Vanessa Paradis is a French singer who started her artistic career at the age of 14. But we actually see her for the first time on Jacques Martin's show L’école des fans when she was only 8 years old, where she repeats the title Emilie Jolie.
And it was at the age of 10 that she recorded her first track "La magie des Surprises Parties", a track written by Les Forbans. A title that would never see the light of day as a Single but which she nevertheless performed at the Italian festival in Ambrogino two years later in 1985.
The year 1985 saw her also play the backing vocals on Franck Langolff's album "Normal", which was soon to play a most important role in the young girl's life.
The same Langolff, who sees the young girl's enormous potential before anyone else, will write her, along with Etienne Roda-Gil, a little song called "Joe le Taxi". Song which was released two years later in 1987 and which was to be a hit not only in France, but also throughout Europe.
You have to go back to the year 1969 and the cult "Je t'aime… moi non plus" by Serge Gainsbourg to see a French-language title doing so strong internationally, that is to say ! The title will ultimately sell more than 3 million copies in all countries. The young artist is becoming the "phenomenon" of the moment in France.
She released a second Single "Manolo Manolete" always the same year, which did not experience the success of its predecessor but still obtained rather flattering sales figures. The singer's career is well and truly launched.
Her first album “M&J” was released a year later in 1988 with the same Langolff/Roda-Gil tandem at the helm. Album from which 4 other Singles will be extracted, including the enormous "Marilyn and John", the young singer's second flagship Single and which will sell out to more than 500,000 copies.
The album was released globally but did not achieve the expected success, except in France where it sold nearly 360,000 copies. The singer who continued her studies until then was forced and forced to stop them in 1989. The pressure from other students, teachers and the public becoming unmanageable.
New album later in 1990 with a new duo in charge. Always Langolff on the song side, but this time it will be Serge Gainsbourg on the lyrics side, just that. The album in turn was a hit in France and will stay in history as Gainsbourg's last notable artistic contribution before his death. With as the flagship Single the enormous "Tandem", followed shortly by the sumptuous "Dis lui toi que je t'aime".
Radical team change in 1992 with the arrival of Lenny Kravitz. Which composes the album "Vanessa Paradis" for her. Album sung entirely in English, a feature that allows it to be released all over the world. But once again, it will only be in France that it sells the best. International sales combined with French sales will still make it the best-selling album of all the singer's discography with just over 1.2 million copies sold. Album from which will be extracted mainly "Be my baby", flagship Single which will bring to the singer her second international mega hit. And to a lesser extent "Sunday Mondays" which came out in 1993.
An album that will be the last of the decade. It will therefore be necessary to wait the following decade to see her bounce back again. But that's another story…
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
80s Decade :
La magie des surprises parties 1985
Joe le taxi 1987
Manolo Manolete 1988
Marilyn & John 1988
Maxou 1988
Coupe coupe 1989
Mosquito 1989
90s Decade :
Tandem 1990
Dis lui toi que je t’aime 1990
L'amour en soi 1991
Be my babe 1992
Sunday Mondays 1993
Just as long as you are there 1994
Les cactus 1994
Gotta have it 1994
2000s Decade :
Commando 2000
Pourtant 2000
Que fait la vie ? 2001
L'eau à la bouche 2001
Ma pétroleuse 2004
Divine idylle 2007
Dès que j'te vois 2007
L'incendie 2008
Adrienne 2009
Il y a 2009
2010s Decade :
La Seine 2011
Profite 2012
Love song 2013
Les espaces et les sentiments 2013
Mi amor 2013
Pas besoin de permis 2014
Ces mots simples 2018
Kiev 2019
La plage 2019
Vague à l'âme sœur 2019
Tracks :
1985 ... the very first steps. Yes, yes, it's the same one that will become two years later one of the biggest musical phenomena on the French side ...
1987 ... only 15 years old, this pretty blonde, totally unknown to the general public, arrives like a meteorite and will smash everything in her path. Here she signs one of the biggest hits of all her discography and one of the most emblematic titles of the decade on the French side. A startling career to say the least ! HU-GE !
1988 ... one would have thought that she would be a shooting star among many others and that she would disappear as quickly as she had appeared. Oh no, it will even be quite the opposite. This is only the beginning of a career that will prove to be very brilliant !
1988 ... she puts on hits at a speed that is truly astounding for her age. She signs here a new title of very large caliber which will undoubtedly remain as one of the most outstanding of all her discography
1988 ... a BIG year 1988 with no less than 3 top class titles on the clock. France is really under the spell and it is set to last !
