Euro Disco: France, Belgium, and Switzerland

With a small delay, today we'll present the part of Euro Disco that originated mainly from France, but also from Belgium and Switzerland. "Les pays francophones."

Let's begin with France: Amanda Lear (pictured above) is a French singer, lyricist, painter, television presenter, actress and former model. Lear grew up in the south of France and in Switzerland and studied art in Paris and at Saint Martin's School of Art in London. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and went on to model for Paco Rabanne and Ossie Clark among others. Around that time she met the Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí and would remain his closest friend and muse for the next 15 years. Lear first came into the public eye as the cover model for Roxy Music's album For Your Pleasure in 1973. From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, she was a million-album-selling disco queen, mainly in Continental Europe and Scandinavia, signed to Ariola Records.

Lear's origins are unclear, with the singer herself providing different information about her background and keeping her birth year a secret even from her long-term husband. Contested facts include her birth date and place, her birth gender, names and nationalities of her parents, and the location of her upbringing. Most sources claim 18 November 1939 to be her birth date, including GEMA, but Lear has variously given her date of birth as 1946, 1948 and 1950. During a 2010 interview with a French newspaper Libération, Lear presented her identity card to a journalist, which read: "born 18 November 1950 in Saigon". This date seems to be age fabrication, as public records show that she began university in September 1964 and that she married in December 1965.

As for her birthplace, Saigon and British Hong Kong appear to be the most credible versions, but places like Singapore, Switzerland or even Transylvania have also been rumored as the singer's birthplace by different sources. She was an only child to her parents who later divorced. Most sources, including Lear's 1965 wedding certificate, confirm that her father was a French army officer, possibly of British origin. Her mother appears to have had a Russo-Asiatic background. In a 1976 interview with Carmen Thomas for a German television show, Lear confirmed that her father was British and mother was Russian and that they had already both died. However, she would later claim her mother had a French background.

Lear's alleged transgender background has been commented upon in the media and in the biographies of those who knew Lear earlier in her life, including Salvador Dalí, with Dali's biographer Ian Gibson even devoting an entire chapter to her. April Ashley, a famous transgender entertainer and model, has long claimed that in the 1950s and early 1960s, she and Lear, whose birth name she claimed was Alain Tap, were working together in transvestite revues in Paris at Madame Arthur and Le Carrousel. In her book, April Ashley's Odyssey, she recalls Lear performing drag acts under the stage name Peki d'Oslo. Similar facts have been reported by Romy Haag, a transgender artist living in Germany, who ran a popular nightclub Chez Romy in Berlin and knew Amanda closely, and Bibiana Fernández, a Spanish transgender actress and singer. Some sources even insinuate that it was Dalí himself who sponsored Lear's sex reassignment operation in Casablanca in 1963, carried out by doctor Georges Burou, and also that it was he who invented her stage name based on the pun of the Catalan language "L'Amant de Dalí" (Dalí's lover). Rumours claiming that Lear was a non-operative transgender woman or intersex were circulating at the beginning of her singing career, which stopped after she posed nude for Playboy in the late 1970s.

Despite Lear herself contradicting transgender rumors already in the 1970s and explaining they were a part of a strategy to draw public attention, they have persisted to date. When asked by Carmen Thomas in a 1976 interview whether it was true that she was assigned male at birth, Lear replied that it was "a crazy idea from some journalist". She would later claim in Interview magazine that it was David Bowie who started the rumor. She would also address these rumors in her songs Fabulous (Lover, Love Me) and I'm a Mistery (deliberately misspelled as to reference the word "mister"). Despite some sources claiming her transgender background is an open secret, she would always flatly deny it, even when confronted by Dalí's biographer Ian Gibson during a TV show. However, an excerpt from an article from an Italian newspaper surfaced online in November 2011, including a reproduction of a copy of Lear's birth certificate, which states that she was born Alain Maurice Louis René Tap on 18 June 1939 in Saigon, and a picture of Lear before her transition.

