FRANCO CHART-TOPPERS March 2005

The Feminine Touch

Paris 

18/03/2005 - 

Hats off to the girls! France’s assault on the international charts this month is spearheaded by a host of female music stars including Lynda Lemay, Lara Fabian and former Popstars contender Chimène Badi.

Bubbly Quebecoise singer Lynda Lemay is a big fan of France – and the French public appear to be equally enamoured of her! Ever since Charles Aznavour took the French-Canadian singer under his wing, an incredible word-of-mouth buzz sprang up around her concerts. And Ms. Lemay has now gained star status in France, where she is currently on tour with her ‘folk opera’ Un éternel hiver. Meanwhile, things are booming on the sales front. Lynda’s earlier albums have all gone platinum (selling over 300,000 copies to date) and now her latest opus, Un paradis quelque part (WEA), looks set to follow in their best-selling footsteps. Un paradis quelque part has been flying out of record stores at an impressive rate. Indeed, Lynda’s latest album has already gained a firm foothold in the Francophone charts, reaching no.1 in France and Wallonia, no.5 in Switzerland and no.22 in Canada.

A few months after releasing a second album in English (which, it has to be admitted, turned out to be an international flop!), Lara Fabian has turned back to French on her new album 9 (Polydor). The photo on the album cover shows Lara curled up in foetal position - an image designed to suggest the possibility of a musical rebirth perhaps? Not a bit of it! 9 is another mainstream ‘variété’ album with little in the way of surprises. However, this has not stopped Lara’s new album from shooting straight to no.2 in Wallonia, no.3 in France and no.32 in Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Anggun has made a welcome comeback on the recording front after a five-year absence. The Indonesian beauty, who emerged on the international music scene in 1997 with La Neige au Sahara (Snow In The Sahara), has finally returned to the studio to make a follow-up album, Luminescence (BMG). It will doubtless take some time for Anggun to regain her past popularity, but for the time being the pop-oriented Luminescence has already made inroads in the charts in Switzerland (no.91) and Wallonia (no.83).

A bevy of young female talents have recently emerged on the French music scene as well, ready to follow the lead of Lynda, Lara and Anggun. Chimène Badi started out trying her luck on TV reality show Popstars, but ended up rejected from the final line-up. Chimène recently got her revenge, however, becoming more famous than the boy-girl band that actually won Popstars. Thanks to her impressive vocal prowess, Chimène’s second album, Dis-moi que tu m’aimes (AZ), is currently following in the chart-topping footsteps of her debut opus (which has sold over 600,000 copies since its release in 2003). After hogging the top spots in the charts for the last two or three months, Dis-moi que tu m’aimes dropped a few places recently, but at the beginning of the month it managed to climb back to no.2 in Wallonia, no.3 in France and no.35 in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Camille – a trendy new arrival on the French pop scene – has been carving out an original niche for herself and gradually building up a fanbase with her acclaimed new album Le Fil (Virgin), currently ranked at no.12 in France, no.32 in Wallonia and no.68 in Switzerland.

Although solo female artists have taken centre stage right now, there are still a few other musical projects bubbling away on the backburner. Every year at this season, a host of French music stars turn out to raise funds for the “Restos du Coeur” charity, banding together as Les Enfoirés. The group’s 2004 compilation, entitled Le Train des Enfoirés, hit the jackpot this month, charting simultaneously at no.1 in France, Switzerland and Belgium. Meanwhile, Pink Martini, that most French of American groups continue to go from strength to strength. The musical polyglots are currently enjoying success on their concert tour and their latest album is doing well in the charts, particularly in Greece (no.6) and the Netherlands (no.98).

As for rapper K-Maro, he’s still enjoying La Good Life. His album of the same name (released on Up Music), is still doing well in German-speaking countries and recently made it into the Hungarian Top 10, too. Meanwhile, the Choristes phenomenon is still going strong. The film proved to be a huge hit at the French box-office last year and musical spin-offs from it are now doing well in the charts. A concert by Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc (the choir that starred in the film) is currently ranked at no.43 in the charts in Switzerland and Wallonia while Bruno Coulais’s soundtrack to Les Choristes has reached no. 35 in Greece, no.9 in France (where it has sold over a million albums to date), no.3 in Wallonia, no.46 in Switzerland, no.93 in Canada and no.6 in Billboard’s World Music Chart in the U.S. Incidentally, France appears to be enjoying a Billboard boom right now. Besides the soundtrack to Les Choristes, two other French albums feature in the same chart: Paris Combo’s Motifs (at no.2) and the Gipsy Kings’s Roots (at no.13).

There appears to be something of a boom in recycled chart hits, too. Era’s “Best of” recently made it to no.10 in Estonia, no.52 in Wallonia, no.60 in Switzerland and no.70 in Italy. Meanwhile, Manu Chao’s debut album Clandestino, originally released in 1997, has made a surprise comeback in the Top 100 in Spain (where it has enjoyed platinum disc status for several years now). As for classical-pop crossover princess Emma Shapplin, she remains eternally popular in Greece, where her album Etterna (originally released in 2002) is still hanging on at no.45 in the charts. Meanwhile, Moon Safari (Source), the debut album released by hip French electro duo Air in 1998, got another chart outing in Ireland recently, reaching no. 68. Air’s most recent offering, Talkie Walkie (2004), also climbed back up the charts in the U.K., reaching no.176.

We end our monthly round-up with the eagerly-awaited new album by another famous French electro double act, Daft Punk. Human After All has just been released worldwide on Virgin and, while we wait to see what juggernaut impact the album makes on the international charts, the current Daft Punk buzz means that the masked duo’s earlier albums have been pulled out of the closet - especially in Ireland where Homework (1997) and Discovery (2001) charted the same week at no.65 and no.57!

Gilles  Rio

Translation : Julie  Street