Message Personnel Françoise Hardy

• 1Première Rencontre02:47
• 2Rêver Le Nez En L'Air02:42
• 3L'Amour En Privé02:26
• 4Berceuse02:40
• 5Pouce, Au Revoir03:18
• 6L'Attente02:12
• 7On Dirait02:51
• 8L'Habitude02:07
• 9Chanson Floue02:33
• 10Message Personnel04:16
• Total Runtime27:52

Info for Message Personnel

23 of Françoise Hardy best tracks from the Virgin period (her most mature) selected and compiled by Ms Hardy herself including 3 rare songs 'La Terre', 'L'Heure Bleu' & 'J'ai Coupe Le Telephone'.

French chanteuse Françoise Hardy was riding high in her popularity when this set was issued in 1975, made up of tracks from 1973 and 1974 as well. The overall feeling of Message Personnel is cinematic. There are the sweeping string arrangements of the legendary Michel Bernholc on all but one track. His direction of a basic rock band backed by a lush set of strings underlined Hardy's wispy yet compelling vocals. On the single, however, 'L'Amour En Privè,' Serge Gainsbourg handled production chores with musical directors J.C. Vannier and Georges Moustaki. Electric guitars roll under a sputtering beat before giving way to a shimmering sexy cabaret song that is all joie de vivre and no drama. Moustaki's rock & roll guitars duel the Vannier's high-end strings, which sweep across the mix, for dominance between Gainsbourg's verses. This is also the title track to the Gainsbourg film of the same name. The set ends with 'Je Suis Moi,' a dramatic rock ballad in the most theatrical sense. Indeed, had it been written and recorded five years later, it would have been conceivable for Meatloaf and Jim Steinman to record it! Message Personnel is a fine example of Hardy at the height of her powers as an interpreter, writer, and singer of songs deeply engrained in the French pop culture vernacular. (Thom Jurek)

Michel Bernholc, conductor
J.C. Vannier
Georges Moustaki

Recorded July 1973, Studio du Poste Parisien (Paris)
Produced by Michel Berger

Françoise Hardy
Hardy grew up in the 9th arrondissement of Paris with her younger sister Michèle. Her parents lived apart when she was young; her father contributed little financially to the family and had little to do with his daughters. He was, however, persuaded by the girls' mother to buy Françoise a guitar for her birthday as a reward for passing her baccalauréat. Her early musical influences were the French chanson stars Charles Trenet and Cora Vaucaire[4] as well as Anglophone singers Paul Anka, the Everly Brothers, Cliff Richard, Connie Francis and Marty Wilde whom she heard on the English-language radio station, Radio Luxembourg.

After a year at the Sorbonne she answered a newspaper advertisement looking for young singers. Hardy signed her first contract with the record label Vogue in November 1961. In April 1962, shortly after she left university, her first record "Oh Oh Chéri" appeared, written by Johnny Hallyday's writing duo. Her own flip side of the record, "Tous les garçons et les filles" became a success, riding the wave of Yé-yé music in France. It sold over a million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

The track peaked at #36 in the UK Singles Chart in 1964. She reportedly hated the song claiming it was recorded " in three hours with the worst four musicians in Paris." She was dating photographer Jean-Marie Périer at this time and his shots featured on many of her record sleeves. She first appeared on television in 1962 during an interlude in a programme reporting the results of a presidential referendum.

Hardy sings in French, English, Italian, Spanish and German, and has one interpretation in Portuguese. In 1963 she came fifth for Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest with "L'amour s'en va". In 1963, she was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque of the Académie Charles Cros.

In 1981, she married her long-time companion Jacques Dutronc, who is the father of her son, Thomas Dutronc, born in 1973. Hardy lives in Paris and Dutronc in Monticello, Corsica, although they remain a couple. She allegedly had an affair with Dr Christiaan Barnard, the South African heart surgeon.

In 1994, she collaborated with the British pop group Blur for their "La Comedie" version of "To The End". In May 2000, she made a comeback with the album Clair Obscur on which her son played guitar and her husband sang the duet "Puisque Vous Partez En Voyage". Iggy Pop and Étienne Daho also took part. She has also recorded a duet with Perry Blake who wrote two songs for her award winning Tant de belles choses album. (Source: Wikipedia)

This album contains no booklet.