Sylvie Vartan - Music Legends Sylvie Vartan : L'icône des Yéyés '2024

Tracks list

Tracklist:

1. Tous mes copains (02:35)
2. Le loco-motion (02:14)
3. Baby c'est vous (02:37)
4. Dansons (01:55)
5. Je suis libre (02:21)
6. Quand le film est triste (02:58)
7. Les vacances se suivent (02:34)
8. L'amour c'est aimer la vie (01:59)
9. M'amuser (02:20)
10. Sois pas cruel (Don't Be Cruel) (02:40)
11. Cri de ma vie (02:24)
12. Un p'tit je ne sais quoi (One Track Mind) (02:02)
13. Fais ce que tu veux (01:36)
14. Bye Bye Love (01:48)
15. Ne le déçois pas (02:17)
16. Oui c'est lui (03:11)
17. Qui aurait dit ça (02:32)
18. Le petit lascar (02:00)
19. Gong Gong (02:19)
20. Aussi loin que j'irai (01:58)
21. Nous deux ça colle (Let's Get Together) (02:15)
22. Tout au long du calendrier (01:30)
23. Il est à toi mon coeur (02:16)
24. Est-ce que tu le sais (03:04)
25. Comme l'été dernier (01:56)
26. Madison Twist (02:17)
27. Moi je pense encore à toi (02:09)


 moreVartan was born Sylvie Georges Vartanian in Iskretz, Bulgaria during
WWII, seven years after her brother Eddie. Her parents were originally from
Georgia and worked for the French embassy. After Bulgaria was invaded by the
Soviets in September 1944 -- a month after her birth -- the Vartan's house was
confiscated, prompting the family to relocate to Bulgaria's capitol and largest
city, Sofia. Due to changing circumstances in the country, they decided to leave
and emigrated to Paris, France, arriving in December 1952 after a three-day
train ride. They were shocked at the abundance of food, gifts, and other
products readily available for purchase. Georges Vartan procured work as a night
porter and the family stayed in a hotel for several years, cramped in a single
room. The children, who could not speak a word of French, found it difficult to
adapt. Nevertheless, through sheer hard work, Sylvie managed to pass her entry
exam to the Lycée Victor Hugo.

In 1960, the Vartans moved into an apartment. Sylvie entered the Hélène
Boucher Lycée for Girls. Her mother advised her to specialize in foreign
languages, at which she seemed gifted. That advice would serve her well in the
future. Around this time, she began to take an interest in rock & roll (Bill
Haley and Elvis Presley) and jazz -- her bother had become a professional
trumpeter). That same year, Eddie gave up his legal studies to become first an
artistic director for RCA France, and then a record producer. Almost immediately
he persuaded his sister to sing a duet with Frankie Jordan -- "Panne
d’essence" -- released as the flipside to one of his singles.
Unexpectedly, the B-side became the hit and Vartan, uncredited on the sleeve,
received her first opportunity to sing on television. She was well-received by
the press, which dubbed her "la collégienne du twist" ("the twisting
schoolgirl"). By the fall of 1961, she had signed her own deal with Decca and
that December issued her debut EP, whose hit track was "Quand Le Film Est
Triste," a cover of Sue Thompson's "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)." The label rushed
out her version of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say," and put her on-stage at the
L'Olympia that same month as the opening act for Vince Taylor. In July of 1962
she toured the country with Gilbert Bécaud and performed in her second
concert at L'Olympia with Johnny Hallyday. In autumn she released her version of
"The Loco-Motion" and her first LP, simply titled Sylvie, followed shortly
thereafter with the single "Tous Mes Copains." Vartan also had her first adult
part in a movie playing a singer in the film Un Clair de Lune à Maubeuge. In
1963, Paul Anka offered her the song "I'm Watching You," which became her first
international hit in Japan and Korea, resulting in the smash LP Twiste et
Chante. She rounded out the year with four TV specials and became the doyenne of
teen magazines. Of the 32 tracks she released between 1962 and 1963, six landed
in the European Top 20. Late in 1963, Vartan toured France with Johnny Hallyday
and starred with him in the movie D'où Viens-Tu, Johnny? Shortly thereafter,
they traveled to Nashville to record with the Jordanaires, resulting in the
album À Nashville. The pair were engaged in 1964, just before Hallyday went
to perform his compulsory military service, and Vartan released her self-titled
album, which proved her entry into the yé-yé universe. Its single, "La
Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser," became her most recognizable hit. Eddie Vartan
hired two English songwriting session musicians, Tommy Brown on drums and Mick
Jones (later of Foreigner) on guitar. All went to record in New York City, where
they penned Sylvie's hit "Cette Lettre-Là." The track marked her first TV
variety show performance on the Ed Sullivan Show as a promo for her full-length
Gift Wrapped from Paris.

Vartan and Hallyday married in 1965 and gave birth to a son in August of 1966.
Though she took a couple of months off, she recorded and released more hits in
1966 and 1967, all of which were delivered in television variety show
appearances, including "Dis Moi, Que Tu M'aimes" (where she was accompanied by a
group of male dancers) and "Le Jour Qui Vient" in early 1968; both hit number
one in France, as did "2'35 de Bonheur" and "Comme Un Garçon." These tracks
all registered chart success in Italy, Belgium, Japan, and Korea as well. In
April, Vartan sustained serious injuries in an automobile accident, but she
recovered quickly and was back in the studio and on television, as well as at
the L'Olympia by December. The following year, Vartan delivered nine Saturday
night appearances on Italy's national television station, which aided her single
"Zum Zum Zum" in becoming a hit. She toured the globe in the aftermath and
returned to Italy for more shows, including a television special. Her
sophisticated, proto-Las Vegas stage show gained press notice across Europe for
her numerous costume changes and dance routines. In 1970, she was involved in a
second serious car accident, this time with Hallyday. He was unharmed, but
Vartan was seriously injured. Extensive plastic surgery on her face was
required. She convalesced in New York, where she met Jojo Smith, Barbra
Streisand's choreographer, who masterminded her future American-style review
shows. Nonetheless, by year's end she was back. She performed at L'Olympia and
toured Japan the following spring; she was warmly received for recording three
songs in Japanese. She returned to the cinema, acting in director Harry Kumel's
Malpertuis; the film also featured Orson Welles in its cast.

With her American-style stage show -- complete with a large chorus of backing
singers -- at L’Olympia in December of 1972, she offered audiences more
rock-based material, but did cover Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas" and "Mon
Père," the latter offered as a tribute to her father, who died in 1970. In
1973, she cut her first duet with her husband. The single "J’ai un
Problème" quickly attained gold certification. The pair toured that summer
before Vartan undertook another Japanese tour, which resulted in an acclaimed,
best-selling double-live album. From March to May of 1975, she appeared on
Italian TV in the eight-episode series Punto e Basta and followed it with a
summer tour with Jean-Jacques Debout that culminated in a concert with Hallyday
in Narbonne. In October she planned a series of performances at the Palais de
Congrès in Paris, a larger venue than she was used to in France; she hired
the American choreographer Walter Painter to coach her army of dancers. The most
vampish of French singers in elaborate costumes triumphed in those concerts and
shows, and resulted in an ensuing tour. Following these activities, Vartan took
a sabbatical to the U.S. with her son. She returned to the Palais de Congrès
for a new show in 1977, Qu’est-ce Qui Fait Pleurer Les Blondes?, after
her 1976 album of the same name. Her concerts added more dazzling touches to her
singing.

Albums released during the '70s, including Je Chante Pour Swanee, Shang Shang A
Lang, Fantaisie, and I Don't Want the Night to End, all charted in Europe and
Japan.

In 1980, Hallyday and Vartan divorced after 15 years of marriage. In 1981, she
opened a performance school in Paris, and followed it the next year with two
more schools in Japan. She also released the acclaimed, best-selling full-length
De Choses et D’Autres. 1981 was also the year she met her future husband,
producer Tony Scotti, who would later become one-half of Scotti Brothers
Records. In November, backed by the American dancer and singer Gene Kelly, she
performed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. This ultimate test for the "yéyé
girl next door" ended in a standing ovation. While her live shows on either side
of the Atlantic or Pacific were always sold-out events, her record sales were
lackluster: 1984's Made in the USA and Virage in 1985 both sold poorly in
comparison to earlier efforts, resulting in her leaving RCA after a
quarter-century. Vartan married Scotti in 1984. After a four-year break, she
returned with 1989's Confidanses. The first two singles, "C’est Fatal"
and "Il Pleut Sur London," both scored on the charts, but "Quand Tu Es Là," a
re-visioned 1965 hit arranged by Etienne Daho, hit the top three. She also took
part in the recording of the benefit album Urgence: 27 Artistes Pour La
Recherche Contre Le Sida to assist AIDS victims.

At the end of 1990, Vartan returned to Bulgaria for the first time since she was
eight and gave a concert. In 1991, encouraged by her husband and aided by Daho,
she gave a concert tour of her earlier hits entitled "Je Vous Salue Paris."
While its reception at home was lukewarm, it was well-received in Japan and
Italy. In 1992 she issued the album Vent d’Ouest, arranged by Claude
Gaudette. While it gained exceptionally positive critical notice, it sold only
modestly. She spent 1993 acting in various films before returning to issue the
unplugged set Sessions Acoustiques in late 1994. Her show at the following
year's Casino de Paris supported the date as she banished the high-rent glitz
and excess of earlier tours and instead presented the show as a more intimate
affair -- to great critical notice -- though not all costume changes were
forsaken. In the fall of 1996, she issued Toutes Les Femmes Ont un Secret, with
tunes by a who's-who of hit songwriters including Luc Plamondon, Richard
Cocciante, Jean-Louis Murat, Marc Morgan, and Yves Simon. The critical and fan
acceptance of this mature sound was universal. In November, she sang at
L’Olympia again -- the legendary site of her yéyé years. Vartan
wore the same Yves Saint-Laurent dress she'd worn for her début on its stage.
She sang only hits, including those from the '60s, beginning with "La Plus Belle
Pour Aller Danser."

