Monaco : Françoise Hardy�s confessions

by Dominique Dufaut 99 views

Françoise Hardy, 1963�s Monegasque entrant and French cult singer, has just published her autobiography, under the title Le désespoir des singes� et autres bagatelles (Monkeys� despair� and other small matters), Editions Robert Laffont.

Lots of books have already been written on the lady, among which one penned by French singer Etienne Daho, for whom Françoise Hardy was (and still is) an icon. Mrs Hardy already wrote books herself, but only about astrology, another of her main interests.Françoise talks a lot about her life, sometimes on her intimacy.

Her career is, of course, chronogically described. But not a single line on the Eurovision experience, in spite of the fact that it came a few months after she had her first big (and everlasting) hit, Tous les garçons et les filles (Find me a boy, in its English version). However this is not a surprise as the lady already told she had not happy memories of the contest. “I didn’t sing very well”, she frequently answered.Contests were not at all her cup of tea.

In the book, half a page deals about the 1966 Sanremo festival. “In a way, I was forced to do it by the record company” she writes. Parlami di te placed 14th (out of 14 songs !) in the final round. By the way, performing on stage is not what the singer prefers. 40 years ago, in 1968, she decided that she will not tour any longer. From that day on, she concentrated on recording.Françoise Hardy represented Monaco at the 1963 Eurovision song contest with L’amour s’en va, text and music by herself. The song placed 5th joint.

More about the book here.