Hervé Vilard, whose real name is René Villard, is a French singer whose childhood is quite tormented, with a father he will never know and a mother who is not able to take care of her children on her own. Young Hervé will therefore quickly get to know the orphanage and then the host families. Particularly difficult childhood and early adolescence where he often ran away.
He decided to go to Paris at the beginning of the 1960s and it was the providential meeting with Daniel Cordier, former resistance member and Jean Moulin's secretary, that would considerably change the situation. The latter becomes his legal guardian and young René can finally leave the Assistance Publique.
He then found a small job in record store and took the opportunity to take singing lessons. Singing lessons that allowed him to be spotted by the Mercury label, which signed him and renamed him Hervé Vilard.
A label that allows him to release a small Single in 1965 which bears the name of ..."Capri, c'est fini". And for a first try, it's a real masterstroke. The record is a hit, to the point of selling over 3 million copies worldwide ! Real success that literally explodes the notoriety of the young singer overnight.
The rest will prove to be more complicated to manage than expected with several relatively successful Singles. This did not prevent him from filming on European stages and his reputation at the International was such that he decided to start from 1967 a 2 years tour in Latin America in order to remake himself a health there.
A salutary exile which allowed him to return to his native land in great shape at the end of the decade. In particular, he released the "Sayonara" Single in 1969, a flagship title which sold over 550,000 copies. Short-lived success unfortunately because all the discs that will be released in the following years will in no way meet the success of the latter. Return to South America at the start of the 1970s, a continent on which its level of popularity did not decline and on which success followed success.
He will have to wait 8 years to find the favor of the French public thanks to the Single "Nous". A sumptuous Ultimate Slow which was a real hit this year and will sell more than 2 million copies in France, a real feat.
He did it again two years later with the title "Reviens", which didn’t wait for the astounding sales score of "Nous" but which still sold over a million copies.
He would have other successes with titles like "Mediterranéenne" in 1983 and "T'es pas Dietrich" in 1984 but the end of the 1980s will gradually relegate the singer to the "Has Been" category. A sidelining that will be accentuated during the 1990s and which will unfortunately be irreversible.
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
60s Decade :
Une voix qui t’appelle 1964
Capri c’est fini 1965
Fais la rire 1965
J’ai envie 1965
Mourir ou vivre 1966
Pedro 1966
Jolie ou pas jolie 1966
J’ai trop de peine 1967
L’avion de nulle part 1968
C’est l’amour 1968
Elle ne tardera plus longtemps 1968
Sylvie des 3 ormes 1968
Sayonara 1969
70s Decade :
Les anges du matin 1970
On laisse toujours quelqu’un derrière soi 1971
Amore carpo amore bello 1972
Pour toi ce n’était rien 1973
Elle reviendra 1973
Elle était belle 1974
Amoureux d’un soir 1974
Champagne 1975
Si tu ne m’aimes plus 1975
Belles 1976
Le bateau sur la montagne 1977
Reveries 1978
Nous 1978
J’ai mal je t’aime 1979
80s Decade :
Reviens 1980
Pas pleurer 1980
Va pour l’amour libre 1981
Je l’aime tant 1981
Méditérranéenne 1983
Ensemble 1984
T’es pas Dietrich 1984
Bonjour 1985
Claire 1985
Venise pour l’éternité 1985
Viens 1985
Le vin de corse 1986
Lila Lilam 1988
90s Decade :
Amore grande 1990
Mamma mia 1991
La vie est belle, le monde est beau 1995
Simplement 1997
Pour la retrouver 1997
2000s Decade :
India song 2004
Quand les hommes vivront d'amour 2004
Tracks :
1964 ... the beginnings of a little youngster who, in a few years, will become one of the most prominent artists in France. But difficult at this stage to imagine the enormous career that awaits him ...
1965 ... in 1 year, his fate will literally change, in particular thanks to THIS title. He signed here quite simply one of the biggest titles of the decade and of his entire career. MAS-TER-FUL !
1965 ... an exceptional year 1965 for the artist with a plethora of titles. They will unfortunately not all have the same level of success as the previous title ...
1965 ... anyway, the artist's career is well and truly launched. All that remains is to unroll, and to unroll, it will unroll !
1966 ... it is clear that his favorite field is the Intimist, field in which he excels and in which he will experience his greatest successes
1966 ... despite titles of a certain quality, he does not manage to repeat the feat of 'Capri c'est fini'. It must be said that he set the bar a little high and that achieving the same feat will take some time ...
1966 ... the titles follow one another at an impressive speed. Even though the level of success has dropped somewhat, taking center stage at least keeps him in the race
1967 ... after a startling career to say the least, the rest will prove to be a little more complicated to manage than expected. He will have to be patient to familiarize himself with the stars again ...
1968 ... it must be said that his obsession with the Intimist serves him as much as it penalizes him, because the high-level Intimist requires constant inspiration and that is not easy thing every days...
1968 ... the mid-1960s saw him hatch, then explode. The end of the decade saw him rather stagnate. And yet, he does not demerit, that is clear. It just lacks the little extra that makes all the difference ...
1968 ... a year 1968 rich in titles but the mayonnaise still does not manage to take. But it is clear that by dint of trying, there is a moment when the success, the real one, will return ...
1969 ... it took him 4 years to finally get back to real success. Like what, you should never let go, a maxim that he will make his own !