As a mother to a pair of daughters as well as a Bulgarian child named Darina,
Vartan took time off to devote herself to parenthood. She issued two children's'
albums in 1997 and 1998, and didn't give a damn what the public thought of them.
But she had something for her fans, as well. Vartan cut Sensible for Philips,
which was released that October. Material came from the many veterans she'd
worked with in the past, as well as new collaborators who included Michel
Jouveaux, Jay Alanski, and the duo of Marc Lavoine/Aboulker. Her son David
Hallyday also penned material for the album. In November, French president
Jacques Chirac presented her with the prestigious Légion D'Honneur for her
lifetime achievements and contributions to French culture. Vartan returned to
touring in 1999 with a concert filled with classic songs from the great chanson
era of the 1930s and '40s, as well as her own hits. Not one to shy away from
glamour, Vartan hired Jean-Paul Gaultier to design her costumes and Painter for
the choreography. The pomp and circumstance resulted in the best-selling Tour de
Siecle live album. Vartan didn't release another album until she was 60, in
2004. She published her autobiography, Entre Ombre et Lumière and released
Sylvie, written in collaboration with a loyal band of songwriters including
Didier Barbelivien, Michel Mallory, and David Hallyday. It was a showcase for
the classic Vartan at her pop diva best. Besides featuring contributions from
her faithful partners, she included songs from up-and-coming stars including
Daran and Florent Marchet. A double-length greatest-hits set followed, as did a
box set of seven live albums. She supported all of them with two weeks of shows
at Palais des Congrès, and an extensive tour of Geneva, Brussels, and Tokyo.
The fashion industry got in on the act, too: Musée Galliera paid its own
tribute by organizing an exhibition of Vartan's original stage costumes. The
exhibition ran from October of 2004 to February of 2005 and featured 80 stage
costumes and personal outfits from the singer's wardrobe, from her "yé-yé"
period to the present. In 2006, she received the Ordre National du Mérite
Award presented by the French minister of Culture and Communications, Renaud
Donnedieu de Vabres. He hailed her as "one of the most prestigious
ambassadresses of French chanson and French chic" and a "woman with a big heart
who has used her international fame to spearhead her campaign against poverty
and misery in the world...." In fact, throughout her career, the singer remained
deeply attached to her homeland. In 1992, she set up the Sylvie Vartan
Association for Bulgaria, providing valuable aid to children in need via
donations and the provision of medical equipment for pediatric hospitals.

In 2007, Vartan released Nouvelle Vague, a covers set featuring her own versions
of '60s classics by the Rolling Stones ("Ruby Tuesday"), the Beatles ("Drive My
Car"), sister yé-yé artist Françoise Hardy ("Le Temps de L'Amour"), and
French adaptations of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and Bob Dylan's "Blowin’
in the Wind." All the songs were set to simple, basic arrangements that
emphasized the rich timbre of Vartan's voice. She also campaigned to free five
Bulgarian nurses who'd been imprisoned and sentenced to death in Libya eight
years earlier. Relentlessly pursuing a series of petitions, appeals to the
French president, and appearances in the media, Vartan played a high-profile
role in the campaign that had been organized by Lawyers Sans Frontiers. The
nurses were released and returned home to Bulgaria in July 2007.

After a long international tour, Vartan returned to work on a new album entitled
Soleil Bleu. Upon the advice of Daho, she met with Keren Ann and the singer
Doriand; they wrote two songs for her in "J’fais La Moue" and "Je Me
Détacherai," and produced her album, released by RCA at the end of 2010. All
the young faces of French chanson were invited to take part writing for and
playing on the album. The title song was written and interpreted in a duet with
Julien Doré; Vartan and Arthur H duetted on a cover of Benjamin Biolay's "La
Vanité." She also sang tailor-made lyrics by Daho, La Grande Sophie,
Frédéric Botton, and son David. To celebrate the release of Soleil Bleu,
Vartan did a one-off performance at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in
December. Many hits were on the program, but she also performed newer songs,
including duets with Doré and Arthur H, who joined her on-stage. She then
embarked on a sold-out tour to present her new songs live across Europe.

Vartan issued a 50th anniversary live album entitled Live a La Salle Pleyel: The
50th Anniversary Concert in 2011 before taking a breather. In 2013, she returned
to a Nashville studio to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her Music City album.
Sylvie in Nashville included songs by Bob Seger, Kristian Bush, and Roy Orbison,
as well as some custom-penned originals. To her surprise, the album charted at
home and across Europe. In 2015, BMG/Sony Legacy issued Une Vie en Musique, a
special-edition retrospective that included tracks from her catalog associated
with Sofia, Bulgaria, Paris, and Los Angeles. She delivered a new studio
recording entitled Avec Toi... in 2018. Produced and arranged by Michael Lloyd
and recorded by Rob Kearney, the 15-song set featured works by late ex-husband
Johnny Hallyday (and their son David), Aznavour, Gilles Thibaut, and Lennon &
McCartney.

Biography by Thom Jurek



Sylvie Vartan - Music Legends Sylvie Vartan.rar - 412.2 MB

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