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Julien Clerc belongs to the special 'long-life' generation of French artists who launched their careers in the 60's and are still going strong today! Like Johnny Hallyday, Jacques Dutronc and 60's pop diva France Gall, Julien Clerc's career continues to go from strength to strength more than 30 years after he first shot to fame. Clerc, a youthful and elegant-looking 50-something, still enjoys immense popularity in France, his concerts attracting hundreds of his original fans as well as their children (and soon-to-be grandchildren?)
Paul-Alain Leclerc was born in the 19th arrondissement of Paris on October 4 1947. Brought up in a well-to-do bourgeois family, the young Paul-Alain wanted for nothing, but he grew up feeling rather isolated and lonely amidst his five brothers and sisters. The Leclercs divorced while Paul-Alain was still in his childhood and during the week the young boy was sent to live with his father, Paul, a high-ranking official at UNESCO. It was in his father’s home that the young Paul-Alain first discovered classical music. At the week-ends Paul-Alain would stay with his mother (who came from a Guadelopuean family). It was she who introduced the young boy to the great stars of French chanson, playing him her record collection full of Brassens and Piaf albums. Paul-Alain had started learning the piano at the age of 6, but he had never shown much enthusiasm for the instrument. By the age of 13, however, the teenager had become a passionate music fan, and he took up the piano again, teaching himself to play by transposing the songs he heard on the radio.
Paul-Alain was a typical 60’s adolescent. He divided his time between his studies at the Lycée Lakanal, teenage parties and racing around on his moped with friends. His parents also made sure Paul-Alain took music lessons and enrolled him at the local scouts’ group. Yet in his 6th form the teenager took up a new hobby which would eventually change the rest of his life : songwriting. Paul-Alain began penning his first songs around this time and soon met up with Maurice Vallet, better known as Momo, who went on to become one of his main songwriting partners.
1966 - Clerc meets his most famous songwriting partner, Etienne Roda-Gil
After passing his ‘baccalauréat’, Paul-Alain went on to prepare the entrance exam to the prestigious Ecole Sciences Politiques. Paul-Alain failed the exam but his father encouraged him to enroll at the Sorbonne to study law instead. The young man followed his father’s advice, but ended up spending more time hanging out in the local cafés than studying in the law faculty. It was while the young law student was hanging out in his favourite haunt, "L’Ecrtoire", in 1966 that he met a young dandy/poet by the name of Etienne Roda Gil. Roda Gil, the son of a Spanish revolutionary, would go on to become Clerc’s alter ego and his main songwriter. Teaming up with Clerc’s other friend Momo, the trio went on to form a songwriting partnership that would last many years (the collaboration between Clerc and Roda Gil continuing right up to the present day).
Thanks to a fortunate family connection, Paul-Alain soon got the chance to audition for the Pathé Marconi label. The members of the audition panel were greatly impressed by the young singer’s talent and immediately offered him a 7-year contract. Paul-Alain Leclerc went on to change his name to Julien Clerc and went straight into the studio in February 1968 to record his début single, "La cavalerie" (written by Vallet, Roda Gil and Clerc himself).
Released amidst the revolutionary fervour of May 68, Julien Clerc’s début album proved a great success. Clerc’s ‘neo-symphonic’ arrangements combined with the surreal, dream-like atmosphere evoked by Vallet and Roda Gil’s lyrics were hailed as a form of musical revolution, a modern re-invention of traditional French chanson. What’s more, Clerc’s distinctive vibrato immediately made him stand out from the other singers of his generation.
1968 - Clerc's debut single "la Cavalerie" rockets to the top of the charts
In 1968 Clerc's début single "La cavalerie" rocketed straight to the top of the French charts, establishing the young singer as an up-and-coming name on the French music scene. The only drawback was that music critics tended to pigeon-hole Clerc as a "girls’ singer", an image which Clerc had to fight long and hard to shake off.
Clerc returned to the studio in July 1968 to record a second single, which featured four tracks including the famous "Ivanovitch". French star Gilbert Bécaud was greatly impressed by the young singer’s style and he invited Clerc to support him at the legendary Olympia music-hall in Paris in the spring of 69. Following Bécaud’s suggestion that he should first gain a bit of live experience, Clerc set off on tour with the singer Adamo in the autumn of 68.
Julien Clerc’s third single, which featured four tracks including the hit song "Yann et les dauphins", was released at the beginning of 1969. Following in the successful footsteps of the two previous singles, "Yann et les dauphins" instantly shot to the top of the French charts. Julien Clerc’s début album, released at the same time, also proved a great success, winning the prestigious "Prix du disque de l’Académie Charles Cros".
