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.
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.
Françoise Cactus was a French musician and author.
Her band Stereo Total provided some music for the highly regarded TV series The Trap and All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Adam Curtis.
Tonton David was a French reggae singer best known for his song “Peuples du monde” (1990).
Ghédalia Tazartès was a French musician known for his guttural singing.
He is on the famous Nurse with Wound list.
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.
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).
Zizi Jeanmaire was a French ballet dancer and entertainer.
She is best-known for her song “Mon truc en plumes” (1961) but I give you a version of “Élisa” (1969), written by Serge Gainsbourg.
J. J. Lionel was a Belgian musician whose song “La danse des canards” (1981) is one of the best-selling singles ever in France.
There is popular music and and then there is “danse des canards” popular, almost as popular as “Hava Nagila”.
Both are songs everyone knows but no one can remember where it originates.
And in France, Jean-Loup Dabadie died.
Dabadie wrote the lyrics to the song “But Now I know” (1973), which was released as “Maintenant je sais” (1974) in French.
Christophe was a French singer-songwriter best known for his schmalzy broken heart love song “Aline” (1965).
Apart from that, he gained some fame for his composition “Sunny Road to Salina” (1970), which was featured in Kill Bill Vol. 2. (2004).