Françoise Hardy has left and with her, a whole section of French song has lost one of its most beautiful performers. Idol of the yéyé years appearing in the famous “photo of the century” by Jean-Marie Périer, the artist born in Paris, very ill for many years, died at the age of 80, surrounded by her loved ones and her friend Etienne Daho. Her death, which sparks numerous tributes marked by emotion and nostalgia, shines the spotlight on the abundant career of the woman who was one of the rare female figures to write and compose her own songs.
The Dailymotion player is loading…
A studious student with a melancholic temperament who received her first guitar as a gift after obtaining her first baccalaureate, Françoise Hardy truly forged her destiny by auditioning shortly before the summer of 1961 at a casting organized by the Vogue label, on which a certain Johnny Hallyday. If her first 45 rpm, “La Fille avec toi”, provokes some promising emotions, it is truly “All the boys and girls”, which she performs during the electoral evening of October 28, 1962, which propels the young artist under the burning spotlight. In less than three months, 500,000 copies of the title were snapped up!
“I started by refusing…”
On a prodigious streak, the singer, in full yéyé wave, was then selected to sing at Eurovision 1963. The competition took place that year at the BBC TV Center in London, United Kingdom, with 16 participating countries. But Françoise Hardy will not represent France. No, the young star in the making is chosen by the Monaco broadcaster Télé Monte-Carlo to defend the colors of Monaco with a song written, composed and performed by him: “L’amour s’en va”. A ballad about the contrasts of the heart which sees her depicting the vagueness of the soul, an inevitable rupture. “ Participating in this type of demonstration frightened the great tracker that I had always been and I began to refuse energetically. I ended up giving my agreement when Lucien Morisse [ancien directeur d’Europe 1, ndlr] promised to program “L’Amour d’un fille” on his channel » she will explain years later in her book “Songs about you and us” (2022).
In competition with Nana Mouskouri and Alain Barrière!
For this Eurovision, competition is fierce. The event opens the doors to international glory for a handful of French-speaking artists, including Nana Mouskouri, who will finish last with “À force de prayer” for Luxembourg, and Alain Barrière, who represents France with “Elle suis si pretty”. On stage, a cold and captivatingly beautiful 19-year-old Françoise Hardy appears in a strict black dress with Raymond Lefèvre as conductor – at the time, each country could nominate its own maestro. The tight shots on her face and her eyes extended by a line of black eyeliner, when she sings “ Love is leaving, and yours cannot last / Like the others, one fine day you are going to leave me / If it is not you, it will be me who will leave / Love is leaving , and we can’t change anything » in a disillusioned tone, have their little effect. Françoise Hardy finished 5th in the competition for Monaco, tied with France, while the duo Grethe & Jorgen Ingmann lifted the trophy for Denmark with “Dansevise”.
Taking advantage of the notoriety that this exposure brought her, Françoise Hardy recorded several versions of her song for the international market: “L’amour s’en va” became “Love Goes Away” in English, “L’amore va” in Italian and “Die Liebe geht” in German! The title, which has sold more than 130,000 copies in France, is starting a nice run in the Belgian, Italian and even Swedish rankings. Thanks to Eurovision, Françoise Hardy was spotted by director Roger Vadim who offered her her first film role in “Château en Sweden”, an adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s play. In November of the same year, the singer will take her first steps on the legendary Olympia stage for a pair show with Richard Anthony which will remain on the bill for eight weeks.