In March Clerc made his live début with Bécaud at the Olympia. This was an exceptional feat for a young singer who had only been in the music business twelve months, but Julien Clerc rose to the occasion. Indeed, his performance was a veritable triumph, and French stars including Serge Gainsbourg and Henri Salvador rushed to congratulate him after the show. Julien Clerc’s talent was also spotted by the producers of the legendary musical "Hair" (which was proving a huge smash on the other side of the Channel at the time). The producers were thinking of launching a French version of "Hair" in Paris and, impressed by Clerc’s concert performance, they contacted the young singer to offer him the lead role. Clerc turned down the offer at first but, after travelling to London to see the English version of the show, he decided to accept the role after all.
1969 - Clerc stars in the musical "Hair"
Thus on May 31 1969 Julien Clerc, dressed in platform heels and a huge Afro wig, took to the stage at the Théatre de la Porte Saint Martin to perform the première of the French version of "Hair". The musical was to prove just as successful in Paris as it had in London and Clerc was catapulted to stardom almost overnight.
In July 1969 Julien Clerc’s new single, "La Californie", soared straight to the top of the charts published in the magazine "Salut les copains" (the most important charts of the day). Later that year Clerc was in the headlines once again, when he talked pubicly for the first time about his relationship with singer France Gall (which would last for the next four years).
In February 1970 Clerc quit the hit musical "Hair" and began to devote all his time and energy to his recording career. His intensive work in the studio soon produced a whole string of new hit singles and his second album, "Des jours entiesr à t’aimer", which was released to general acclaim in May. From December 16th to 29th December Clerc returned to the Olympia, this time as the headlining act. In February 1971 Clerc was back at the top of the singles charts with his smash hit "Le coeur volcan". The lyrics to this catchy tango, inspired by the singer’s recent trip to Argentina, were written by Clerc’s long-time songwriting partner Etienne Roda Gil. Roda Gil was also responsible for "Ce n’est rien", "Niagara" and most of the other hits on Julien Clerc’s third album, released in November of that year.
By the age of 24 Julien Clerc already had his own statue in the famous Paris waxwork museum, le Musée Grévin. Clerc, who had been a hit with the French public right from the start of his career, was now practically a national institution. His singles and albums were also beginning to sell well abroad, and Clerc even started recording his songs in several different languages.
After a series of memorable concerts at the Olympia (December 28 1971 - January 16 1972), Clerc landed his first acting role, starring in a French TV film (shown on August 10). Clerc was practically cast as himself, playing the role of a young musician and even wrote the film soundtrack for this occasion. During the 70’s Clerc was involved in a few more film projects, but he never seriously considered taking up acting as a career, his singing career taking up all his time and energy.
Clerc returned to the studio in 1973, but this time round his new album, "Julien", was recorded in England not France. Indeed, "Julien" marked something of a turning-point in the Julien Clerc sound, as the singer had replaced his habitual musical arranger Jean-Claude Petit with a British arranger, Bill Shepherd. Following the release of the album on September 3rd, Julien Clerc started rehearsing with his group of seven musicians for a new series of concerts at the Olympia (October 3 -21). Clerc's memorable performance at the Olympia was captured on a live album, "Julien Clerc avec vous", which was released at the start of the following year.
February 1974 - Five gold discs in one go !
By 1974 Julien Clerc’s record sales had reached phenomenal proportions. In February Françoise Hardy presented the singer with no less than five gold discs for his staggering album sales. Meanwhile the successful Clerc/Roda Gil songwriting team kept up their prodigious output, composing a new album which was released in July of that year. Recorded in Clerc’s home near Auxerre (in the Yonne region), the 12 songs on the new album were arranged by Jean Claude Vannier (famous for his work with the greatest French music stars including Serge Gainsbourg and Johnny Hallyday). As had been the case with the previous album, Clerc did not release any of the tracks as a single. But this did not stop several songs on the new album receiving a massive amount of airplay on French radio.
By this point in his career Clerc had got into the habit of performing a series of concerts in Paris at the end of each year. From November 6 to 25 the singer returned to the Olympia where thousands of fans gave him an enthusiastic reception.
While Clerc’s singing career continued to go from strength to strength his personal life was proving more problematic. After splitting from girlfriend France Gall, Clerc embarked upon an extensive tour of Canada at the end of the year, followed by a series of eight concerts in Japan (in March 1975).
