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FRANCO CHART-TOPPERS January 2004

The International Hits of 2003


Paris 

09/01/2004 - 

Should 2003 go down in music history as the year of women's lib? Judging by the biggest Franco chart-toppers of last year, it certainly seems so! With an absence of major album releases from French house and techno stars, it fell to Francophone chanteuses to set out and conquer the international charts.

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One of the top stories of last year was former top model Carla Bruni reinventing herself as a pop star – and, unlike so many of her catwalk contemporaries the career move actually paid off for her! Ms. Bruni, who was responsible for writing the music and the lyrics on her first album, Quelqu’un m’a dit, made a bigger impact on the music scene than anyone expected, in fact, racking up European album sales of over a million. Quelqu’un m’a dit made it to the coveted no.1 spot in the French album charts and also reached no.1 in Wallonia and no.9 in Flanders. Bruni-mania also spread to Italy and Switzerland where Quelqu’un m’a dit reached no.4 in the album charts. The model singer's album also did well in the charts in Portugal (no.5), Germany (no.14), Austria (no.27), Spain (no.32) and Canada (no.28).

Meanwhile, diminutive French pop Lolita Alizée confirmed her status as hot new European act, soaring to the top of the charts with her album Mes courants électriques. Alizée, who launched her European career with Moi… lolita in 2001, restaked her claim on the charts with Mes courants électriques which reached no.26 in Germany, no. 9 in Wallonia, no.63 in Flanders, no.8 in Estonia, no.13 in Switzerland, no.27 in Greece, no.29 in Russia, no.41 in Poland and no.57 in Spain. The young French pop diva now has her sights set on Asia where she has already managed to reach no.5 in the South Korean album charts and no.1 in the airplay charts.

Patricia Kaas, the modern French chanson diva from Alsace-Lorraine, made a concerted attack on the international charts in 2003 as well. Piano Bar, a series of English covers of French chanson classics, was used as the soundtrack to Claude Lelouch's film Ladies And Gentlemen (which starred Kaas as… a piano bar singer). Piano Bar racked up impressive sales throughout the first quarter of 2003, reaching no.8 in the Russian album charts, no.18 in Greece, no.24 in Poland, no.49 in Estonia and no.35 in New Zealand.By the end of the year La Kaas was storming back into the charts with a raunchier rock-influenced album entitled Sexe fort. The latter rocketed to no.3 in Wallonia, no.6 in Switzerland, no.50 in Greece and no.55 in Germany.

Meanwhile, veteran French pop star Mylène Farmermanaged to cook up a chart-topper without writing a single new song. Mylène's greatest hits compilation Les Mots proved to be a big hit in Belgium, Estonia, Russia and Switzerland and another album of her remixes (released in November) fared equally well. As for Hélène Segara, she took the charts by storm with her new album Humaine, reaching no.3 in French-speaking Belgium and no.5 in Switzerland. Humaine brought Hélène her first export sales in Finland (where she reached no.16 in the album charts) and Estonia (where she reached no.8).

As for Emma Shapplin, the young French singer continues to enjoy commercial success by putting a new spin on classical sounds. Shapplin's recent live CD, Concert In Caesare, sent her rocketing to no.6 in Greece and no.16 in Estonia, while her two studio albums, Carmine Meo and Etterna, continued to rack up impressive sales in Canada, Lithuania and Russia.

Girl power was such in 2003 that even Serge Gainsbourg was reinvented in female guise thanks to his former muse Jane Birkin. The English chanteuse took to the road with Arabesque, a show which revived a series of Gainsbourg classics with innovative Arab-style arrangements. Ms. Birkin toured worldwide and brought the house down in the U.S. Meanwhile, Arabesque the album (released in 2002) continued to sell well in Greece (reaching no.23 in the album charts), Wallonia (no.27) and C


World-electro fusion

Electro and world sounds made excellent bedfellows in 2003. Eric Lévi - aka Era - made an acclaimed comeback with the album The Mass. While the new Era album failed to match the commercial performance of its two best-selling predecessors, it has nevertheless racked up good international sales, reaching no.1 in Italy and Mexico, no.2 in Switzerland and Estonia, no.3 in South Africa, no.5 in Wallonia and Lebanon, no.6 in Iceland, no.8 in Greece, no.9 in Portugal and Singapore, no.10 in Sweden and the Netherlands, no.13 in Hungary, no.17 in Austria, no.31 in Poland, no.40 in the Czech Republic, no.43 in Flanders, no.53 in Germany, no.57 in Canada, no.66 in Argentina and, last but not least, no.82 in Russia.

Meanwhile, Gotan Project continued their assault on the international charts last year with La Revancha del Tango. The group's electro-tango fusion album reached no.7 in Poland, no.43 in Flanders, no.46 in Wallonia, no.57 in Switzerland, no.82 in the Netherlands, no.1 in Estonia, no.112 in the UK, no.6 in the world music charts in Germany and no.16 in the world charts in the U.S.

Cesaria Evora resurfaced in the charts in 2002 thanks to an album of remixes. Last year saw Cape Verde's "barefoot diva" riding high with a more traditional flavoured album entitled Voz d’amor. In the autumn of 2003 Voz d'amor made it to no.3 in the Polish charts, no.7 in Greece, no.22 in Portugal, no.57 in Switzerland, no.32 in Estonia, no.30 in Wallonia, no.61 in Flanders, no.58 in Italy and the U.S. world charts. Meanwhile, French sisterly duo Les Nubians conquered the U.S. with their catchy soul style, their second album, One Step Forward, making it into Billboard Magazine's Top 200 (at no.79).

Electro Hits

There were no major album releases last year from French house or techno stars, but mixmaster David Visan managed to conquer the international charts with the latest Buddha Bar compilation. Buddha Bar V scored a big hit in the dance music charts, making it to no.4 in the U.S., no.17 in Germany, no.21 in the UK and no.22 in Italy's "top albums."

Deep Forest also made an impact on the international charts with their compilation Essence Of Deep Forest. Meanwhile, the duo's last album, Music Detected (released in 2002) maintained its chart presence in Japan, Russia and Estonia. Japan appears to have embraced the French Touch to the hilt in 2003. Dimitri From Paris made it into HMV Japan's Top 200 album chart with his new album Cruising Attitude(cruising in at no.69) and Tahiti 80's latest album, Wallpaper For The Soul, also made an impact on the Japanese charts after making it to no.4 in South Korea.

Happy New Year and happy listening in 2004!

Gilles  Rio

Translation : Julie  Street