Michel Polnareff
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Michel Polnareff, born in Nérac, France on July 3, 1944 is a French singer who was very popular from the mid-60's until the early 80's. While his commercial success is considerably smaller nowadays, he is still active and critically respected.
Michel was born into an artistic family: his mother, Simone Lane, was a dancer and his father, Leib Polnareff or Léo Poll worked with Édith Piaf. He learned piano by age five and was a very good music student. He learned the guitar, and after his studies, military service, and a brief time in insurance, he began to play his guitar on the steps of the Sacré Cœur.
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[edit] Early Successes
In 1965, Polnareff won the Disco Revue prize in Paris. This victory let him record a disc at Barclay, but as part of the counterculture he turned down this opportunity. It was Lucien Morisse, then director at Europe 1, who made him sign with AZ. His first disc, La Poupée qui Fait Non (1966), was an unexpected success. Its new musical style, from an atypical character, crossed borders. Polnareff made it onto the charts in Europe. During this period, he had one played concerts in Brussels for one week with Luc Hensill, Jeff Beck and The Klan (Mod Freakbeat Garage Psych).
[edit] An Atypical Character
Polnareff also played with his image: black glasses, fancy trousers, and ambiguous provocations. His song L'Amour avec Toi could not be played before 10 p.m. because it was considered "pornographic" (even though the song is very mild by today's standards). From 1969, Polnareff was hugely successful: tours, music videos, hits. He also became the target of scandalmongers. But a tragic event hurt him. In September 1970, his friend Lucien Morisse committed suicide.
[edit] Depression and Distance
After a rest period in the Paris area, and long months in isolation, Polnareff gradually resumes touring. His health and his morals improved, but not his sight: his weak eyesight and myopia forced him to protect his vision. His problems didn't stop there. In 1972, a poster showed his naked buttocks. Although the scandal benefitted him commercially, it brought censorship and lawsuits. Then, during a world tour, he learned that Bernard Seneau, his manager, had run off with Polnareff's fortune, leaving him broke. Unable to pay his debts, and crushed by the death of his mother, he left France for the United States, where he lived an anonymous life.
[edit] Polnareff in the USA
Then, in 1975, his song Jesus for Tonight made it onto the American Billboard. But his success in the United States was not as great as in France. Plus, Polnareff had left behind his fellow musicians and the musical community. He discovered a passion for computers. A tour in 1975 brought him to Belgium (he was not allowed to return to France), where thousands of French fans came to see him. His forced exile did not prevent him from composing, and his albums had various success. But it was Bulles in 1981 that proved to him that France had not forgotten his work.
[edit] Return to France
Polnareff made a surprise return to France in 1989. Without any promotion, Goodbye Marylou invaded the radio waves and became a hit. For a year and a half, Polnareff was locked up at Royal Monceau in Paris and, surrounded by friends and alcohol, recorded Kama Sutra, with Mike Oldfield adding some guitar parts. This album debuted in February 1990 and marked Polnareff's true return. However, rumors spread about his health, and in 1994 he decided to have a cataract surgically removed to prevent him from permanent blindness. In 1995, he returned to the United States to create his famous album Live at the Roxy. To mark this occasion, the channel Canal + devoted a special to him entitled "À la Recherche de Polnareff" ("In Search of Polnareff"), in which he appeared in military uniform (from whence his recent nickname "The Admiral" may come) and was interviewed in the desert by Michel Denisot. This was followed by an acoustic mini-concert of singing and piano in the middle of the California desert.
From his success in 1995/96, Polareff could have recreated his career as though nothing happened. However, his fans still await, after ten years, an album which may never come. However, some of his early songs are becoming popular again, like La Poupée qui Fait Non by Mylène Farmer and Khaled (1996), and On Ira Tous au Paradis, which became the theme song of Restaurants du Cœur in 1998.
[edit] Polnareff Today
He has a namesake in Jean Pierre Polnareff, a character in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series.
On November 22, 2004, and again on December 18, 2005, France 3 broadcast a one and a half hour documentary entitled "Michel Polnareff Dévoilé" ("Michel Polnareff Revealed"). It includes images from rare files mixed with interviews with media personalities like Marc-Olivier Fogiel, Jacques Séguéla, Jean-Luc Lahaye and Frédéric Beigbeder explaining to the televiewers what Michel Polnareff represented for them and for France. Polnareff also revealed that he was working on a new album. On May 12, 2006, Michel Polnareff announced that he would be giving a series of concerts March 2 to 14, 2007. Ticket sales have exploded, showing that Polnareff has not lost his gleam.
English band The Shortwave Set sampled Polnareff's 'Voyages' from the Polnareff's album for their single 'Is it any wonder?' in 2005.
[edit] Albums
- Love me Please Love me (1967)
- Le Bal des Laze (1968)
- Polnareff's (1971)
- Michel Polnareff (1974)
- Fame à la Mode (1975)
- Coucou me Revoilou (1978)
- Bulles (1981)
- Incognito (1985)
- Kâma Sûtra (1990)
- Live at the Roxy (1996)
[edit] Famous Songs
- La Poupée qui Fait Non, Love me Please Love me, L'Amour avec Toi, Sous Quelle Étoile je suis Né (1966)
- Âme Caline, Le Roi des Fourmis, Mes Regrets, Ta Ta Ta Ta (1967)
- Le Bal des Laze, Y'a qu'un Ch'veu, Jour après Jour, Pourquoi Faut-il se Dire Adieu, Ring-a-Ding, J'ai du Chagrin Marie (1968)
- Tous les bateaux tous les oiseaux, Tout tout pour ma chérie (1969)
- Je suis un homme, Gloria (1970)
- Qui a tué grand-maman? (1971)
- Holidays, On ira tous au Paradis (1972)
- I love you because (1973)
- Fame à la mode (1975)
- Lettre à France (1977)
- Une simple mélodie (1979)
- Radio, Tam-Tam (1981)
- La belle veut sa revanche, Viens te faire chahuter, Dans la rue (1985)
- Goodbye Marylou (1989)
- Toi et Moi, LNA HO, Kâma-Sûtra (1990)
- Je rêve d'un monde (1999)