Julien Clerc’s style was gradually evolving and the singer was soon able to shake off the tag of "romantic crooner for young girls" which the critics had firmly attached to him in the early days of his career. Indeed, Clerc’s more mature album, "N°7", revealed a darker more melancholy side to the singer. The ten songs on the new album (which was shrouded in a mournful black cover) were mostly penned by Clerc’s long-time songwriting partner Maurice Vallet and reflected the singer’s general state of depression in 1975.
Yet things began to look up later that year when Clerc landed another acting role, this time playing the part of a piano teacher in the film "D’amour et d’eau fraîche". An on-set romance quickly flared up between Clerc and his co-star, the young French actress Miou Miou (who lived with the singer up until 1981).
1975 proved to be a year of change in Clerc’s singing career as well. Following the advice of his new agent, Bertrand de Labbey, the singer decided to try out some new songwriters and began a successful collaboration with Maxime Le Forestier and Jean Loup Dabadie. Hence Clerc’s eighth album, "A mon âge et à l’heure qu’il est", released in November 1976, included material by his old songwriting partners Roda-Gil and Maurice Vallet, but also featured work by Dabadie ("Le coeur trop grand pour moi") and Le Forestier (who penned the title track). Clerc performed these new songs in public for the first time at the Palais des Sports in Paris in January 1977. Despite a recent drop in record sales, Clerc still managed to pack the stadium out (the Palais des Sports was double the size of the Olympia), tens of thousands of fans flocking to see him perform live.
1978 - "Ma preference" rockets to the top of the charts
1978 was a momentous year for Julien Clerc. Not only did Miou Miou give birth to a daughter, Jeanne, but the singer celebrated his 30th birthday. To mark the occasion his friend Maxime Le Forestier wrote "J’ai eu 30 ans" ("I"ve Just Turned 30"), a song which went on to become one of Julien Clerc’s all-time classics. The song was included on Clerc’s new album, "Jaloux", released in the autumn of that year. "Jaloux", considered by many to be the best album of Clerc’s entire career, certainly proved to be a huge hit in terms of record sales. The album went on to sell a staggering 400,000 copies - largely thanks to the hit single "Ma préférence" written by Jean Loup Dabadie.
Meanwhile, Clerc’s increasing collaboration with new songwriters was beginning to put a strain on his relationship with his old friend and songwriting partner Etienne Roda-Gil. Weary of the routine which had started to undermine their work together, Clerc called upon his old friend less and less and relations between the pair cooled.
Following the release of the new album Julien Clerc returned to Paris for a triumphant series of concerts at the Palais des Congrès, where Clerc literally brought the house down. Performing on stage non-stop for two entire hours, Clerc ran through his greatest hits, bringing the show to a grand finale with his enthusiastic covers of Jean-Roger Caussimon and Léo Ferré songs. (Clerc was renowned for sprinkling his shows with French chanson classics such as Brassens’s "Comme hier", Jacques Brel’s "La quête" and Edith Piaf’s "L’hymne à l’amour").
In 1979 Julien Clerc turned his attention to collective work, recording a song on Philippe Châtel’s children’s album "Emilie Jolie" (an extremely popular musical fairytale which went on to sell over a million copies). The singer also began work on a new musical "36 Front Populaire" (composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre and Jean-Claude Petit, and the lyrics written by Etienne Roda-Gil). "36 Front Populaire" was never actually performed as a stage show, but a special double album was recorded "live" in the studio. "Ca commence comme un rêve d’enfant", the opening track on this album, is considered by many critics to be one of Julien Clerc’s finest performances.
1979 also proved to be an important year in Julien Clerc’s home life, the singer buying an 18-room château in the Yonne and starting a sheep farm in the grounds. Clerc also took a short break from the music scene to indulge in a few weeks of his new hobby, horse riding. By the end of the year Clerc’s hectic recording schedule had started up again and the singer flew out to Canada to record his tenth album, "Clerc Julien" (released at the beginning of the following year). It was during his stay in Canada that Julien Clerc met the famous Canadian songwriter Luc Plamondon who ended up writing the lyrics for the song "Quand je joue". (Etienne Roda-Gil and Jean Loup Dabadie had already written several versions of this song but Clerc had rejected them all).
This new album consequently caused a complete breakdown in Clerc’s relationship with his former songwriting partner Roda-Gil (who hated the lyrics and the arrangements on "Clerc Julien"). Needless to say the French press had a field day, running numerous articles on the split and making much of Roda-Gil’s comment that "Julien had had to kill off his father". Following the release of "Clerc Julien" the singer would also cease working with his habitual musical arranger Jean-Claude Petit.
The album "Clerc Julien" was finally considered too mediocre to launch a new series of concert tours, so Julien Clerc returned to the studio to record a new 9-track album. The singer’s eleventh album, "Sans entracte", released just a few months later, was devoid of all Roda-Gil material. However, it did feature "Jungle Queen", a song by Clerc’s old songwriting partner Maurice Vallet, which soon rocketed to the top of RTL radion’s hit parade. The famous French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg also contributed two songs to the new album. On October 30th Julien Clerc kicked off another tour at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, accompanied on stage by a new group of French and American musicians. This tour resulted in the release of a new live album entitled "Vendredi 13" (which was recorded at the singer’s concerts in Lyon on March 12 and 13 1981).
1981 proved to be another traumatic year in Julien Clerc’s personal life when Miou Miou, his partner of six years and mother of his daughter, left him. The singer had transformed the pain he felt after his break-up with France Gall in 1975 into the emotional ballad "Souffrir par toi n’est pas souffrir". Now he was to expess his grief at losing Miou Miou on the album "Femmes, indiscrétions et blasphèmes".
1982 - A year of radical changes
The release of Julien Clerc’s twelfth studio album in 1982 marked a major turning-point in the singer’s career. Firstly, he left his original label Pathé Marconi to sign with the British record company Virgin (still a small independent label in France in those days). The new album was consequently recorded in a London studio and not in Paris. But the greatest change of this period was Julien Clerc’s new look. The cover of ""Femmes, indiscrétions et blasphèmes" showed a crop-haired Julien who had lopped off his distinctive brown curls in favour of a more modern look.
The album proved to be an enormous success, largely thanks to the hit singles "Femmes je vous aime" and "Lili voulait aller danser". The latter, accompanied by a trendy modern video, allowed Julien Clerc to get in touch with a younger audience than usual. Thousands of fans old and new flocked to see the singer in February 1983 when he performed in a Big Top at the Porte de Pantin (just outside Paris), audiences of 5,000 applauding the show every night for an entire five weeks.
The 35-year-old singer was gradually learning to realise the full potential of his famous vibrato voice, thanks to intensive training with his singing teacher Madame Charlot. Clerc's personal life was also looking up, after his passion for horses had led to an encounter with young riding champion Virginie Couperie. Virginie’s father, a prosperous Bordeaux wine producer, disproved of his daughter’s relationship at first but after a year he finally gave his consent for the pair to marry and organised a grand engagement party for the couple on the family estate.
Julien Clerc returned to the studio in 1984 to record a new album entitled "Aime-moi". This album introduced work by one of Clerc’s new collaborators, the Franco-American songwriter David Mc Neil. It was Mc Neil who was responsible for penning Clerc’s single "Mélissa", which proved to be one of the biggest hits of the 80’s. (Indeed "Mélissa" went on to sell over 700,000 copies and even ended up being translated into Spanish).
Clerc, who had always been fascinated by African culture, then embarked upon a mini tour of the continent, performing five concerts in Gabon, Senegal, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast. (This fabulous musical trip was filmed by a television crew and broadcast on the French TV station TFI in March 1985).
Julien Clerc, who had now achieved the status of national superstar in his homeland, went on to give a triumphant series of concerts at Bercy Stadium (the biggest concert venue in Paris) between April 24 and May 4 1985. Every evening a delirious audience of 10,000 spectators leapt to their feet to give the singer a massive standing ovation. Following his overwhelming success at Bercy, Clerc then embarked upon a 2-month long international tour, which included 23 dates in Canada and 3 concerts in Brazil. Between October 1985 and January 1986 Clerc then completed an extensive tour of the French provinces, accompanied by a group of British and Amercian rock musicians.
On September 14 1985 Julien Clerc married Virginie Couperie at a romantic ceremony in the tiny Corsican village of Pino. On his return from his honeymoon, the singer was invited to host the very first edition of the "Victoires de la Musique" awards. Later that year he also worked on the advertising campaign for the new Citroen BX, writing the music for the advert and the famous lyrics "J’aime, j’aime, j’aime ..." ("I love it, I love it, I love it")
After taking a twelve-month break from the music scene to relax and write new material, Julien Clerc returned to the studio in 1987 to record a new album entitled "les Aventures à l’eau". Songwriter David Mc Neil penned a new hit for Clerc in the form of the single "Hélène" and 60’s singing star Françoise Hardy also wrote a track on the new album. (Incidentally, this was the very first time that Clerc recorded a song by a female songwriter).