1970 ... new decade and new challenges. Will the singer purely and simply collapse and disappear or on the contrary consolidate his place of sure value in the French musical landscape. To be continued ...
1971 ... he is not going to collapse but he is not going to pass this level either, which would make him one of the major artists of the end of the 20th century on the French side. Yet it is not for lack of trying ...
1972 ... paradoxically, he is more popular in the USA than in his own country. But it is always better that than nothing at all as they say ...
1973 ... very suddenly, the tempo accelerates somewhat. It is obvious that with him, it is not likely to last ...
1973 ... the adventure continues, title after title, year after year, but he struggles to stay permanently in the Elite. The level of success is like his level of inspiration, that is to say very variable ...
1974 ... it is clear that he can boast of being the record holder for Intimist titles, that's undeniable. Since the start of his career, he has only done that and it is also this niche that will see him touch the stars several times. So why change ...
1974 ... the simplest melodies are often the most effective. Ditto for the lyrics. Unfortunately, in his case, they are sometimes so simple that it borders on caricature, hence a rather uncomfortable gap with the competition ...
1975 ... when he gets out of his comfort zone, it allows him to explore areas that suit him well too. His up-to-date strategy of only doing the Intimist deprived him of a career that could have, and should have, been even more grandiose ...
1975 ... to cover one of the jewels of the Intimist namely the 'I'm not in love' of the 10CC released the same year is a daring and highly risky bet as the original is so close to the Masterpiece. And my faith, his version is not that ridiculous ...
1976 ... popular songs made by a popular singer for a popular audience. A very simple recipe which will have allowed many French artists of the time to become legendary !
1977 ... at the end of the 1970s when the Disco will reign supreme, it is clear that the little Dance title that he provides marginalizes him somewhat compared to a part of the competition that has been thrown to lost body in this new current. A new current that will devastate everything on a planetary level ...
1978 ... rather than being average in the Dance register, he prefers to abandon it and always hopes to release the Intimist title which will once again allow him to touch the stars. It will not be on this title there in any case even if it does not lack quality it is clear
1978 ... an endism that will pay off ! After having signed one of the greatest Intimist songs of the 1960s, he did it again during this 1970s with this sumptuous Ultimate Slow which definitively established him as one of the greatest singers of the end of the 20th century on the French side. Certainly in a somewhat marshmallow register, but in this area, he is the best, that's clear. MAS-TER-FUL !
1979 ... the end of the decade will still be under the sign of gentleness. The opposite would still have really surprised us coming from him ...
1980 ... he will have been able to mark 3 distinct decades with major titles from the Intimist register, a real feat. Few singers of his generation can say the same, that's clear. HU-GE !
1980 ... he is capable of both the best and the worst. Inspiration fluctuates incredibly between each song and it's a lottery every time ...
1981 ... it is clear that the decade 80 will be complicated to manage concerning him. Between him and the little youngsters who arrive every day in greater numbers on the French music scene, the gap will increase and irreversibly ...
1981 ... the gap is not yet too obvious at the beginning of the decade but it will not last. But he will not be the only one to pay the price, most singers of his generation will suffer the same fate ...
1983 ... for the moment, he does better than resist and his register of light songs still manages to keep him afloat. Not sure it will last like this for years to come ...
1984 ... too many songs take us back to the previous decade. He is struggling to situate himself in this new decade and we feel that everything is going too fast for him now ...
1984 ... something is happening, that's clear. A much more trendy sound, a rhythm that goes well, in short, the metamorphosis. Thanks WHO ? Thank you Didier Barbelivien !
1985 ... he's back again 10 years back. He constantly alternates between modern and old-fashioned pieces, a constant back and forth that really tires the audience. Beware of irreversible unscrewing ...
1985 ... there is the 'Old' Vilard and the 'Tendance' Vilard. On this point, we find with some satisfaction the 'Tendance' Vilard . But with him, everything can change very quickly ...
1985 ... well, well, it's the 'Old' Vilard that is making a comeback. The sound may be trendy, unfortunately that is not everything. But who would blame him, he's like that and we won't remake him again, that's clear !
1985 ... back in Intimist mode. Even if this title is nice, the competition has also taken hold of this area and it is clear that what he offers today does not have the level sufficient to hope to finish at the top of the French Top50
1986 ... he really does not take the measure of the world which changes around him and which relegates him little by little to the edge of the road. Hard law of the trade ...
1988 ... he continues on his way without worrying too much about the world that is collapsing around him. We can only salute this desire to believe in it over and over again, but we know very well how all this will end unfortunately ...
1990 ... he will have crossed the 60s, then the 70s, then the 80s and here he is quietly entering the 90s. The 80s allowed him to swim between two waters and save the essential. Not sure that the 90s will be so lenient with him ...
1991 ... it is clear that he cannot hope for much. In a decade that flies by at the speed of light, its style and sound are too vintage and it is clear that the public has been looking elsewhere for a few years already ...
1995 ... he tries to adapt to new trends but it's almost mission impossible. He is now too typical of the '70s' and the young audience sees in him only a vestige of the past, certainly glorious, but unfortunately completely outdated
1997 ... the production of titles slows down mechanically because no one believes in him at the end of the 90s. But whatever, he still believes in it. And why not...
1997 ... which does not prevent him from continuing the adventure against all odds. Already more than 30 years of career, a longevity that it is all the same good to salute and which makes him one of the best of his generation and that, nobody will be able to take away from him !
2004...
2004...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :