Tag Archives: French music

RIP Marcel Zanini (1923 – 2023)

“Tu veux ou tu veux pas” (1969)

Marcel Zanini was een in Turkije geboren Franse muzikant best gekend voor zijn song “Tu veux ou tu veux pas” (1969).

“Nem Vem Que não Tem” (1967)

Enfin, ik zeg zijn song, maar het was helemaal zijn song niet. Hij vertaalde of hij zong een vertaalde versie van “Nem Vem Que não Tem” (1967) van Carlos Imperial, een lied eerst op de Braziliaanse markt gebracht door Wilson Simonal voor Odeon.

De versie van Bardot.

Jullie kennen het nummer van de versie die Bardot uitbracht in 1970.

RIP Olivier Libaux (1964 – 2021)

Olivier Libaux was a French record producer and musician best known for his work with the cover band Nouvelle Vague. The band was known for its bossa nova covers of new wave songs.

“Ils Sont Marrant les Gens”

In his solo career he released songs such as “Ils Sont Marrant les Gens” on the album Imbécile (2007), which means “people are funny”.

Question: did Olivier Libaux commit suicide?

RIP Pierre Jansen (1930 – 2015)

 Acera, or the Witches’ Dance (1972) by Jean Painlevé

This happened in 2015, but I only found out today.

Pierre Jansen was a French composer working in film. He was in particular the permanent collaborator of Claude Chabrol for whom he composed the music for many films.

He also scored the above documentary Acera, or the Witches’ Dance (1972) by Jean Painlevé.

RIP Patrick Juvet (1950 – 2021

“I Love America”

Patrick Juvet was a Swiss singer-songwriter who had a string of hit records in France (“Où sont les femmes?”) during the seventies.

He found international success with disco compositions such as “I Love America” (1978) which was his biggest record and was included on the compilation A Night at Studio 54 (1979).

Also in 1979, he wrote the soundtrack to Laura by David Hamilton.

By the early eighties, after the death of disco, his five minutes of fame were over.

RIP Juliette Gréco (1927 – 2020)

Juliette Gréco was a French actress and singer. 

She first appeared on my radar in 2010 in the Gainsbourg movie Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life where she is played by Anna Mouglalis.

The scene from Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life in which Gainsbourg meets Gréco and plays for her “La Javanaise”.

Below the song “L’Accordéon” (1962) in which she plays her own black-clad body as an instrument. Very French and sensual.

While cycling to work, it dawned upon me that “L’Accordéon” reminded me of the Mary Poppins song “Chim Chim Cher-ee” (1964).