Falling for Françoise
Picture the scene. A girl walks down the street, alone and unloved, while around her loving couples hold hands and gaze into each other's eyes. That was the theme of '', a self-penned melancholic song which in the early 1960s catapulted Françoise Hardy to Europe-wide fame, and achieved something rare: being one of the few French language songs to make the British charts. Globally it sold around two million copies-shifting more records than the legendary did in eighteen years.
In Britain, Françoise had no shortage of schoolboy admirers. And I was one of them.
She suddenly made learning O and A Level French that much cooler. Hardy stood out from other girl singers of the time on both sides of the Channel. There was no fancy hair style or heavy duty cosmetics. Her hair was long and straight, her make-up minimal. She had a natural, wholesome look that made her the perfect 'girl next door.'
One of the fans I talk to in Falling for Françoise tells the story of a French girl who came to England to stay with a penfriend and turned out to be a dead ringer for Françoise. All his schoolmates made a beeline for her but he got there first. It was the start of a 10-day whirlwind romance that took in such delights as the Droitwich Lido.
But it wasn't just school boys who fancied Françoise. Just about every male rock star was effusive about her too. Mick Jagger called her his 'ideal woman' and David Bowie said that 'for a long time I was passionately in love with her. Every in male the world and a number of females also were.'
One of her most remarkable encounters was with Bob Dylan during his 1966 concert at the Paris Olympia. Dylan, she recalls, was 'in bad shape' and not singing well. In the interval he sent her a message to say he wouldn't complete the concert until she'd come to meet met him in his dressing room. It was an awkward encounter but later that day he gave a her a a private preview of two new songs later to become classics: '' and ''.
In a frank and often self-effacing interview, Françoise plays down the adoration and tells me she's always been uncomfortable with fame.
She says that like many of her early fans, she was a shy and anxious child and jokingly suggests it might be to do with the circumstances of her birth. She was born in Paris during an air raid warning in January 1944 when the city was still under Nazi occupation.
Ö÷²¥´óÐã life was hard. Her father was largely absent. Her mother had to work hard to keep Françoise and her younger sister well fed and clothed On one of her father's rare appearances he gave her a guitar. Soon she was writing her own songs, as many as one a day. Eventually she successfully auditioned for the Vogue label. It was the start of a string of hits which included '' - a regular choice on The Ö÷²¥´óÐã Light Programme's .
Though now approaching her seventies she looks as stunning as ever, though the long brown hair has given way to a grey, cropped cut.
More than fifty years since her first hit Françoise is still making albums. She's worked with a string of British musicians including Damon%20Albarn, the late Malcolm McLaren and the young singer/songwriter .
EMI have signed her up for two more albums but with typical self-doubt she worries whether she can write enough new material to fill them.
This most reluctant of French icons though is sure of one thing. She says she's rarely happier than when curled up in bed with a book by her favourite author, .
John Andrew is a broadcaster and journalist.
- Falling for Françoise is on Radio 4 at 10.30 am on Saturday 21st May and for seven days after that on iPlayer.
- Caption info: "Picture shows - singer Francoise Hardy, representing Monaco. Over 50-million people at home and abroad in sixteen countries linked to London for the finals of the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest, televised on Saturday, 23rd March 1963 from Ö÷²¥´óÐã Television Centre, London. © Ö÷²¥´óÐã"
- Read Cerys Matthews: Bob Dylan and Me on the Radio 4 blog
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Comment number 1.
At 20th May 2011, Angela wrote:I would love to Facebook this page to my friends that will be very interested to listen to this programme, but the link does not work??!!! Can you sort it?
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Comment number 2.
At 20th May 2011, Paul Murphy wrote:Hi Angela
I'm guessing that you mean the green sharetools box and the Facebook button at the top and bottom of the posts. The only issue I know of is that if you click on the sharetools when you're on the Radio 4 blog homepage [ie /blogs/radio4/ ] then you're offered the option of posting the generic blog link rather than the specific post. To share a specific post on Facebook you need to go to the link for that post [ie /blogs/radio4/2011/05/falling_for_francoise.html ] and then click on sharetools. Failing that paste the URL of the post [ie /blogs/radio4/2011/05/falling_for_francoise.html ] directly where you want to share it on Facebook.
Hope that helps,
Paul
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Comment number 3.
At 20th May 2011, Angela wrote:Many thanks! The third option worked! Great News
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Comment number 4.
At 22nd May 2011, john wilson wrote:I am new to this.. What's happened to the quite long message I just posted please (On Francoise Hardy) ?
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Comment number 5.
At 22nd May 2011, john wilson wrote:Understood. About how long before it appears? Anything I need to do? Please excuse my ignorance on this matter - I've never been before.
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Comment number 6.
At 23rd May 2011, john wilson wrote:Reference items 4 and 5 above, I posted blog about 24 hours ago. Is there still time for it appear? If not, what's wrong? There shouldn't be anythin wrong.
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Comment number 7.
At 23rd May 2011, john wilson wrote:Reference items 4 and 5 above, I posted blog about 24 hours ago. Is there still time for it to appear? If not, what's wrong? There shouldn't be anything wrong. Well why not answer my question then?
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Comment number 8.
At 24th May 2011, Paul Murphy wrote:#7 Hi John
It looks like the post you're referring to has been lost due to problems with the commenting system over the weekend. Apologies for that and sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, Paul
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Comment number 9.
At 26th May 2011, john wilson wrote:Paul Murphy: Reference your comment "8", I have just repeated my comments and hope OK this time.
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Comment number 10.
At 3rd Jun 2011, john wilson wrote:Paul Murphy. Reference items 8 and 9 above, what about the comments which i repeated?? Is this blog "dead". Well it will be if no-one ever replies
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Comment number 11.
At 3rd Jun 2011, Paul Murphy wrote:#10 Hi johnwilson, Your other comments are appearing fine. If a comment is moderated then the body of the post is omitted but the rest of the comment (your name, the date and time) still appears soon after you've submitted it. Hope this helps, Paul
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