For some, she recalls nostalgic memories of the sixties, performing “Poupée de cire, poupée de son” and “Sacré Charlemagne”. For others, she’s an eighties pop star, the unforgettable singer behind “Résiste”, “Ella, elle l’a” and “Il jouait du piano debout”. Who really was Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall, born on October 9, 1947, and who died aged 70 on January 7, 2018? This is the question we answer through five major records in this pop Rewind dedicated to France Gall. Let’s go!
France Gall (1976)
We’re kicking things off with the eponymous album, France Gall. Released in 1976, it was the artist’s tenth record. However, she considered it to be her first, as the previous nine were compilations of the hit singles that marked the start of her career, with various arrangers and songwriters, including Serge Gainsbourg, who provided her with some delicious pop miniatures such as the famous single “Les sucettes”. Michel Berger, whom she met in 1973 after having discovered his song “Attends-moi”, quickly became an important part of her career and love life. For their first collaboration, France lent her voice to Michel’s song “Mon fils rira du rock’n’roll”, from his second album Chansons pour une fan.
The first song written by Michel for France, “La Déclaration d’amour”, was released two years before the album in 1974. France Gall was surprised by Michel’s choice, as she wrote in the liner notes of her 2004 anthology record: “First record, first song. I had such high expectations that when he played the song for me on the piano, I was… How can I put this? A little disappointed. I was hoping for a rhythmic song, and here I was with a sensual declaration of love. The day we went into the studio, I was a bit tense. After one or two takes, Michel was happy.”
The public also endorsed the new couple. It had been a decade since “Sacré Charlemagne” (which she hated) and songs created by Gainsbourg, who continued to write for singers and actresses such as Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot, Isabelle Adjani and Catherine Deneuve.
In 1978, during the television show Numéro Un, Gainsbourg paid tribute to France Gall while talking with Michel Berger, “France Gall saved my life, because I was an outsider. In 1964, “N’écoute pas les idoles”, in 1965 the Eurovision contest with “Poupée de cire, poupée de son” and then doors began to open. I’m no longer an outsider, but you’re the one who’s with France Gall.”
Dancing Disco (1977)
Rewind 2 and we’re getting the disco ball out. In the year of punk (1977), France and Michel decided to opt for the dancefloor. Dancing Disco is a concept album that opens with the title song and finishes eight tracks later with “Si maman si”, which was a hit single. France and Michel were accompanied by a horde of talented artists, both French (Christian Padovan and Pascal Arroyo on bass) and British (Ray Cooper on percussion and Simon Phillips on drums). And this time around, she became one of the few pop artists who managed to appeal to the general public while earning the respect of critics. Berger, however, was somewhat frustrated at being cataloged as a pop artist while performing with American and British pop rock stars (including the musicians from Toto).
When the couple traveled to San Francisco for their honeymoon, they discovered the club scene with its mega discos and sound systems with thumping bass. This is the main inspiration behind this album, which strays more into elegant Chic-inspired funk territory than that of the bombastic disco of the Village People and The Ritchie Family. Michel Berger’s first number one hit was the album’s single “Musique”, which allowed France to prove that she was, alongside Véronique Sanson, the most technically skilled French vocalist, capable of successfully holding her own against the formidable groove of the band accompanying her.
But the album wouldn’t be complete without ballads recounting the musical intimacy of this couple, both in the city and in the studio: “Le meilleur de soi-même” and above all “Si maman si”, her very own “Let It Be”, as journalist Yves Bigot puts it. In this gentle song, there’s also a touch of cruelty. Michel’s lyrics can be interpreted as a reference to his break-up with Véronique Sanson, his former lover, who had left to marry Stephen Stills in the USA.
The success of Dancing Disco would be one of the elements that took France Gall to the stage. But this time, gone were the seventies yé-yé sets with their old-fashioned orchestras; she wanted something new, something modern. The result was Made In France in 1978, a show that she launched at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with the drag queen duo Les Étoiles (who performed an interlude during the show) and an all-female band. France entered the stage to “Poupée de cire…” before quickly moving on to “Musique”, the hit that symbolized her musical renaissance. In 1979, she portrayed Cristal in Starmania, Michel Berger’s rock opera, whose success spanned decades, even being revived with young, largely unknown performers almost 45 years after its creation.
