Friday's French music break - Cats on Trees and Calogero, "Jimmy"

This week's Friday's French music break is from two artists previously featured.

The first is Calogero, is a stalwort of the French music scene who needs little or no introduction to readers in France as he has been around, writing and recording, for the past couple of decades.

Calogero (screenshot RTL performance)

The other is the Toulouse duo of Nina Goern and Yohan Hennequin who are better known as Cats on Trees and rose to prominence with their 2013 hit "Siren's call".

Nina Goern and Yohan Hennequin - Cats on Trees

 Together they've come up with a seamless match in the form of the single "Jimmy".

The 44-year-old Calogero's music is instantly recognisable and he has won several awards including three Victoires de la musique - the French equivalent of the Grammys - for best male artist (2004) and twice for Best original song (2005 with "Si seulement je pouvais lui manquer" and 2015 for "Un jour au mauvais endroit").

Throughout the years, Calogero has teamed up with, and/or (more often) written for,  a number of artists, among them Grand Corps Malade, François Hardy, Pascal Obispo and (inevitably perhaps, as just about every French composer has) Johnny Hallyday.

Given his track record as a successful writer, it's perhaps surprising, if not unusual, that Calogero agreed to accompany the duo on their own composition.

Especially as it failed to make its mark on the charts first time around when Goern and Hennequin released it in 2014.

But Calogero was definitely "up for it" as, according to Cats on Trees' official site, the trio became friends following several joint television and festival appearances.

Goern and Hennequin (who normally write and record in English)  reworked the song to include some French lyrics...et voilà, quoi.

The result - not only a delightfully melodic recording but fitting hit material too.

http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Cats-on-Trees/Jimmy-s36254.html

Enjoy et bon week-end.

Friday's French music break - Calogero, "Le portrait"

Friday's French music break this week comes from an artist who needs little or no introduction to the French.

It's Calogero (Calogero Maurici) with his latest single "Le portrait".

Calogero (screenshot live performance of "Un jour au mauvais endroit" le Grand Studio RTL)

The song is another melodic masterpiece from a man who has well and truly made his mark on the French music scene.

Once again, Calogero delivers an instantly recognisable tune which is more than pleasing to the ear with a voice that matches perfectly.

It's in the tradition of what he describes as pop-rock: another memorable and moving melody along the lines of  "En apesanteur", released in 2002, "Si seulement je pouvais lui manquer" (2004) "Pomme C" (2007) a couple of duos,  "Face à la mer" (2004 with rapper Passi) and "La débâcle des sentiments" (2008 with co Circus band member Stanislas), and, and, and.

Hit on the links to take a listen.

Now, there's a lot of material out there about Calogero and his career including inevitably Wikpedia in French and English (it's worth comparing the two, if you can).

From his beginnings as Charlie, lead singer of the 1980s band Les Charts, his re-emergence at in 2000 as a solo singer and the path which has seen him become an established member of mainstream French music scene.

So there's no need to repeat it all here.

You can simply search the Net, and you'll come up with something.

But it's worth perhaps pointing out just how respected and prominent Calogero has become over the years.

He has written for a number of artists including, Jenifer, Patrick Fiori, Françoise Hardy, Pascal Obispo, Florent Pagny and...of course (because just about every French composer has)...Johnny Hallyday.

And a fair number showed up for a recent edition of the France 2 Saturday evening entertainment programme "Le Grand Show", dedicated to to the 43-year-old and to celebrate 15 years (as a solo artist) as well as the release of his most recent album, "Les Feux d'artifice".

Which brings us back nicely to this week's Friday's French music break - "Le portrait" - the fourth track from the album to be released as a single.

Enough words.

Just listen - and enjoy.

Oh yes...and if you get the chance, try to see him live. He's on tour until April 2015.

Friday's French music break - Dumè, "Maman m'avait dit"

What happens when a Britney (Spears in  her "Oops I did it again" days) rip-off meets (failed) echoes of a wannabe Amy Winehouse "Back to black" melody with a smattering of Julian Perretta's 2012 hit "Wonder why"?

That's right. You get "a monkey at the keyboard mashup" of a song, and this week's Friday's French music break - blessed by its sheer awfulness and lack of musical originality.

It's "Maman m'avait dit", the latest single from Dominique Mattei, better known (really?) under his stage name Dumè.

Dumè (screenshot from "Les chansons d'abord", France 3 - September 2013)

For musical fans among you (as in the all-singing, all dancing comédie musicale of the theatre rather than the term in general) the name might ring a bell as Dumè has been part of the original troupe of "Robin des Bois - Ne renoncez jamais", the hit show (honestly) which opened in Paris in September 2013 and is now on a sellout tour of France.

Dumè plays (sings and dances) the part of Vaisey, the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Success hasn't been an overnight affair for the 32-year-old. Far from it.

His break came after being spotted by Pascal Obispo, one of France's most successful (domestic) singer-songerwriters.

Mattei (as he still was) was invited to be Obispo's opening act for a series of concerts and signed to his label Atletico Music, where he began composing for other artists.

Among those were Johnny Hallyday (well, let's face it, over the years just about everyone and anyone has written for "the biggest rock star you've never heard of", haven't they?) Faudel (anyone remember him?) Natasha St Pier and Louisy Joseph (don't ask, just follow the link)

The biggest rock star you've never heard of

Clearly feeling music listeners in France deserved more though, in 2009 Mattei joined the fan-funded label My Major Company (which has been responsible for launching the careers of artists such as Grégoire, Joyce Jonathan and Irma) changed his name and released his first single "Je ne sais rien faire".