Later that year Virginie gave birth to a daughter called Vanille.
The following year Julien Clerc would concentrate his attention on his live shows. At the beginning of 1988 he performed amidst the extremely kitsch décor of the Grand Rex in Paris, but the show proved to be something of a flop. The critics reproached Clerc for going too far in attempts to ‘modernise’ his sound and even his fans appeared dissatisfied with his rather mediocre new material. Following his performance at the Grand Rex, Julien Clerc embarked upon another tour of Africa.
1990 - An album in New York
The late 80’s proved to be a rather quiet period for Clerc who was out of the media spotlight for a while. The singer did not return to the studio until the end of 1989, to record his new album "Fais moi une place". The album, recorded in New York with American producer Phil Ramone (renowned for his work with Paul Simon and Billy Joel), was released on January 8 1990. Clerc appeared to find a new burst of inspiration on "Fais moi une place", re-discovering the sophisticated melodies and meaningful lyrics of his earlier work. (The singer called upon a host of talented sognwriters including Jean-Claude Vannier, Françoise Hardy, David Mc Neil, Thierry Séchan, Jean-Louis Bergheaud - famous under the name of Jean Louis Murat - and his old friend Maurice Vallet).
Clerc performed his end-of-year concert at the Zénith (November 29 - December 9), attracting nightly audiences of 4,000. The flop at the Grand Rex was a thing of the past, and fans clearly adored the new show, cheering the singer’s greatest hits and dancing along to his funky, new material. Clerc was obviously moved by this enthusiastic reception, repeatedly declaring "I love you all" to his screaming fans.
Clerc’s next concerts involved a dramatic change of genre when the singer performed the role of the storyteller in Prokofiev’s classical work "Peter and the Wolf". Accompanied by the Radio France Orchestra, under the baton of the German conductor Marek Janowski, Julien Clerc performed two concerts at the Bastille Opera (December 22) and the Théâtre des Champs Elysées (December 23).
Clerc's next album, "Utile", released on December 8th 1992, marked another turning point in the singer's long career. For on this album he was finally reunited with his old friend and songwriting partner Etienne Roda-Gil. Clerc had not worked with his old friend for over ten years - indeed the pair had barely spoken since their notorious quarrel - but when they met up again at the funeral of Etienne's wife, Nadine, their friendship and professional partnership flourished anew. Much to the delight of Clerc's oldest fans, all the songs on the album "Utile" were written by Roda-Gil. Instead of returning to their old way of working together, Clerc and Roda-Gil made an entirely fresh start, their collaboration resulting in some extremely interesting new material.
Following the release of his new album, Julien Clerc returned to the Olympia (where he had not performed for 18 years!) The singer gave a truly exceptional series of concerts, performing a five-week run at the Olympia at the start of '93 and giving his all on stage as he celebrated 25 years in the music business.
50 - And Still Going Strong!
Three years later, on March 25th 1997, Julien Clerc released "Julien", his 17th studio album. This album of romantic ballads was the result of a collaboration with British producer Christopher Neil - who had already worked with Clerc on "Aime-moi" - and the singer's loyal songwriting team (Roda-Gil, Dabadie, McNeil and new addition, Laurent Chalumeau, a young French writer and journalist). Clerc proved that at the age of 50 he still had much to offer the music world.
Between October 1st and October 12th 1997 thousands of music fans flocked to the Palais des Sports stadium in Paris to see Julien Clerc in concert. Fans were given a special treat on Saturday October 4th when the singer was joined on stage by a dozen French music stars - including Françoise Hardy, Renaud, Patrick Bruel and Alain Souchon - to celebrate his 50th birthday. Clerc's three daughters also arrived on stage to embrace their father at the end of his show, just as the 5,000-strong audience broke into a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday"!
Julien Clerc hit the road again in the spring of '98, setting out on an extensive French and European tour. But the highlight of the singer's year came in June when he was invited onto the French TV channel Canal+ as a guest commentator during the World Cup. Clerc, who is a passionate football fan, also appeared at the beginning of each programme, singing the national anthem of whichever team was playing in the match that night.