1989 ... an "M&J" album which will produce 6 singles on its own, a real feat. We are already in the 5th extract. A real phenomenon !
1989 ... an album which will have allowed the release of titles over 3 different years, something extremely rare. Of course, this title will be the lowest ranked but all the same, what an incredible adventure !
1990 ... radical change of style and sound. The teenage girl is over, here comes the child woman. A radical transition and metamorphosis but with formidable efficiency !
1990 ... after the carefree light titles, here comes the time for 'big' songs. Here she signs an absolutely sumptuous Intimist title which shows the truly astounding progress she has achieved in a few months. MA-GIC !
1991 ... despite the obvious quality of the title, it will not even be classified. It sometimes happens to go 'through' but nothing serious at the moment ...
1992 ... carried at arm's length by a Lenny Kravitz at the cleats, the young Vanessa will finally obtain the long-awaited international recognition. Happiness never comes alone, she also signs here the biggest success of all her discography. MAS-TER-FUL !
1993 ... and the great adventure continues. New top hit which confirms the obvious talent of the female baby doll on a planetary level. A meteoric rise that takes your breath away. Hope it lasts ...
1994 ... one last 'little' hit before the big 6 years air hole. After 7 totally euphoric years, it seems that the first circle has come full circle. But what a loop !
1994 ... a revisited version of Jacques Dutronc's flagship title dating from 1966, nice but nothing more. It remains, however, a beautiful tribute to the artist...
1994...a mid-1990s that saw the young singer drop out somewhat. So much so that we will lose sight of her until the next decade...
2000...it will therefore take her 6 years to successfully rise to the surface. And yet the return will be rather discreet with a level of success in the Charts that is minimal to say the least...
2000...a year 2000 which sees her stagnating at an average level of inspiration, to say the least. The singer will therefore have to ask herself the right questions and quickly about what to do in the years to come…
2001...decidedly, nothing is going well at the beginning of this decade. The level of success in the Charts is at the level of the daisies and nothing works despite an obvious desire to do well. Hard law of the trade...
2001...after paying a fine tribute to Jacques Dutronc, it was Serge Gainsbourg's turn to have the singer's favor. She revisits here her title of 1960 and my faith, the result is rather positive...
2004...she may try everything, for the moment, it's impossible to get back in the leading pack. We will therefore have to wait a little longer to hope to see the miracle happen...if it happens...
2007...it is the providential help of Matthieu Chedid that will change everything. He writes this tailor-made title for her and allows the singer to make a resounding return to the front of the stage. HU-GE !
2007... this title is going to do a little less well than its predecessor but still allows the artist to continue to make talking about her and rather in a beautiful way. It's already that...
2008...a beautiful and big year 2008 which will have allowed her to show that she still exists and that she certainly does not intend to hang up her gloves for the moment. To be continued...
2009...here she is in whimsical duet mode with Albin De La Simone. A nice duo but who will not succeed in getting noticed more than that. Shame...
2009...this time it's Gaétan Roussel of Louise Attaque who will offer her this title. Once again a tailor-made title that will allow the singer to end the decade in the best possible way !
2011...it's again Matthieu Chedid who decides to put her back in the spotlight at the beginning of the 2010 decade thanks to this title present on the soundtrack of the film 'A monster in Paris'. And on this one, the 2 artists will even push the song together making this title a real success...
2012 ... she goes from one composer to another and not small caliber each time. This time we find her alongside Benjamin Biolay on a title that will work pretty well...
2013...he even composed this title for her. An association with less success than that made with Matthieu Chédid but still successful...
2013...this one on the other hand will pass 'through'. We're not going to lie to each other, the best years are now behind her and the rest will prove to be a little more complicated to manage than expected...
2013...she will save the end of 2013 in extremis with this title. Like what there are always reasons to hope even if the horizon is becoming more and more blocked...
2014...success is now confined exclusively to France and no longer to Europe as before. She will now have to settle for lack of anything better...
2018...we will lose sight of her and here she is again 4 years later in a form that we will qualify as certain. In any case, enough to keep her afloat for the moment...
2019...an end of the 2010 decade that will see her disappear from the radar slowly but surely. And yet it's not for lack of continuing to release titles...
2019 ... success is now absent subscribers and the singer does more some figuration than anything else. Afterwards, you have to know that with her nothing is ever over...
2019...she will narrowly save the year with this title. It remains to be seen what the future holds for her, but that, no one can know for the moment...
Wiki :
Official Website :
http://vanessaparadis.fr/ Greatest Hits :
Discography :