Originally Posted by RadioRob:
“Gratifying to see so many French songs here.”
Two or three of the regular contributors are exceedingly knowledgeable about the French music scene of the sixties. I'm certainly not (I'd never heard of Jacques Dutronc before this thread began), but I have submitted quite a few tracks by Françoise Hardy, as I find her voice, her songs and her looks extremely pleasant.
Here's another French song, or to be more precise, three very different versions of the same French song:-
Vicky - L'Amour Est Bleu (1967)
The tiny nations of Monaco and Luxembourg used to participate in the early days of the Eurovision Song Contest, which effectively gave France a backdoor way of entering three songs! This fine French song (composed by André Popp and Pierre Cour) was Luxembourg’s entry to the 1967 contest and was sung by the Greek singer Vicky Leandros. It came fourth (the winner that year was the UK entry “Puppet On A String” sung, of course, by Sandie Shaw). Five years later, Vicky Leandros, again representing Luxembourg, won the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest with a song nowhere near as good as this one.
Paul Mauriat - L'Amour Est Bleu (1968)
This gorgeous orchestral version was a surprise chart-topping single in the USA, as well as being a minor hit in the UK (it had to be re-titled “Love Is Blue” for the monolingual Yanks and Brits).
Jeff Beck - Love Is Blue (1968)
What’s this, one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time covering a Eurovision song? The sixties, eh?!!!!