Friday's French music break - Les Prêtres, "Écris l'histoire"

Often a cover version of a song is a simple repetition of what went before; pleasant enough in its own way but not really offering anything more than the original.

Sometimes - as in the case of Coeur de Pirate's recent remake of Renaud's  "Mistral gagnant" - there's a little extra - either in the voice, the interpretation or arrangement.

And then there are the covers that fall so far short of what came first, it's almost an embarrassment to listen to, let alone write about, them.

Such is the case with this week's Friday's French music break - Les Prêtres with "Écris l'histoire".

Originally, the song was recorded in 2005 by the late Grégory Lemarchal, whose career was cut short just two years later when, at 23, he died of complications from the genetic condition  cystic fibrosis.



Love him or loathe him, there's no denying that Lemarchal, who won the fourth edition of the now defunct TV talent show Star Academy, had an exceptional voice, managing to reach those notes that defy many a singer as you can hear, for example, on the B-side of the single.

It's a cover version of "SOS d'un terrien en détresse" written by  Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon for the 1978 musical "Starmania" and originally interpreted by Daniel Balavoine.

Grégory Lemarchal (screenshot from 2006 single "Même si" - What you're made of - duet with Lucie Silvas)

Enough "scene setting".

Back to Les Prêtres.

As the name of the group suggests, this "boy's band with a difference", if you will, is the French equivalent of the similarly-named Irish group The Priests.

In 2010, the Bishop of Gap, Jean-Michel di Falco, was having a brainstorming session with close friend and singer-songwriter  Didier Barbelivien, as to how to raise funds for a school in  Madagascar and the construction of a church in his diocese.

Inspired by the success of The Priests, the Bishop went about recruiting three likely candidates - Jean-Michel Bardet, Charles Troesch and Joseph Dinh Nguyen Nguyen - allowing Barbelivien to handle negotiations with TF1 musique

Les Prêtres, left to right, Jean-Michel Bardet, Charles Troesch and Joseph Dinh Nguyen Nguyen (collage of screenshots from official video "Ecris l'histoire")

The first album "Spiritus Dei" complete with cover versions of French standards, was a runaway success, topping the charts for nine weeks and in the process becoming the biggest-selling album of 2010 in France.

TV appearances and concerts followed, as did a second album "Gloria" in 2011 - the trio once again putting their own "special" vocal touch to some French pop songs and throwing a few ecclesiastic and classic tunes into the mix.

Another top selling album.

Finally - and not before time, some might say - their very last (and appropriately entitled?) album "Amen" in 2014, from which "Écris l'histoire" is taken.

The song is the trio's tribute to Lemarchal to mark the 10th anniversary of the Star Academy victory which launched his career.

"His whole story touched me," Troesch said in a recent interview.

"Seeing someone who greatly influenced a generation dying from a disease that still doesn't have a cure - it's a tragedy."

Their intentions (or rather those of their management) might well have been honourable, but the rendition is...well cheesy and cringe-worthy.

And just for good measure, the official video to accompany the song, borrows heavily on one produced by the French "shoegazing" (Internet search time, but basically it appears to be "a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s - trust the French to be bang up to date) band Alcest for their 2012 single "Autre temps".

Take a fast forward look at both (click on the links provided) and you'll see that,  as has been pointed out in many comments on YouTube, there's an uncanny resemblance, although the video from Les Prêtres is less dark, more "uplifting" and well...judge for yourself.

Best of luck!

"Top of the Pops" for France's singing priests

"Holy voices singing eternal hits" goes the commercial for the album that is currently taking France by storm.

Move over Lady Gaga. Sorry Black Eyed Peas. And tough for homegrown French talent such as Christophe Maé.

This week's best selling album here in France is none other than "Spiritus Dei" by a group called "Les Prêtres".

Given the name, there are no prizes perhaps for guessing that the group is made up of two real-life priests, Jean-Michel Bardet and Charles Troesch and a seminarist, Dinh Nguyen Nguyen.

A Boys Band with a difference, if you will, and the brainchild of the Bishop of Gap in the southeast of the country, Jean-Michel di Falco.

Now at this point you might be thinking that the album is an ecclesiastical blockbuster - so-to-speak - of hymns or, at the very least, religious music.

And while it's true that you'll find recognisably spiritual tracks such as "Ave Maria", "Ave verum corpus" or the French Christmas carol "Il est né le divin enfant", the trio also decided to tackle some modern standards, which perhaps accounts for the popularity of the album.

There's Jacques Brel's "Quand on a que l'amour" which has been covered by innumerable artists down the years including inevitably perhaps Céline Dion.

The album also includes a version of "Amazing Grace", Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is given an airing and there's "L'envie d'aimer" from the appropriately-named 2000 French musical "Dix Commandements".

All right so the idea might not have been entirely original and Bishop di Falco freely admits that the inspiration for the album was the success of the similarly-named Irish counterparts "The Priests".

It came during a brainstorming session he had with a close friend, the popular 1980's French singer Didier Barbelivien, as to how to raise funds for a school in Madagascar and the construction of a church in the diocese.

After suggesting making an album, Barbelivien then contacted TF1 Musique, who apparently "loved the idea", the Bishop went about recruiting in his diocese and....well the rest is history.

A platinum disc for sales of more than 100,000 copies in France, an appearance on a popular national television show and now a number one album.

Of course the whole success has been helped by the backing of TF1, this country's most-viewed private TV channel, which has regularly aired a clip of the very album it produced.

While surprised by the popularity of the album, the Bishop remains suitably modest about reaching top spot in the charts.

"Naturally we're very happy but at the same time we don't really understand what it all means," he said on national radio.

"But what I can say is that we've been receiving around 30 letters a day for the past couple of weeks from people expressing how much joy and hope the album has given them," he continued.

"And that in itself has to be a sign that the whole project fits in with our calling."

Riding on the wave of success, a series of concerts has also been scheduled in three cities around the country in May and June...in churches of course.



Clip France Bleu "LES PRETRES - SPIRITUS DEI"
envoyé par francebleu. - Regardez plus de clips, en HD !