Amanda recorded her share of Disco classics, especially in the late-70s. This is La Bagarre (Trouble) (1976):

This is Blood And Honey (1976-77):

This is The Lady In Black (1977):

The same year, another song; Queen Of China-Town:

Also this one, Tomorrow:

Her most iconic songs came in 1978; one was called Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me):

... The other was called Follow Me:

The Sphinx also came out in 1978:

Lili Marlen was a big hit in 1979:

... Also Fashion Pack:

... Also from 1979, Oh Boy:

... also Forget It:

... Intellectually:

... and Never Trust A Pretty Face:

In 1980, she gave us Solomon Gundie:

... Ho Fatto L'amore Con Me:

... and Diamonds:

In 1981, Lear released Égal:

... The tantalizingly titled If I Was A Boy:

... Nostalgia (Berlin Lady):

... and Hollywood Is Just A Dream When You're Seventeen:

In 1982 there was Incredibilmente Donna:

... and Fever:

Sheila was one of the biggest pop stars in France. Her career had begun in 1962, at the time when the Beatles had their first UK hit. In 1977 she reinvented herself as a Disco Diva and joined forces with Black Devotion, the combo taking the name Sheila B. Devotion. Their first big hit, Love Me Baby, was a top 3 hit in France and Italy:

Singin' in the Rain was an even bigger hit, a top 3 hit in the Netherlands and Sweden as well as in France and Italy, also #6 in Germany, #11 in the UK, and #30 on the US Dance chart:

You Light My Fire was a lesser hit in 1978 and yet managed to enter the European top 20:

Their biggest and most influential hit came in 1979. Spacer managed to crack the US R&B top 30, as well as the UK top 20:

The #1 track in a list of the best 700 Disco songs, compiled by 12 of the most famous DJs from the US, Canada, and Europe is by French artist Cerrone. Marc Cerrone (born 1952 in Vitry-sur-Seine, near Paris, France)  is considered as one of the most influential disco producers of the 70s and 80s in Europe.

The #1 in question is his first big hit, Love in C Minor (1976), which chalked up sales of three million copies in France alone:

With Supernature (1977), Cerrone merged symphonic orchestrations with the rigid sounds of synthesizers and sold eight million copies more. At the 1978 Billboard Disco Forum, Cerrone took home six awards including Disco Artist of the Year. It was also a UK top 10 hit.

Give Me Love (1978) was also on the DJs top 100:

... As well as Call Me Tonight (1979):

Cerrone's first big hits were co-written and co-produced by Alec R. Costandinos. Alec was born Alexandre Kouyoumdjian in 1944 in Cairo, Egypt. His father was Armenian and his mother was Greek. Costandinos was the publisher of hits for various artists, including French chanteuse Dalida. He has also written under the pseudonym R. Rupen. His hit I've Found Love (Now That I've Found You) under the monicker of Love And Kisses, is at #2 on the DJs' list:

Romeo And Juliet (Acts 1&2), under his own name, is at #7:

Winds of Change is at #115:

You Must Be Love, once again under the monicker of Love And Kisses, is at #304:

Love And Kisses are also responsible for the theme song from Thank God It's Friday:

Finally, under the name Sumeria, he released Golden Tears; it is at #329 on the DJs list:

We have just mentioned Dalida; Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), better known as Dalida and already presented here was a French Egyptian-Italian singer and actress. She performed and recorded in ten languages (French, Italian, Greek, Spanish, German, English, Japanese, Hebrew, Dutch, and Arabic). She won the Miss Egypt beauty contest in 1954. She spent most of her adult life in France and acquired French citizenship in 1961 upon marriage while maintaining her original dual Egyptian-Italian citizenship. Twice honored with the “Oscar Mondial du Succès du Disque” (World Oscar of Recording Success), she is the only singer to have won this award more than once. Her 30-year career began in 1956 and ended with her last album in 1986, half a year before her death while continuing to sing at concerts until her last days. Her suicide only served to strengthen her myth. She has sold 140 million records worldwide.

By the end of 1975, Dalida released an album that contained J'Attendrai, a disco song. It was released as a single in January 1976 and reached #1 on the French and other European charts, as well as being a big disco hit, especially in France and the Benelux.

