Please mention The Gers Local when responding to adverts 2 New Publications - both with links to the S W of France


Michael Gardiner - a S W France resident has combined his love of music and writing with this new book on French


“ The Good, the not so Good and the Ugly “ is a book about popular French music between the end of the Second World War and the present day. Its aim is to inform English-speaking people about this fascinating subject, tracing France's musical development through the last seven decades. It takes its title from Serge Lione's famous spaghetti western of almost the same name and refers to the notion that music emanating out of France, though often of a high quality, can sometimes be less so. “ Ugly “ is a reference to the unusual and highly talented man Serge Gainsbourg, who considered himself to be ugly. The book recounts the careers of France's foremost musical artists, each chapter taking its title from a well-known song and focusing on a particular period.


Chapter One introduces Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, and Juliette Gréco, followed by the arrival of the first singer- songwriters in the early '50s – artists such as Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel and Boris Vian.


Chapter Two deals with the evolution of French music through the '50s before rock'n'roll culture found its way into France; Chapter Three describes the eventual mini- cultural bombshell of the early '60s when J o h n n y


E d d i e Mitchell and Dick Rivers began their careers.


Chapter Four is all about the « Yé-Yé » phenomenon, bringing onto the musical scene “safe” artists like Claude François, Françoise Hardy, Sheila, France Gall and our own Petula Clark, with Serge Gainsbourg making his first appearance.


Chapter Five is dedicated to Gainsbourg's extraordinarily successful career and his profound influence on contemporary French music, while Chapter Six focuses on the young pretenders, notably Jacques Dutronc and Michel Polnareff, who followed in the maestro's wake.


Chapter Seven describes the impact of Flower Power on French culture, with the advent of “folk” singers like Hugues Aufray and Graeme Allwright at the end of the '60s, and the continuing success of “La Chanson Française” proposed by Claude Nougaro, Barbara and others.


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Chapter Eight describes the affects of the political events of 1968 on French culture, introducing artists such as Léo Ferré, Jacques Higelin and Véronique Sanson, who are still prominent in the Hexagon; while Chapter Nine deals with the aftermath of '68 and the emergence of the first successful rock bands in the 1970s.


Chapter Ten is all about the Punk lifestyle and its impact on French culture through bands like Téléphone and Trust, and


anti-conformist singers like Alain Bashung, Renaud and Hubert- Félix Thiéfaine.


Chapter Eleven talks about the highly creative '80s and '90s periods in French music introducing bands like Les Rita Mitsouko, Indochine and Noir Désir, and solo artists like Vanessa Paradis, CharlElie Couture and Jean-Jacques Goldman.


Halliday,


The last chapter focuses on the development of French music in the Noughties, and the subsequent emergence of many young stars, now internationally known, like Camille, Daft Punk, Air, David Guetta and Manu Chao; this is followed by the author's o p t i m i s t i c conclusion.


This summarises The


Good, Not so Good and the Ugly. If you are at all interested in French music


then it is a must for you to read. Even if you are not interested in French music as such, it is an education in itself. There is so much more available that we first thought! It is a personal and very affectionate look at French popular music mixed with a truly unbiased reflection of the political feeling of the time as well. The author has researched his subject superbly and has given us a look at a genre that is somewhat overlooked with the plethora of styles and ‘musical’ attributes that we have available in the UK. It is funny, extremely interesting and exceptionally educational.


The Good, The Not so Good and the Ugly is available as an e-book, ready to download direct on to your own devices (Kindle, E-Pub etc.) or as a PDF, from the


Publishers at Mathias Press (www.mathiaspress.com) at the link below


www.mathiaspress.co.uk/ebooks.html


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