France Gall

Our pick of the pops

Poupée de cire, poupée de son

1965

French singer France Gall’s untrained vocals and girl-next-door sex appeal helped turn her into one of France’s biggest stars of the 1960s.

Born on 9 October 1947 to a musical family (her mother was a singer, her father a songwriter for such greats as Charles Aznavour and Edith Piaf), Isabelle Gall learned to play the piano and the guitar as a child.

Using her father’s connections, France, as she had become known, cut her first record at the age of 15. The four-track EP, which led with Ne sois pas si bête, received its first airplay on the radio on the day of her 16th birthday in autumn 1963. The song, a version of US girl group the Laurie Sisters’ Stand a little closer – one of her few covers – became a big hit, selling over 200,000 copies. Indeed, Gall’s material tended to differ from that of her fellow yéyé girls in that it was original, while many of the others performed large amount of French-language cover versions of American hits.

Her second release, N’écoute pas les idoles, topped the charts in March 1964 and was included on her first LP.

Further hits ensued, including Jazz à gogo and Mes premières vraies vacances.

It was then that she met singer songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, who penned a number of songs for her, including her next EP, Laisse tomber les

filles, a big hit in the summer of 1964.

Then, against her better judgement, she

recorded Sacré Charlemagne, a song aimed

at children, which went on to sell over two

million copies worldwide.

A second album consolidated her position.

In 1965, Gall was selected to represent

neighbouring Luxembourg at the Eurovision

song contest in Naples, Italy. (She took a lot of

flak for it from the French media, who accused

her of “deserting” her homeland.) Of the ten

songs she was offered, she chose the

Gainsbourg composition Poupée de cire,

poupée de son. She won the contest

convincingly (beating Britain’s Kathy Kirby into

second place) and enjoyed a major international success. She recorded versions in German, Italian and Japanese, and the song spawned a host of covers throughout Europe, including one by

Twinkle in the UK, Karina in Spain and Portugal, Ritva Palukka in Finland and Denmark’s Gitte in Sweden.

The follow up, another Gainsbourg composition, Attends ou va-t’en, was a French hit too, as were the subsequent Nous ne sommes pas des anges and L’Amérique.

1966 began well for Gall, as she scored another success with Gainsbourg’s Baby pop (which also became the title track of her fourth album), but the next EP caused a huge scandal. Gainsbourg was well known for the erotic subtexts of his songs, and his composition Les sucettes, ostensibly a song about a girl who enjoyed sucking lollipops, was a masterpiece of double entendre that was clear to everyone – except Gall, that is. She is reported to have gone into hiding when she realised. (Some commentators believe she knew the true meaning of the song’s lyrics, but it is generally accepted that she didn’t.)

Subsequent releases fared little better and in 1968, she left the Philips record label.

A new contract saw her release L'orage, a French version of La pioggia, a song she had performed at Italy's San Remo song contest, and a cover of Britgirl Barbara Ruskin’s failed A song for Europe submission Gentlemen, please (Les années folles) in 1969.

In the meantime she had began a successful career in Germany, scoring a string of hits in German.

Eventually these dried up, and it wasn’t until 1974 that she enjoyed a comeback, with La déclaration, composed by her new singer songwriter husband Michel Berger. Further hits consolidated her return, and she remained one of France’s top stars throughout the 1970s and 80s.

The husband-and-wife team released a hit album of duets in 1992, but Berger then died suddenly. Gall subsequently moved to Los Angeles, and, in 1995, recorded a tribute album. When her

19-year-old daughter died in 1997, she withdrew from show business and now maintains a low profile.

Avant la bagarre

1967

Bébé requin

1967

France Gall on YouTube

On t'avait prévenue

1964

Laisse tomber les filles

1964

Made in France

1967

Dady da da

1968

Tu n'as pas le droit

1966

Things deteriorated further with her next release, Bonsoir John John, a song, dedicated to the son of assassinated US president John F Kennedy. Gainsbourg and Gall were accused of showing extremely poor taste and the episode marked the beginning of end of their collaboration.

Her next solo EP, Bébé requin, eclipsed the success of just about all her previous releases, but left Gall struggling to find a follow up. Teenie weenie boppie, a Gainsbourg composition about LSD, flopped badly. (Both songs appeared on 1968, one of her best albums to date.)

Cover cuts

Buy online now

France Gall

Poupée de son

Amazon.co.uk

France Gall

1968

Amazon.co.uk

France Gall in German