Hervé Cristiani was a French singer-songwriter who started his artistic career by attending the American Center in Paris, a place of musical experiments and who will allow him to meet other illustrious strangers like himself such as Dick Annegarn, Bill Deraime, Jacques Higelin and others Maxime Le Forestier. And as paradoxical as it may seem, he also attended Le Petit Conservatoire de la Chanson de Mireille, a person with whom he would always maintain particularly fraternal relations.
In 1972, he released his first single "Quand j'ai peur d'aimer", which went somewhat unnoticed. Just like "La femme fleur" which he performs in a duet with Dick Annegarn.
He will have to wait until 1975 to finally see his dreams come true with the release of his first album "Au pays de Mélodie". A concept album with relative success but which at least has the merit of launching the artist's career in earnest. A concept album which will be followed by another the following year in 1976 with "Campanules", which, on the other hand, will go completely unnoticed.
Label change from 1979 and new album "Récréation". Change that will not bring more success to the artist. Everything will change from the year 1980 when he begins to interpret a somewhat lunar title called "Il est libre Max" during improvised concerts. A title that particularly appeals to the public and which he includes in his new album which simply bears his name.
But the record company prefers to promote other titles, much to the artist's dismay. This is without counting on the latter's obstinacy, which eventually forced the release of the title in 1981. The result will exceed all the artist's expectations. The title becomes a real phenomenon and literally explodes the notoriety of the singer. No less than 500,000 copies will be sold.
The rest will prove to be more complicated to manage than expected. The singer failed to capitalize on the enormous success he had achieved and the albums that were to be released subsequently would struggle to stand out from the competition. Paradoxically, it was with an album intended for children that he returned to success in 1989. Album intended to teach children the multiplication tables through songs.
Building on this success, he released a new album “Antinoüs” in 1990 on which he relied heavily, considering it as his best opus. But his record company went bankrupt in the meantime and the album failed for lack of a proper distribution in the bins.
Anything that comes out afterwards will not meet the expected success. The great adventure will end for good on July 16, 2014, when he passed away at age 66 from vocal cord cancer.
But he left all the same in the musical history of the 80s one of his most beautiful songs and just as such, he largely deserves his place in the Pantheon of the greatest artists of the end of the 20th century on the French side.
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
Quand j’ai peur d’aimer 1972
Dans les étoiles noires 1975
Les pigeons 1978
Madame Michu 1979
Rock’n roll star 1980
Attila le Hun ! 1981
Il est libre Max 1981
Radio Bonheur 1982
Salve Regina 1982
Ma claque 1983
Hey money 1985
Emmenez-moi 1986
Le tango bleu 1987
Clips :
1972 ... a first title which already shows what the artist's career will be : mainly Intimist. An orientation which at a given moment will quite simply produce one of the most beautiful titles of this end of the XXth century on the French side ...
1975 ... it is true that at this stage, it is difficult to imagine what the artist is really capable of. A lunar side which is confirmed, it is clear. Strength or weakness, only the future will answer this question ...
1978 ... what is certain is that there is no risk of setting the Dancefloor on fire with such titles. An assumed musical orientation that could have totally isolated him. Which will not be the case, far from it !
1979 ... still so crazy, still so quirky. Well, in this decade of the 70s, anything goes. But the next decade will be much more demanding. The singer will have to adapt to new trends and quickly ...
1980 ... a very astonishing first attempt at adaptation. He adapts, that's clear, but in his own way. And what is certain is that he will never do anything like the others !
1981 ... it is true that sometimes, we border on caricature. Of course, the musical sound is more trendy but for the rest, sometimes, one wonders which audience the singer really wants to address ...
1981 ... then comes the WONDER ! A truly incredible year 1981 with titles completely wacky and others which border on pure genius. The artist signs here one of the titles among the most inspired of this end of the XXth century and returns in a shattering way in the musical legend of the 80s on the French side. MO-NU-MEN-TAL !
1982 ... and always this inimitable style which belongs only to him. A mixture of fantasy and carelessness which are almost unique at that time, all singers combined. This is also what makes its strength !
1982 ... he may try his hand at faster tempos, unfortunately he will never manage to obtain the long-awaited consecration in this field. His name, and especially his fame, will always remain associated with Max ...
1983 ... he perseveres and never gives up. But goodwill is not always enough to save what is essential. And the competition is starting to be light years ahead, which does not help ...
1985 ... and yet he is far from ridiculous. It wouldn't have taken much for him to finally get some semblance of recognition on the Dancefloor. But the goddess of success will have decided otherwise ...
1986 ... yet another title of more than certain quality and which unfortunately went somewhat unnoticed. One of the rare titles where he will have been able to make the junction between his lunar inspiration and the imperatives demanded by pure and hard Dance. Pity...
1987 ... the end of the decade which will unfortunately see him slowly but surely disappear. Anyway, he will have left behind a multitude of titles of big caliber of which 1 is now raised today at the level of Masterpiece. No need to add more ...
Wiki :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :