July 2024
Hello everyone,
Françoise Hardy
Of course, like many among you, I was deeply moved by Françoise's recent death. But, as I said in an interview with Le Figaro on my 80th birthday: for me, she is still alive, she will remain eternal. So I thought I'd dedicate this month's letter to her, and tell you how Françoise - or her image - has been a big part of my life.1944 : Françoise was just a few months old when I was born in Tamatave, Madagascar
Early 60's : Françoise and I discovered at the same time, by chance, on our transistors, a different radio from all the others, Two Oh Eight, Radio Luxembourg: only English and American hits; from this music which she liked was born the desire to write songs; idem for me.
1961 : She signed her first contract with Vogue, I did 4 years later, with a different team from hers. Of course, as soon as she sang "Tous les garçons et les filles de mon âge" (All the boys and girls my age), I found myself, like so many others, "on the street, my soul in pain".
1964 : my first meeting with Françoise, if one can call it a meeting, at the Olympia, she was sitting in the front row of a show by, I think, French singer Hugues Aufray; she was so beautiful, so serene, that I didn't even dare ask her for an autograph.
12 April 1966 : the recent success of my ramblings leads me to appear in the "Photo of the Century" (according to Wikipedia)featured in the very popular magazine Salut Les Copains », right next to Françoise; neither she nor I seem enchanted to be there. Perhaps because next to her is a young singer called Benjamin, whom Françoise's artistic director has just launched to compete with me. He hadn't found Jacques Dutronc yet!
At the same time, Jean-Marie Périer, who has often become the confidant of French or foreign stars, when I explain to him that the excessive success that has beset me has caused problems for my partner, Joëlle, confides in me that he and Françoise are finished, and that "Quand c'est râpé, c'est râpé! ( when it's ccoked, it's cooked »)
A few days later, unknown three months earlier, I top the bill for 15 days at the Olympia ! Françoise came to the première of the show, which my manager, Christian Fechner, had pompously christened "Le grand tournant". Jean-Marie, who accompanied her, told me that to a journalist who questioned her at the exit, she replied, amused, "It's the big turning point".
June 1966 Jean Marie Périer photographed me on the Champs Elysées, where he had installed a carpet, a sumptuous armchair and an Afghan greyhound at my feet; the photo makes the cover of the magazine... 60 years later I discovered that he later took the same photo with Françoise!
January 1967: The first MIDEM, the music publishing fair, opens; the Vogue evening is presented by Françoise, Jacques Dutronc and me. Françoise, who sometimes makes nice gaffes, explains to the audience that Pierre Perret, who comes to sing his first hits accompanying himself on guitar "is very lucky, because he doesn't need musicians" she says in front of the Festival's big orchestra...
June 1967 : my song "Pietre" becomes an incredible success in Italy, leading me to do many shows, broadcasts and tours there. As Françoise was often in Italy at the time, the Italian branch of Vogue records published (I don't remember anyone asking our permission!) an album entitled "Antoine et Françoise", which included six songs by each of us, but no duets.
A few weeks later, on a ferry to Sicily in the company of the Giro d'Italia champions, I suddenly fall madly in love, not with Françoise, but with a photo of her taken by Jean-Marie Périer, This photo inspires me to write a "Chanson devant la photo de mon idole", which I record a few days later in the Vogue studios. That same summer, Françoise and I are on the programme of a music festival in Venice, and the record company puts us both up at the legendary Hotel du Lido in Venice; the two of us have a very romantic dinner together; she has heard the song in which I talk about this photo: "It must be nice to be able to tell someone that you have written a song for her ».
For the record, to this day I haven't managed to find the photo that moved me so much; I couldn't find it in the spring 67 issues of SLC... would it have appeared in Mademoiselle Age Tendre, another Filippacchi publication in which Jean-Marie also worked... Fans beware, a gift to anyone who finds this photo, a full-page portrait of Françoise published in the spring of 1967.
At the end of 1967 or 1968 , we were both invited to a festival in the small spa town of Salsomaggiore. I was sitting next to Françoise all evening, then got up to sing "Canela" in Italian; the orchestral part of the song came on, and I unexpectedly took Françoise's hand to invite her to take a few steps to the jazzy rhythm of the song... bad idea ! She would confirm it: Françoise - who didn't dare refuse, as the programme was being broadcast live - has absolutely no sense of dance...
Around 1971 , I put a small number of impressions in my repertoire, including French singers Claude François, Moustaki, Johnny and Jacques Dutronc, who's become Françoise's husband. I presented it on television, and the next day I met Françoise, who told me she burst out laughing when I impersonated Dutrons, singing :
"Je suis l'dauphin d'la place Dauphine et j'ai visité tout Paris
The Seine, the Etoile, the Louvre and I've even visited Françoise Hardy".
Years go by...
2012 : French singer Stanislas asked me to record an album of new songs, and I sang on very popular Michel Drucker's programme the « song Demain Cayenne". Françoise, whom I hadn't met for years, approached me at the end of the recording, and complimented me on this song, a precious compliment for me - and a rare one coming from her.
2013 : I chose to mobilise against a stupid and cruel bill which claims to want to protect prostitutes, but which in fact aims to make their activity - despite being highly respectable and essential to our society- impossible because more dangerous. Along with dozens of other artists (Aznavour, Deneuve, Florence Arthaud, Mireille Darc, and many others), Thomas Dutronc signed our declaration without hesitation, and gave me Françoise's email address. She preferred not to join us as she had recently been violently attacked on a similar subject, but declared she was in complete agreement with us : "By the way," she told me, "when Thomas was 14, I often went out with a friend who was a call-girl. One day Thomas asked me what she did for a living,I told him, and Thomas asked mewhether she could be
Around 2020 a journalist asked Françoise about her Italian period, telling her about our evening in Venice, and declaring "Antoine must have found me to his taste because he had written a very pretty song for me" "To find it to his taste"... the expression seemed curiously outdated in his mouth... I listened to the song again, and it did indeed begin by "I thought I'd f »ind no one one to my taste...
June 2024 A young, friendly surgeon operated on me to remove my cataracts; he was used to operating to music, and while I was lying there, ready for the operation, he told me about the recently announced death of Françoise Hardy; I told him about the adventure of the "Chanson devant la Photo de mon idole", and immediately he went on the Internet... and played the song while he operated on me... he even ordered the record... I regained my youthful sight with the memory of Françoise Hardy
Thanks to Erik Dorme, a great collector and fan of Françoise, for these documents. We'll meet again at the beginning of the new school year, on 1 September... In the meantime, I wish you a great summer. AntoinePrevious letter | Next letter
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