  Maurice Chevalier Maurice Chevalier
 * 3)  Greatest Hits Charles Trenet
 * 4)  La Vie en Rose Edith Piaf
 * 5)  Les Feuilles Mortes Yves Montand
 * 6)  Brel Vol. 1 Jacques Brel
 * 7)  Olympia 1955/Olympia Juliette Greco
 * 8)  L' Master Serie, Vol. 1 Barbara
 * 9)  Le Meilleur de Lucienne Delyle Lucienne Delyle

Like American pop music, which has blues and jazz as its roots, France's popular music has its own underlying tradition: the chanson, the distinctly Gallic flavored cabaret song, popularized by the likes of **Edith Piaf**. Before that came the bawdy and lively music of establishments such as the Folies-Bergère or Gaieté Parisienne, home to the enticing **Mistinguett**, who took as her much younger lover and protégé, **Maurice Chevalier** of "Thank Heaven for Little Girls: fame. That happy sound began to die out after the First World War, though even during the German occupation of the Second World War the Folies-Bergère still soldiered on, with troupers like **Charles Trenet** even going over to entertain French prisoners in Germany. After the war, the smoky chanteuse took over, and no one captured that melancholy sadness quite like **Edith Piaf**. This was a time of heavy brooding and longing, where being French meant everything, and being French is synonymous with being in love. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;">These were artists who willingly doused themselves in the heartbreak and resilience of their nation. Instead of dancing around with canes and top hats as had their predecessors, the men had their shirtsleeves rolled up, a cigarette and drink in their hand, sitting down at a stool, letting the tortured romantic longing that was their Parisian birthright pour out of them. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;">The men were **Charles Aznavour, Yves Montand,** and **Jacques Brel**. **Juliette Greco, Barbara**, and **Lucienne** were some of the women, dressed head to foot in black, dazzling on a stage lit by a single spotlight, enigmatic, mysterious and over the top at the same time

=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** THE 1960s - YEH-YEH ERA ** =

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 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Olympia 67 Johnny Hallyday
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Les Essentiels Sylvie Vartan
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin Serge Gainsbourg
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Juliette Greco Juliette Greco
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Best of BB Brigitte Bardot
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Greatest Recordings Francoise Hardy
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Jacques Dutronc Jacques Dutronc

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;">The Yeh-Yeh Phase of French music was one that took Paris by storm as the world itself exploded into pop art colors.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** Johnny Halliday ** and his wife, **Sylvie Vartan**, were the king and queen of the scene, with the clown prince (of cool) being the perennially debauched singer-writer-producer **Serge Gainsbourg**.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;">Unlike the United States, where singers were assumed (often wrongly) to have written their songs and crafted their seductive personae on their own, music writer and performance directors were recognized as stars of their own in France, and Gainsbourg is a classic example - writing and producing many more hits than he actually sang.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** Juliette Greco ** was one of his clients, as were **Catherine Sauvage, France Gall** and **Michele Arnaud**. **Brigitte Bardot** and **Jane Birkin** are probably the names on his roster that non-Francophiles will most remember though, and "Je t’aime . . . moi non plus" is far and away the most internationally recognized of Gainsbourg's songs. It was recorded twice (once with Bardot, once with **Jane Birkin**) and raised censorship hackles each time.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;">Meanwhile **Francoise Hardy** became the definitive Yeh-Yeh girl. With her model looks and placid demeanor, she continued to crank out consistently quality material through the decades to come, in some small part due to her artistic director, **Jacques Dutronc**, who had some hits of his own.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** CONTEMPORARY PARISIAN MUSIC **

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 * 1) =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Salle Des Pas Perdus Coralie Clément =
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Kensington Square Vincent Delerm
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> La Disparition Keren Ann
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Quelqu'un M'a Dit Carla Bruni
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Moon Safari Air
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;"> Rose Kennedy Benjamin Biolay

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;">French music goes hand in hand with French beauty, and the 21st century has seen the appearance on the scene of beautiful songstresses like **Keren Ann, Coralie Clement** and **Carla Bruni**, gamins who dazzle the ears, eyes, and mind all at once.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">** Keren Ann ** is an Israeli-born, French-raised singer songwriter who works frequently with **Benjamin Biolay** and like former super model **Carla Bruni**, makes albums that bask in a natural acoustic warmth; no showy studio gloss or pop radio ready treacle. Their voices can drop from a full-on croon down to a sexy whisper or throaty purr; seducing and engaging, every plucked string and sigh fresh, dusky and immediate.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;">Their ancestors from the 1960s, **Francois Hardy** and **Jane Birkin**, should be very proud. The music of the cafes and cabarets of old (known as “la chanson”) gets remade for the modern crowds meanwhile, by introspective troubadours like **Vincent Delerm,**,whose Kensington Square is a memorable hit.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px;">And of course, one must tip the hat to the electronica duo known as **Air**, who galvanized a whole subgenre of music with their lovely and ever so slightly kitschy “Moon Safari” and have since been a staple on film soundtracks and elsewhere.