Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Bonjour Chanson Series 7, Episode 35

Bonjour Chanson Series 7, Episode 35

Play Track 01 (seconds 0:05 to 0:31) ? “Depuis Toujours”.

Start text segment 1 ? Welcome to “Bonjour Chanson”. We bring you French Language Popular Music because we think you will enoy it, especially when we’ll tell you about the artists and the songs in English. My name is Charles Spira and I’ll be your host. You heard an excerpt from the song “Since Always” by the band “Louise Attaque”. We’ll tell you more about this band at the end of the show when we’ll play the entire song.

We start our show with the song “Black on White” recorded in 2010 by Francoise Hardy whose career spans more than 30 years and who was able to change with the times, remaining at the top of her profession What has never changed has been her quiet, gentle, introvert personality, very rare in a person who is a chanteuse, a composer, a fashion model and a movie artist, In her recent album “The Rain without an Umbrella”, she stays faithful to the tradition of French Chanson and knocks it out of the ballpark. “Black on white, I write my words my nerves on edge, without crash-barrier nor pretence, at point blank far too frequently. White or black, maybe it is not too late to leave my ivory tower? If you walk by me without seeing me, maybe the pain would be worth the prize of a detour. ” Ms. Francoise Hardy. End text segment 1

Play Track 02 ? Noir Sur Blanc

Start Text segment 2 ? We heard Francoise Hardy in Noir Sur Blanc.

Stanislas Renoult breathes music from every pore. By the time he was 12, he was adept at music theory and had sung on the opera stage with with performers such as Pavarotti. At age 22 he was the musical director of an orchestra and he is also the founder of the “Paris Pop Orchestra”. But there is another side to him. At the time he was on stage at the Opera he also sang in a Rock Group. He also wrote music for the likes of Charles Aznavour and Calogero. He became close friends with the latter. We listen to the song “The Crows’ Nest” from 2009. “The lookout in the crow’s nest looks down at the small figures below and gets drunk with the fever of heights. But he is also lonely up high and he wants to share the beauty of that vantage point.” Here is Stanislas. ? End Text segment 2.

Play Track 03 ? La Vigie

Text segment 3 ? Stanislas interpreted “La Vigie”

Emmanuelle Seigner of France is a multi-talented artist. Born in Paris in 1966, she became a successful fashion model at age 14. She has acted in many French and English language movies, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “La Vie en Rose”, both from 2007 are outstanding examples. She has been married since 1989 to filmmaker Roman Polanski who has directed her in several movies. In 2006 she became the lead singer of the Pop Rock Band “Ultra Orange”. In 2009 her first French Language album, “Dingue” wich means “crazy” appeared. We listen to the track “To Love One Another so Much”. “Do you know how much I love you, and if you love me as much, too bad how much one of us is the loser. I prefer that we leave each other one hundred thousand times like before, than that we blame and hurt each other stubbornly. Ms. Emmannuelle Seigner. ? End of Text segment 3.

Play Track 04 (0 :10 to fadeout at 2 :15) ? Autant s’Aimer Autant..

Text segment 4 ? Emmannuelle Seigner interpreted “Autant s’Aimer Autant.”.

Charlelie Couture is truly a unique artist. He is not merely a singer/songwriter but also a celebrated painter and photographer. He was born in Nancy in 1956. He hated to leave that city but he did eventually go on musical tours throughout France and performed as far as Autstralia, a country that made a great impression on him. He has experimented with many music styles, but his musical temperament and voice particlularly lend themselves to the blues. He has said of himself. I do not write songs. I write poems which I put to music. We now listen to his song “Like an airplane without wings” which was recorded in the U.S. in 1981. “Like an airplane without wings, I have sung all night. And I have sung for her who did not believe me all night long. Although I cannot fly away I shall go until the end. Oh yes I want to play, even if I hold no aces. You pretend to look elsewhere, you even say that I scare you, but I can hardly stand straight, exhausted like a dancer.” Here is Charlelie. ? End of text segment 4.

Play Track 05 ? Comme un Avion Sans Ailes

Text segment 5 ? Charlelie Couture interpreted “Comme Un Avion Sans Ailes”.

The French singer song-writer Zazie who was born in 1964 is exuberant and funky and refuses to take herself seriously (why else would a descendant of an aristocratic family who answers to the name “Isabelle de Truchis d Varennes” choose the name Zazie?. For ten years she was a fashion model, then grew tired of that world and started a musical career. Since the nineties she has occupied an important place in French Music. She has written many songs for herself and other prominent artists. Several of these songs have become great successes. Let’s hear “I am a Man” from 2007. “I am a cro-magnon man, I am a monkey or a fish, on the earth in every season, I turn and turn. I am a man full of ambitions. Beautiful car and beautiful home. In the bedroom and living room I turn and turn. Seated in front of the television, I am the negation of man, a pure consumer product, but I pay my bills. ” Here is Zazie in “I Am a Man” ? End of text segment 5.

Play Track 06 (fadeout at 3:55) ? Je Suis Un Homme.

Text segment 6 ? We heard Zazie in « Je Suis Un Homme. »

The French Rock Group “Louise Attaque” which will close our show made history. It was founded in 1994 by two High School students Gaetan Roussel and Robin Feix. They were totally unknown when they published their first album in 1997, yet it sold 2.5 million copies, a number not surpassed to date by any French Rock Album. They proved that they could succeed by going on tour and by word of mouth, while being totally ignored by mainstream radio. In 2001, burned out , the group which by then counted several members, separated. They got together again two years later. We listen to the song “Since Always” from 2005. (“Days do not last eternally, said a star to the sun. Circumnavigating the world, that I can do, since always said the moon to the earth, whose colors are marvels brought forth from the past, or from the sun. In the dark or under the light, they mix together under the sea. Have they been mixing forever. ”). Here is Louise Attaque. ? End of text segment 6

Play Track 01 ? Depuis Toujours

Text segment 7 ? We listened to “Louise Attaque in ”Depuis Toujours”..

This is the end of our show. Bonjour Chanson was recorded in the studios of WYPR in Baltimore. Jonathan Ehrens is the producer. I am Charles Spira and we invite you to check out our next show.