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5 French Artists to Listen When You Want to Feel Like You Are in An Old French Movie

23 March 2021

5 French Artists

Listen When You Want to Feel Like You Are in An Old French Movie

Whether it be from the 1920’s or 1960’s Yé-Yé girls era, when it comes to French pop music artists, ‘chansons’ usually have a certain melodrama and emotion to it. We bring you a list of 5 French artists.

If you would like to explore the world of French pop, some classical artists with whom are always good to be familiar have great importance and influence on the genre. However, this list contains different time periods. Still, mostly in 1960’s, a few artists that hold great significance such as Édith Piaf and Charles Aznavour are also mentioned as they are considered to be two of the most greatest and influential singers.

Whether you would like to feel as if you are walking on the streets of Paris in the comfort of your home during the Covid-19 pandemic or you enjoy Parisian culture and music, this list of 5 French artists singers is hopefully going to satisfy the francophone in your soul.

1) Édith Piaf

5 French Artists to Listen When You Want to Feel Like You Are in An Old French Movie — Edith Piaf poses for a studio portrait in France, 1940. (Photo by Gilles Petard/Redferns)

Being one of the most impressive singers of French pop music, Édith Piaf is still cherished not only by French people but also by all around the globe to this day. Coming from a life journey paved with poverty and tragedy, she achieved international success with her unique interpretations and strong voice in her twenties. Generally, she specialized in singing chansons and torch ballads about love and loss.

Since the beginning of her career in cabarets and clubs, the stage name ‘La Môme Piaf’ meaning ‘The Little Sparrow’ was given to her. After her singing career that spun off from cabarets and leading to her becoming a highly demanded artist in the late 1940’s in Paris, later in America and then internationally, she had a tragic case of cancer that eventually claimed her life at the age of 47. She left a wonderful chansons discography that reminds the rest of the world of its culture emerged in cabarets of Paris.

Starting with The Little Sparrow’s discography, this album consisting of her greatest songs will be a good recommendation. Some of her greatest contributions to the world of French music such as ‘La Vie En Rose’, ‘Sous le ciel de Paris’ and ‘La foule’ which has a joyous melody yet sad lyrics are available in the song collection album in her name: ‘Edith Piaf – All The Best’.

2) Françoise Hardy

Being considered to be one of the Yé-Yé girls in the 1960’s, Françoise’s style and apparence stood out from others as she was not commercialized as a ‘Lolita’ at the time. Her attitude was ‘Bob Dylanesque’ since she come across as folksy with her fashion style. Her music appeared as pop music with hints of jazz and blues. Being born and raised in Paris, this singer and song-writer paved the way for many female artists as she gave a voice for others in predominant male music industry at that time.

The album that we recommend consists of her older hits reflecting the folksy side of her music. Furthermore, one of her greatest songs ‘Tous les garçons et les filles’ is in the album as it was named after her first single which had sold 2 millions in 1961. ‘Le temps de l’amour’ is an another recommendation that has an air of garage rock with French pop melodies.

3) Brigitte Bardot

Continuing with Yé-Yé girls, Brigitte Bardot was a singer but most of the people remember her from French new-wave movies, later.

However, the actress also had a background in singing. Although she had songs which were commercialized after her some movies such as Bonnie and Clyde and Une Parisienne, she managed to release albums with singer/song-writer Serge Gainsburg like ‘Behind Brigitte Bardot’ in 1960, ‘Brigitte Bardot Sings’ in 1963 and ‘Special Bardot’ in 1968, and she achieved to score a couple of hits.

The album ‘Brigitte’ involves some of her greatest hits such as ‘La Madrague’, ‘Les amis de la musique’ and ‘L’appareil à sous’. This album is energising and cheerful in general except for the song ‘Une histoire de la plage’ which is the only slow song of the album. It is entertaining and takes you in a journey back to the times of noir et blanc movies.

4) Julliette Greco

Artist — Julliette Greco – ‘La Collection Harcourt’ , Wagram records, Release date: 2018

With her alto and a bit rough voice, Julliette Greco was counted as a great muse for post-war theatre and art in Paris. Even Jean Paul Sartre said “Gréco has a million poems in her voice”.

Aside from being a muse for post-war bohemian Paris, she was also known for her acting and she was one of the French pop pioneers in 1960’s. Throughout her career, she had pursued chanson française tradition. One of her songs ‘La Javanaise’ which was written by song-writer Serge Gainsburg in 1963 is an obvious example of her style. She also interpreted the classic ‘ Sous le ciel de Paris’ and an another signature song was ‘Déshabillez-Moi’.

‘L’essentielle’ can be a good choice to explore the artist’s work, as it contains a wide variety of her essential songs and lesser-known recordings to listen to. ‘Il n’y a plus d’apres’, ‘La Javainase’, ‘Les Enfants Terribles’ are some of the works on the album for most listeners. Moreover, all of these songs are going to make you feel addicted to her voice.

5) Charles Aznavour

He was born in 1924 and before he got his stage name, Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian was his original name. He was born into an Armenian immigrant family that were artists, too. He started to sing at an early age. He sang at restaurants, dropped out of school and obtained the stage name ‘Aznavour’.

Later in his life, he got a chance to meet Edith Piaf. She guided him from the beginning of his career in singing, and helped him with voice training. He showed his talent by writing songs for Edith Piaf and giving them to her.

For all of his career, he was one of the most productive artists in his field. He wrote thousands of songs for singers and managed to record 91 studio albums.

He had a strong influence on the French chanson tradition. This can be seen in through modern chansons. Although Aznavour’s songs sound as if they are for older generations to listen to. During his era, their lyrics contained a lot of controversial and taboo subjects including homosexuality, which was seen as progressive in his time.

All of Aznavour’s discopgraphy is recommended. However, he has a lot of albums, therefore it can be confusing to figure out what his best and most-known works are.

To start with, in 1972 ‘Idiote, Je t’aime’ is one of those albums that he gained recognition for. The effect of 70’s sounds on global pop music can still be heard as they replicate his songs. If one looks for more regarding his classical chansons, 1966 ‘La Bohème’ will provide the classical ‘Aznavour’ sound to the listener. In1964 ‘Que c’est triste Venise’ can be seen as his moody work, and modern jazz in 1960’s can be heard in the album too.

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İlayda Su Sungar

A business student who is eager to learn about art, culture, music and social sciences.

5 French Artists to Listen When You Want to Feel Like You Are in An Old French Movie

5 French Artists