Anne Sylvestre, always helpful, provides us with alternative themes for this rather strange day for a news radio: everyone thinks of the second round of the presidential election but the rules which apply to the audiovisual media are very clear perfect: nothing must be said or disseminated which could, directly or indirectly, resemble the expression of a preference for one or the other candidate in the running for tomorrow’s vote. So goat and roses, fall and firewood, it’s okay.
And the history of the song offers us some gems on the fact of talking about something else, starting with a title by Lucienne Boyer. You know, she’s the one who recorded Tell me about love, the first worldwide success for a French-language record. A success so enormous that she ended up asking that we write to her Tell me something else.
In the first episode of These songs that make the news this weekend, you hear excerpts from:
Anne Sylvester, Java of something else, 1975
Lucienne Boyer, Tell me something else 1933
Jean-Yves Labat, To say nothing, 1965
Calico, Without saying anything, 2000
Louis Garrel, Clotilde Hesme, You have to be quiet, 2007
Positive Radical Sound, Better to be silent, 2008
Marc Ogéret, To shut up, 1976
Escape, When we have nothing to say, 2002
Jean-Louis Murat, Nothing can be said about it, 2006
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Remember: during the summer of 2019, La Playlist de Françoise Hardy was a crossing of the musical baggage of an author, composer and performer considered as the arbiter of the elegance of pop in France.
In July and August 2017, we spent A Summer in Souchon, during which Alain Souchon guided us on a tasty walk through a lifetime of love for song.
All summer 2016, in the company of Vincent Delerm, we wandered around in La Playlist Amoureuse de la Chanson, truant exploration of popular heritage. You can also extend the delicacies of this summer chronicle with the French song lovers dictionary, co-published by Plon and franceinfo.