Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Johnny Hallyday - the French Elvis??


I'm just going to be honest. I think the fact that Johnny Hallyday was and still is the darling of the French is absolutely hysterical. He just seems so very Las Vegas/Tom Jones but he is loved all over France. But the man is older than I am , you've got to hand it to him!

Well today I include two clips for your pleasure. The first is from 1962 and Johnny is singing "Let's Twist Again" in French. I love this one! The second is from 2007 and a much older and more "seasoned" Johnny sings " Derriere L'amour.

28 comments:

Unknown said...

Personally I believe that not only should the great Johnny be the next President of France (for life) but Que Je t'aime should be the new French national anthem!

But then, that's just me....

A great man - by my reckoning he's got to be about 130 years old but there is a conspiracy theory that has something to do with cloning technology?

Ginnie said...

Oh my, Virginia. That first video is a hoot...and made my knees hurt just watching it. :) I had never heard of him but he at least looks very...French.

Laurent said...

I can't believe you know things abour Johnny Hallyday !!! That means you are really French now !!!

Jilly said...

Oh my goodness, yes, Johnny Halliday is wonderful and really not Las Vegas at all - well in my eyes. He's older now - sure - but he was a very 'beau' lad when younger and most certainly was the French Elvis. What on earth would Elvis look like now had he lived?!! The mind boggles. And I adore Elvis.

TheChieftess said...

Does "Derriere L'amour" mean "Love the bottom"?

Julie said...

I sooo much prefer the current clip, even though he mollycoddles his voice a bit.

You do realise that Tom Jones is Welsh, yes? The mightiest little country in the world!!

Virginia said...

Julie, I loved the twist song growing up and in French I LOLed! His voice has gotten rougher I think. Hard living peut-être? :)

Keith,
He is definitely the darling of France so I think your idea might work! Well he's only a few years older than moi so that would make me 127!!!

Chieftess, I thought it meant " I love Your Derriere" so I quickly went to the translator. Sadly it means "behind the love" or something like that.

Laurent,
Well I like that! Merci!

Mister Earl said...

Derrier L'amour = The Love Butt!

Virginia said...

OKKKKKK, Earl is the winner and still champion on that one! I've spewed coffee all over my monitor!

Mary Bergfeld said...

I had never heard of this man until I read your post. I really enjoyed the clips. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

MadAboutParis said...

His affair with actress Nathalie Baye produced actress Laura Smet

Quite the cad:
http://www.us.imdb.com/name/nm0002776/bio

I may even have one of his 45s from the 70's...mon dieu I'm old!

Alexa said...

Those clips are great, V—especially the 1st one! Back in the sixties, my boss introduced me to Johnny one night at a disco. I know she expected me to swoon, especially when he kissed me on both cheeks—but she was disappointed. Nice guy, but just not my type! (I remember that he seemed old to me (strange because although I was still a teenager, he was only 22).

Daryl said...

He looks like am older Elvis Costello (who isnt so young himself) than Elvis Presley... at first I wondered have there been dead Johnny sightings .. LOL at me and my bad French .. I looked at the title of the song and thought Johnny sings of loving someone's tush! ;-)

Jean(ne) in MN said...

Johnny & Sylvie Vartan were the "IT" couple in the '60s when I was a student in France. Loved the Twist clip-my generation! Merci

Starman said...

A French friend with whom I used to work told me that as long as he didn't try singing rock 'n'roll, he was....okay. I admit to liking some of his stuff.

TheChieftess said...

Spewing again, Mr. E!!! All over the computer....

Virginia said...

Starman,
Whoda thunk it! :)

Alice,
14 juin

Alexa,
Kissed by Johnny H. Ohhhlalal !!!

Jilly,
Please don't make me conjur up what Elvis would look like now!!! Yikes

Deb said...

I must have been living under a rock because I've not heard of him. Loved the clips.

Laurent said...

Derrière means behind or back so and it is also used for "bottom" but in the sentence "Derriere l'amour" your transalator is right Virginia it means "behind love"

TheChieftess said...

I dunno...behind love...the love butt...I'm kind of leaning toward the love butt...

Catherine said...

I know many recalcitrant ones, Virginia.....And I make part of them ! I change the channel as soon as watch his face on TV, long before he starts singing !!! or speaking (many people laugh at him when he is interviewed, you know)

Virginia said...

Catherine,
No, I 've never heard him speak and really only listened briefly to the two songs I included. It's a French mystery to me! :)

Anonymous said...

Un Jour Viendra is my favorite song by Johnny Hallyday. And by the way, I love Tom Jones too! lol

Virginia said...

PH,
I really liked that song. Perhaps Johnny will find his way to my Ipod! :)

Karen said...

I'm a fan of some of his music and he's about my age. I don't have that much energy. Gotta give him credit for just surviving.

I really love UN JOUR VIENDRA and SANG POUR SANG, both the one he did alone and the one he did with his son, David.

They are on my iPod.

C. L. Hanson said...

He has that effect on me too. Maybe it would be different if I'd moved to France earlier...?

But in the seven years I lived in France, he's always been (to me) one of those people who's famous for being famous, who's perpetually on magazine covers looking ridiculous...;)

Rumour has it said...

Well, just a little note: proud to say that Johnny actually is a 100% Belgian from... Brussels... :)
And his real surname is particularly Flemish: Smet.

Virginia said...

Well that unfortunately doesn't solve the "mystery" of his success pour moi! HA