Jacques Dutronc (born April 28, 1943 in Paris) is a French singer, composer, and actor.
Dutronc's songs combine American and British musical influences with French lyrical themes. Many of his early songs feature a sound comparable to that of Ray Davies of The Kinks. Dutronc's "La fille du père Noël" and David Bowie's "Jean Genie" share a riff likely derived from the Yardbirds' accelerated version of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" (the Belgian singer Arno recorded a medley of the Dutronc and Bowie songs ("Jean Baltazaarr") with the American singer Beverly Jo Scott that highlight these similarities). However, Dutronc is distinctive for his mocking attitude toward late 1960s French youth culture. Dutronc's biggest hit was "Il est cinq heures, Paris s'eveille", with the classical flute player Roger Bourdin performing an essential part. In this song, Dutronc paints an evocative portrait of the French capital in the early morning hours.
Jacques Dutronc - L'Opportuniste
Thank you Roy, for choosing to show us "L'opportuniste", it is one of my favorite songs :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad we live in this age & time where I can discover all these great artists (from all over the world, not just France) that I never knew existed. My Ipod is starting to really filling up with more world music lately (I'm finding the American music scene pretty boring in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteBonjour Roy, do you know Thomas Dutronc? He is the son of Jacques Dutronc and Françoise Hardy (who is also a famous singer). He came out with several good songs lately (he is a good guitarist actually, gypsy style, like Django Reinhardt).
ReplyDeleteThanks Isabelle, I will check them out. I am en vacance cette semaine, so I am going to listen to more music this week then I normally do.
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