Besame Mucho was a big hit for her in 1976. This is from a TV special in 1979:

In 1977, her release Salma Ya Salama was the biggest hit of the year: 

Also in 1977, this is Femme Est La Nuit:

In 1978 she worked with Bruno Guillain and released two singles, that were, in fact, a medley of her greatest hits set to Disco. First came Génération 78:

... Then came Ça Me Fait Rêver:

In 1979 Dalida recorded her biggest disco hit Monday Tuesday... Laissez-Moi Danser:

By the end of 1979 she released the semi-biographical song Comme Disait La Mistinguett where she makes fun of the press' stories about her:

In 1980 she released Gigi in Paradisco, the sequel to her giant hit, Gigi L'Amoroso:

Then came Rio do Brasil, another big hit for her:

We leave Dalida with a favorite of mine, Je Suis Toutes Les Femmes:

Another artist that we've already presented here is Patrick Juvet. The Swiss model-turned-popstar had a string of hits since 1971. He found, however, international success as a Disco star in the latter half of the 1970s. His first big Disco hit came in 1977 and was called Ou Sont Les Femmes:

His biggest international hit came a year later and was called I Love America:

He had two hits in 1979; the first was Lady Night:

... The next was Swiss Kiss (there is a 90-second interview before the actual song):

Another Patrick was Patrick Hernandez. Born in France by Spanish parents, he had a massive international hit in 1979 with the tautologically titled Born to Be Alive - a Disco classic:

He followed it up with the less successful Disco Queen:

Ottawan was a duo, fronted by Caribbean-born Jean Patrick Baptiste and Annette Eltice and masterminded by French producers Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger. They had two huge Disco hits. In 1979, D.I.S.C.O. was a hit everywhere:

Two years later, Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart) was as big a hit:

Meanwhile, back in 1977, French band Space watched Magic Fly fly all the way to #2 in the UK:

Carry On, Turn Me On features vocals by Madeline Bell:

Deliverance also features vocals by Madeline Bell:

Santa Esmeralda was formed in 1977, by French producers Nicolas Skorsky and Jean Manuel de Scarano. Upon meeting Leroy Gómez a Massachusetts native of Cape Verdean descent, in Paris, the duo recruited him for the group's first record, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, a cover of the song that was originally written for Nina Simone and made a hit by the Animals in the 1960s. Santa Esmeralda's version was an international hit:

They followed it up, unimaginatively, with a dance version of another song made famous by The Animals, The House of the Rising Sun. Meanwhile, Leroy Gómez had been replaced by Jimmy Goings.

In 1978 they recorded the song Sevilla Nights for the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack:

1978 also saw the release of Another Cha-Cha:

The Gibson Brothers (Chris, Patrick, and Alex) were born on Martinique in the West Indies but were French-based. Heaven (1977) was one of the songs that originally caught the public's attention:

But it was Cuba, in 1978, that propelled them to international stardom:

They followed it up with Ooh, What a Life, a UK top 10 hit in 1979:

The following year was even bigger for them; Que Sera Mi Vida was a UK top 5 hit:

Then, they re-released Cuba, coupled with Better Do It Salsa and this new release peaked at #12 in the UK. Here's Better Do It Salsa:

Their final big hit, Mariana, peaked at #11 in the UK at the tail end of 1980:

Belle Epoque was the name of a female vocal trio, based in Paris, France. The group first rose in popularity during the late 1970s with a disco remake of the song Black Is Black, originally a hit in 1966 for the Spanish group Los Bravos. Belle Epoque's version hit #2 in the UK:

In the US, Belle Epoque is better known for another song, Miss Broadway, which charted at #26 on the US R&B chart and at #92 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978:

Claude François, also known by the nickname Cloclo, a French pop star in the 60s and 70s, is mainly famous (in the rest of the world) for co-writing the original French lyrics of My Way, as well as of Elvis' hit My Boy. Since he died in 1978, he didn't have the time to get too deep into the Disco scene, but his last single, Alexandrie Alexandra, was, in fact, a disco hit:

There’s an interesting pattern of French and francophone songs from this period obsessing over outer-space. Tout Petit La Planete is a dark and stormy, but heavy-hitting track from Plastic Bertrand, the Belgian musician who gave us Ça Plane Pour Moi. This is Tout Petit La Planete:

And this is Ça Plane Pour Moi, which is New Wave rather than Disco, but let's listen to it anyway; to read how this figures in a gay-themed song by Elton Motello, click here:

Also from Belgium, the synth-pop trio Telex released the Kraftwerk influenced Moskow Disco in 1979:

Before we leave "les pays Francophones", a small reminder that the Village People may be American, but they were founded by two French producers looking to target gay audiences. Their names were Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo. But the Village People will get their own day in the sun, so, this is a good place to stop. Our next story will be about Italian Disco.