Tous les garçons et les filles (album)



Tous les garçons et les filles is the debut studio album by French singer-songwriter Françoise Hardy, released in November 1962 on Disques Vogue. Like many of her following records, it was originally released without a title and to be referred to, later on, by the name of its most popular song. Released when Hardy was 18 years old, the album was a commercial success and "went on to top charts". It was originally released in the United States under the title The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl From Paris! in 1965 on "proto-world music label" Four Corners.

Although Tous les garçons et les filles followed the formula of the yé-yé movement—characterized by attractive teenage girls singing innocent pop songs about adolescence—Hardy set herself apart from her peers by writing most of her own material. Moreover, her love-focused lyrics were "devoid of older, male sexualization or control, a privilege not many others of her era enjoyed. Musically, the record combines rockabilly, folk, jazz and blues. It has been noted for its simplicity, featuring a minimalist jazz percussion, bass, and acoustic and electric guitar; Stewart Mason of AllMusic described the album as, "the '60s pop equivalent of Shaker furniture: free of ornamentation and exquisitely simple." This also distanced Hardy from the "bombastic" music of her yé-yé contemporaries.

Hardy's output during the early 1960s saw her "artistic stock rise above the teenybopper fray", allowing her career to last "well beyond yé-yé's faddishness." It established Hardy as one of the few French pop stars of her era to cross over to international audiences. She continued to record frequently in England and France, serving as a muse to designers like Yves Saint Laurent, inspiring rock artists such as Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger, and "[keeping] company with members of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and the like. She remains "an icon as both a songwriter and public figure", and Tous les garçons et les filles continues to be acclaimed in retrospect, considered a classic of the French chanson.

Legacy
In retrospect, the album has been generally acclaimed by music critics. Stewart Mason of AllMusic considered it "an outstanding record." Writing for Exclaim!, Cosette Schulz described Hardy as, "a master of crafting simple but stellar tracks." Pitchfork's Hazel Cills praised Hardy's songwriting, which she called "profoundly lonely, frequently insecure." She further wrote: "Hardy’s songs feel timeless in how they emphasize a universal dream for pure love. Is this music antique in its sound? Surely. In its sentiment? Hardly."

The album's most popular song, "Tous les garçons et les filles", also continues to receive praise by critics. Robert Dimery included the track in his 2010 reference book. 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die: and 10,001 You Must Download. Pitchfork placed it at number 170 in its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s", with Joe Tangari writing: "Hardy's vocal is a nonchalantly solitary midnight waltz through swinging Paris." Rockdelux and writer Giannis Petridis listed the song as one of the best of the 20th century. Several French writers and publications have included "Tous les garçons et les filles" in their lists of the best French songs of all time, including Christian Eclimont, Hervé Bourhis, Le Nouvel Observateur, Pierre Saka and Stan Cuesta.

Australian plunderphonics group the Avalanches sampled "Oh oh chéri" in their acclaimed 2000 album, Since I Left You. "Le temps de l’amour" was covered by April March and Vanessa Paradis, and was included in the soundtrack for Moonrise Kingdom, a 2012 film by Wes Anderson. Moreover, "Tous les garçons et les filles" has been covered by several artists in various languages, including Lill-Babs, Ginette Reno, Catherine Spaak, Steve Perry, Eurythmics and Gigliola Cinquetti, among others.

Personnel

 * Françoise Hardy – vocals, lyrics (except 4, 5)
 * Roger Samyn and his Orchestra – instrumentation; compositions (except 4, 5)
 * Jean-Marie Périer – photography

LP records: first editions in English-speaking world

 * , 1964: Trans-Canada Record/Disques Vogue (LD-600).
 * , 1964: Pye Records (NPL 18094).
 * , 1965: Disques Vogue/Festival (SVL 933.199).
 * , 1965: Disques Vogue/Festival (SVL 933.199).
 * , 1965: Disques Vogue (VGL 7002).
 * , 1965: The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl From Paris!, 4 Corners of the World (FCS‑4208).

Some reissues on CD

 * , 1995: The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl from Paris !, Disques Vogue (7 43212 64702).
 * , 2013: Tous les garçons et les filles, RDM Edition (CD686).
 * , 2013: Cherry Red Records/él Records (ACMEM241CD).
 * , 16 October 2015: Tous les garçons et les filles, Light in the Attic Records/Future Days Recordings (FDR 614).

Reissues on 180g Vinyl

 * , September 2014: The Original Debut Album From The French Icon, Not Now Music (NOTLP134).
 * , January 2016: Tous les garçons et les filles, Light in the Attic Records/Future Days Recordings (FDR 614)