{"id":5383,"date":"2022-05-19T11:47:34","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T10:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/?p=5383"},"modified":"2022-05-19T11:47:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T10:47:34","slug":"francoise-hardy-what-is-la-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=5383","title":{"rendered":"Fran\u00e7oise Hardy: What is La Question?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In 1970 Fran\u00e7oise Hardy teamed up with expatriate English duo, guitarist Micky Jones and\u00a0drummer Tommy Brown (musical\u00a0lieutenants to Johnny Hallyday since \u201966),\u00a0resulting in a new, rockier direction. The\u00a0pair had already worked with Hardy on\u00a0One-Nine-Seven-Zero<\/em> and the new album\u00a0(untitled but known these days as Soleil<\/em>)\u00a0reworked some of the songs from that LPwith new French lyrics. Hardy also added\u00a0newer tunes penned by the post-68\u00a0generation, among them Bernard Ilous\u00a0and Johnny Rech (\u2018Effeuille-moi le coeur\u2019)\u00a0and \u00c9tienne Roda-Gil ( Julien Clerc\u2019s\u00a0lyricist) and producer Bernard Estardy (\u2018Le\u00a0crabe\u2019). The album sold well, generating\u00a0two hits with \u2018Soleil\u2019 (Sandy Alpert\u2019s\u00a0\u2018Sunshine\u2019) and \u2018Point\u2019, but Hardy\u00a0remained restless, seeking something new\u00a0to fire her imagination.<\/p>\n

The answer came from an unexpected\u00a0direction. Disenchanted with pop stardom\u00a0and with her relationship with Dutronc\u00a0entering stormy waters (not for the last\u00a0time, although they would stay together,\u00a0marrying in \u201981), Hardy journeyed to\u00a0Brazil to serve as a judge in a Rio de\u00a0Janeiro song contest. Long interested in\u00a0Brazilian music (there had been a cover of\u00a0Chico Buarque\u2019s\u00a0\u2018Sabi\u00e1\u2019 (\u2018La m\u00e9sange\u2019)\u00a0on Comment te dire\u00a0adieu), on her return\u00a0she approached a\u00a0Brazilian musician\u00a0living in Paris with a\u00a0view to collaborating on\u00a0a new album. Valeniza\u00a0Zagni da Silva,\u00a0generally known as\u00a0Tuca, had met Hardy\u00a0via a mutual friend a\u00a0few months earlier.\u00a0Hardy had been\u00a0particularly taken by\u00a0\u2018M\u00eame sous la pluie\u2019, a\u00a0moving song that Tuca\u00a0had co-written with\u00a0lyricist Bob du Pac, and\u00a0she envisaged a whole set\u00a0of songs constructed on\u00a0similar lines. The song had\u00a0been earmarked for\u00a0another artist but Tuca\u00a0eventually agreed to\u00a0give it to Hardy and\u00a0work began early in \u201971\u00a0on what would become\u00a0La question<\/i>.<\/p>\n