That was back in 2010. It has taken a mere four years for the follow-up single "Maman m'avait dit" which received plenty of pre-release date (April 28) radio play and is the first track to be taken from his debut album "Le moitié du chemin" due out on June 16.

For all it's lack of authenticity, it's a reasonably well-crafted pop song with all the dreadful catchiness of a radio hit.

A short version - the extract which is currently

Just a short version though - the official extract - as that's probably more than enough on which to base your opinion as to what you think about it.

Happy Frrrrrrrrriday's Frrrrrrrrench Music break listening.

Roll on the weekend.

Friday's French music break - Daniel Lévi, "Là bas"

Friday's French music break this week is surely a lesson to any aspiring singer to learn the lyrics and, if performing a popular modern standard, try at least to stick to something resembling the original tune.

Daniel Lévi (screenshot from video of July 14 SOS Racisme concert)

Sadly that's something French singer-song writer Daniel Lévi must wish he had done at the July 14 concert for equality organised by the French anti-racist non-governmental organisation SOS Racisme at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The soon-to-be 50-year-old (he was born on August 26, 1961) was just one of a host of French singers to perform live in front of tens of thousands crammed on to the Champs de Mars, and the many millions watching the event live on France 2 television.

A chance for Lévi to shine and show-off that exceptional and powerful voice which won him so much acclaim when he performed as Moses in Pascal Obispo's 2000 musical "Les dix commandements" (The ten commandments).

But it wasn't to be, as Lévi took to the stage with Indonesian-born French singer-songwriter Anggun and Judith, a former contestant on the TV talent show Star Academy.

The trio were to interpret Jean-Jacques Goldman's "Là bas" in a manner which can only be described as awful.

Now even if you don't like Goldman - and there are plenty who don't - there's no denying the immense talent of the man and the impact he has had over the years on French music.

Many of his songs have become modern French standards and perhaps one that stands out is "Là bas", the 1987 hit he sang with the late Sri Lankan-born British singer Sirima.

It has been covered by many artists throughout the years but none can have been quite as embarrassing and appalling as Lévi's in what turned out to be surely the worst rendition - ever.

During the performance the teleprompter reportedly broke and that - to put it mildly - rather threw Lévi.

The true professional that he clearly wasn't under the circumstances appeared lost without the prompter and, forgetting the lyrics, la-la-la-ed his way through great chunks of the song.

Worse still he was out of tune in both his solos and harmonies and even though he grinned inanely throughout, nobody listening and watching could have been impressed.

Anggun and Judith didn't fare much better and couldn't have been too chuffed about their own performances, but in comparison to Levi, their voices were tunefully angelic.

If you're feeling exceptionally brave and feel those lugholes are up to it, then you might - repeat, might - want to click on the accompanying video to listen and watch.

Be warned though. It really is terrible.

Perhaps you would be better advised to listen to the original which is, quite simply, beautiful.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjx4mk_extrait-la-bas-daniel-levi-judith-et-anggun-page-facebook-welcome-with-paradispop_music


EXTRAIT : Là-Bas - Daniel Lévi , Judith et... par PARADISPOP

Friday's French music break - Florent Pagny and Pascal Obispo "Je laisse le temps faire"

It's two for the price of one this week as Friday's French music break is actually a duet with Florent Pagny joined by Pascal Obispo in "Je laisse le temps faire".

Pascal Obispo (left) and Florent Pagny (screenshot from official clip)

And even if there were no lyrics to the song you would probably be able to tell from the opening bars that it was French.

It's the accordion that gives it away; not an instrument that features regularly in French pop songs, although if you're a lover of Bal-musette you might beg to differ.

Pagny, now 49, released his first album back in 1990 and since then has tried just about every musical (and hair) style.

They (musically-speaking) have included (among others) the dreadful faux-opera "Baryton" album, one dedicated entirely to Jacques Brel songs - "Pagny chante Brel" (he should have known better) and most recently "Tout et son contraire".

But his biggest - and arguably best - songs have come from the pen of Obispo.

It's not the first time the two men have worked together - far from it.

They go back a fair number of years and Obispo, along with his longtime songwriting partner Lionel Florence, has provided a fair number of songs for Pagny including his biggest hit to date, "Savoir aimer" in 1997 and the cleverly catchy "Ma Liberté de penser" in 2003.

In fact Obispo has been a prolific singer-songwriter since the 1980s, recording songs himself such as "L'important c'est d'aimer" (1999), "Millésime" (2001) and "Fan" (2004), a tribute to Michel Polnareff, that have become firm favourites with not just the French but other artists too - given the number of times they've been covered.

The 46-year-old has also written for a host of other singers including Calogero, Johnny Hallyday, Patricia Kaas, and Canadians Natasha St Pier and Garou.

His 2000 hit musical" Les Dix Commandements" (music by Obispo and lyrics by Florence, and Patrice Guirao) spawned several hits including "L'envie d'aimer" sung by Daniel Levi and Yael Naïm's "L.I.B.R.E".

Prolific, as you can probably tell, is something of an understatement when it comes to Obispo, and what's the betting that his new musical, "Adam et Eve, la seconde chance" won't also spin off a hit or two when it opens in January 2012.

In fact the first track from the show "Rien ne se finit" by Thierry Amiel and Cylia is already getting plenty of airplay.

Anyway that has given you some background to the two men.

You can check out Pagny's official website and (an unofficial) one dedicated to Obispo for more info. They're both in French.

In English there are also the rather incomplete Wikipedia entries for the two men: Pagny and Obispo.

And finally there's an excellent biography on Pagny on the Radio France Internationale site, which also includes a little info on Obispo.

For now though, here they both are performing "Je laisse le temps faire" a jolly boozy breeze of a number. HEY!