Tout pour la Musique (1981)
Rewind 3, and we’re stepping boldly into the eighties with Tout pour la musique. This platinum-certified record, boosted by the hit “Résiste”, confirmed the singer’s immense popularity. It follows on from the LP Paris, France, also platinum-certified, which featured the famous “Il jouait du piano debout”. Elton John, who spent the summer of 1980 in Nice, heard this hit all day long, as well as Michel Berger’s “La groupie du pianiste”, and wanted to record with the power couple.
A duo album and a tour were planned, but neither project saw the light of day. While “Il jouait du piano debout” was dedicated to Jerry Lee Lewis (and not Elton John, as some believed at the time), “Résiste” became the anthem for the presidential victory of François Mitterrand, elected a few days before the album’s release. France Gall, who had supported Giscard in 1974, had gone over to the left with Berger. Starmania was even performed at the Élysée Palace for President Mitterrand and Prince Charles, who was visiting Paris at the time.
The album opens with “Tout pour la musique”, which was Berger’s fifth number one hit. It includes another of France’s successes, “Diego libre dans sa tête”. The song, which Michel Berger had written for himself, was given to France, who turned gold into platinum. Berger also sang it, two years after France, on his 1983 album Voyou. It was covered with equal success in 1990 by Johnny Hallyday for his series of concerts at POP Bercy, and was released as a single from the live album Dans la chaleur de Bercy.
Débranche ! (1984)
1984, Rewind 4: Débranche ! isn’t an acoustic record, but another success, as it received a double platinum certification. The singer wrote the following words on the record cover: “I dedicate this record to all those who don’t just hear me, but also listen to me… I’m giving it to you. Only the wise and the insane need no one. I need you.” Alain Chamfort and Lio sang backing vocals on “Calypso”, the third single, which name-dropped Dario Moreno, The Police and… Toto, several of whose members had previously recorded with Michel.
The last single from the record, “Cézanne peint”, was the least successful. Nevertheless, it would be an important step in France’s musical and intellectual evolution. The cultural word took an interest in the Gall/Berger couple, and for the first time, France was invited to appear on Jacques Chancel’s iconic show, Le Grand Échiquier. One of the album’s lesser known tracks, “Tu comprendras quand tu seras plus jeune”, was directly inspired by Bob Dylan’s song “My Back Pages” (I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now), further proof of Michel Berger’s pop culture credentials – in his youth, he wrote a comparative thesis on Jimi Hendrix’s first two albums!
Babacar (1987)
The fifth and final Rewind is an LP that tugs on the heartstrings with the incredible single titled “Babacar”, which was based on a real-life encounter. The couple, who were admiring spectators of the Live Aid concert that united British, Irish and American pop stars to fight famine in Ethiopia, had long been involved in humanitarian causes. The album’s title track is “Babacar”. The song was written after meeting an African mother who “offered” her child to the couple because she couldn’t afford to feed him.
This storytelling is also a testament to the commitment of the era’s stars in providing Africa with aid, something that was championed in particular by Daniel Balavoine. This close friend of the couple, initiator of numerous humanitarian projects and leading figure in the French Charity Business of the eighties died tragically in a helicopter accident. The song “Évidemment” is dedicated to him, and France was so distraught that she had to re-record her vocals several times. She had to “forget” the true meaning of the lyrics in order to deliver her crystalline performance, transforming this sad melody into a new Gall/Berger hit.
“Ella elle l’a”, another memorable song, is not in a jazz tempo, but evokes France’s passion for the genre, which she considered to be the source of her early identity as a singer. Accompanied by a video celebrating some of history’s greatest black icons, the song was a hit beyond France’s borders: in Europe, the video was aired by MTV. This music video even influenced U2 for their “Angel of Harlem” video.
This ultimate 5-hit triumph was continued with a French tour packed with astonishing visuals and accompanied by the guest Phenix Horns (horn section for Earth, Wind & Fire) and Senegalese drumming master Doudou N’Diaye Rose. But after all these accomplishments, France decided to retire, not wanting to “become an old singer”. Even Michel Berger couldn’t persuade her to change her mind. Her death at the age of 70 left a void. We’re left with her legacy – a large handful of groove albums and yé-yé singles – like a pop funk notebook from the good old days, a testament to the carefree spirit of another era.
