Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy (born January 17, 1944 in Paris) is a French singer and actress. She had long hair and usually wore jeans with a leather jacket while accompanying her songs on the guitar.
Biography
In the 1950s, Hardy was inspired by early rock recordings to pick up guitar, and was already writing her own songs by the time she was a teenager. By the age of 17, she was already singing her own compositions in French clubs, and successfully auditioned for Vogue Records in France in late 1961. Her debut EP appeared the following year, inaugurating a series of successful EPs and albums that would last through the '60s.
Françoise Hardy signed her first contract with the record label Vogue in November 1961. After shortly finishing school, her recording career began in 1962 with her first album Oh oh Chéri with the title song written by Johnny Hallyday's writing duo. The flipside of the record, "Tous les garçons et les filles" became a huge hit all over Europe, with 2 million copies sold.
"Tous les garçons et les filles" reached number 36 in the UK charts in June 1964 after the release of her first songs in English. Other UK chart entries were "Et même" (31 in January 1965) and "All over the world" (16 in March 1965).
Hardy sang of young love with both fetching moodiness and unrestrained ebullience; although she often wrote both her music and lyrics, and some have been translated from her native tongue into English, Italian, Spanish and German, she often co-wrote tunes with others as well. She was greatly aided by a number of talented arrangers who seemed to be attempting (usually successfully) to blend American and British production sophistication with a Continental European sensibility. Charles Blackwell was the most notable and effective of these figures; in 1964, interestingly, she recorded some tracks under the direction of the great American R&B guitarist Mickey Baker (yes, the same one who played on Mickey & Sylvia's "Love Is Strange"), who was then based in France.
In 1963, she represented Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest, being placed 5th with her song "L'amour s'en va".
Françoise appeared in the following films - "Chateau en Suède" (1963), "Une balle au coeur" (1965), "What's New Pussycat?" (1966), "Masculin-Féminin" (1966), and "Grand Prix" (1967).
During the 1960's, Françoise was photographed with many of the top music stars, including Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan.
Bob Dylan asked to meet with Françoise when he came to Paris for a concert at the Olympia in 1966. On the cover of his LP "Another Side of Bob Dylan", released in 1964, he had written a long poem "Some other kinds of songs", which included the following -
for françoise hardy
at the seine's edge
a giant shadow
of notre dame
seeks t' grab my foot
sorbonne students
whirl by on thin bicycles
swirlin' lifelike colors of leather spin
the breeze yawns food
far from the bellies
of erhard meetin' johnson
piles of lovers
fishing
kissing
lay themselves on their books. boats.
old men
clothed in curly mustaches
float on the benches
blankets of tourists
in bright red nylon shirts
with straw hats of ambassadors ...
In 1981, she married her long-time companion Jacques Dutronc, with whom she had already had a son (Thomas Dutronc) in 1973. In May 2000, she had a comeback with the album Clair Obscur. Her son played the guitar, and her husband sang the duet "Puisque vous partez en voyage." Iggy Pop and Étienne Daho participated, as well. She currently lives near Paris.
Actress - filmography
1972 The Doves
1966 Masculine Feminine
1966 Devil at My Heels
1966 Grand Prix
1965 Une Balle Au Coeur
1965 What's New Pussycat?
1965 Altissima Pressione
1963 Un Château en Suède
Selected discography
Tous les garçons et les filles (1962)
Le premier bonheur du jour (1963)
Mon amie la rose (1964)
L'amitié (1965)
Françoise Hardy in Deutschland (1965)
La maison où j'ai grandi (1966)
Françoise Hardy in English (1966)
Ma jeunesse fout le camp (1967)
Comment te dire adieu (1968)
Françoise Hardy en Anglais (1969)
Germinal (1970)
Soleil (1970)
One-Nine-Seven-Zero (1970)
Träume (1970)
La Question (1971)
Et si je m'en vais avant toi (1972)
If You Listen (1972)
Message Personnel (1973)
Entr'acte (1974)
Star (1977)
J'écoute de la musique saoûle (1978)
Gin Tonic (1980)
A Suivre (1981)
Quelqu'un qui s'en va (1982)
Décalages (1988)
Le Danger (1996)
Clair Obscur (2000)
Tant de belles choses (2004)