1998 also proved to be another year of critical triumph for Clerc, the French music copyright association SACEM awarding the singer its coveted 'Prix de printemps' for his song "les Séparés" (based on a poem by Marcelline Desbordes-Valmore). In January '99 Julien Clerc branched out in a totally different direction, performing an innovative new show at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Clerc's intimate, acoustic-style show was a million miles from the Clerc rock extravaganzas fans had been accustomed to watching in French stadiums, but the singer's new concerts proved highly popular nevertheless. Accompanied on stage by just two musicians - his loyal pianist and arranger Jean Schultheis and guitarist Hervé Brault - Clerc delighted fans by running through a series of his greatest hits, which had been specially re-arranged for the acoustic occasion.
Following his success at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Clerc would go on tour with his new acoustic show, scoring a huge - and unexpected - hit with audiences in North America (April 22nd- May 6th). After his American triumph Clerc had planned to take his new show to Asia and dates had been lined up in China, Thailand, Korea, Cambodia and Singapore (May 12th - 29th). However, owing to the war in Kosovo and NATO's diplomatic problems with China, the singer was forced to cancel his concerts in China and Taiwan.
Clerc's mammoth international tour, which lasted a full two and a half years, finally ended up in Montpellier in the South of France. In the first weeks of the New Millennium, Clerc went on to team up with a host of French stars for a series of fund-raising concerts for "Restaurants du cœur" (a charity set up by the late French comic Coluche).
Clerc records number 18!
Clerc scarcely had time to recover from his extensive '98/'99 tour before launching into the recording of a new album, "Si j'étais elle" - his 18th to date! Eager to bring new talent on board his chart-topping team, Clerc branched out in an unexpected direction, inviting supermodel Carla Bruni to write six songs for his new album. Clerc also embarked upon successful collaborations with the Franco-Algerian author Nina Bouraoui and up-and-coming young 'soul/groove' star Assia and her brother, 23-year-old whizzkid producer Khaled Maouene (aka Khalil) from the Paris suburbs. Needless to say, Clerc's loyal songwriting friends - Etienne Roda-Gil, David Mc Neil and Laurent Chalumeau - also contributed to "Si j'étais elle".
After completing 'pre-production' work at Khalil's flat in Créteil, Clerc jetted off to Los Angeles to record his new album, claiming that American studios were more "comfortable" to work in than their French equivalents. Following the release of "Si j'étais elle" on 14 November 2000, Clerc embarked upon a non-stop round of interviews and has appeared (some would say rather over-) extensively in the French media ever since.
Following the release of "Si j'étais elle" on 14 November 2000, Clerc embarked upon a non-stop round of interviews, appearing extensively in the French media. Needless to say, "Si j'étais elle" proved to be an enormous hit with French music fans – as did the follow-up single "En ton nom" (a duo recorded with rising young soul star Assia).
Julien Clerc hit the road again in January 2001, teaming up with a host of French music stars on the "Enfoirés" tour to raise money for Coluche's feed-the-homeless charity "Les Restaurants du coeur". Then it was back to intensive promotional work in the French media. At the beginning of summer 2001, Monsieur Clerc delighted fans up and down the country when he announced he would be devoting most of the following year to touring. Things kicked off in Paris on 15 January 2002 with a month-long Paris season which included concerts at four major venues: L'Européen, Le Bataclan, Le Casino de Paris and Le Zénith. Then Julien hit the road again, travelling the length and breadth of France right through until June.
The ambience of the singer's live shows was captured on two CD albums, entitled "Julien déménage". Volume I (a live acoustic and electric mix) was recorded at Le Zénith in January and Volume II (a purely acoustic set) at Le Bataclan in February. "Julien déménage" hit record stores in April 2002.
Chanson society
As fit as ever, Julien Clerc would be bustling with new plans. After toying for a while with the idea of a crooner’s album in the style of Frank Sinatra, he eventually released "Studio" in 2003. The album featured a series of American standards that had been adapted into French by old pros, such as Jean-Lou Dabadie, Maxime Le Forestier, David Mc Neil and Alain Souchon. The singer also chose to collaborate with two emerging talents: Benjamin Biolay and Carla Bruni. The jazzy arrangements were composed by Jean-Claude Petit and many other big names were invited to the recording: Manu Dibango, Bireli Lagrène, Jean-Luc Ponty and Toots Thielemans. The first single featured a cover of "Until de real things come along" penned by Maxime Le Forestier.
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Alternating between sad, sentimental songs and upbeat rhythmic numbers, Julien Clerc appears to have achieved music's "mission impossible" of managing to please everybody all the time. Striking the perfect balance between finely-honed lyrics and populist melodies, king Julien looks set to reign at the top of the French charts for a long time yet.
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