We Listen: Michel Polnareff – France Today | EUROtoday

It can be simple to take one take a look at Michel Polnareff, along with his trademark shock of blond hair and everlasting shades, however to dismiss this reasonably quirky-looking, eccentric fellow as a cultural light-weight can be a mistake. For most of the nation's musical cognoscenti, he’s up there with Gainsbourg among the many main figures in French songwriting.

Born in Nérac (Lot-et-Garonne) in 1944, he had left the eclectic showbiz parentage – his mom was a Breton dancer and his father a Russian Jewish immigrant from Odessa who wrote songs for Édith Piaf. Polnareff's first public-facing musical forays after studying the guitar have been when busking on the steps of Sacré Coeur and by 1966 he had a report deal and a smash hit first single, La Poupée qui fait non (The Doll that Says No). Rock trivia followers might want to know that two younger session musicians performed on the track-Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, later of Led Zeppelin. It began a protracted, wealthy and different profession, with loads of ups and downs, well being points (the sun shades are worn for medical causes) and scandals. His canon is ripe for exploration and was added to in 2023 with the well-received reside album La Tournée historique (stream it on Spotify).