Hallmark Books

Pierre Perret - Le Plaisirs des Dieux
French Singer/singwriter | MP3 @192 kbps | Covers | Time: 0.53 | 74.4 MB

Biography by Jason Ankeny
The music of Pierre Perret captured the lives of the French working class with uncommon precision. A supremely gifted lyricist renowned for his mordant wit and playful eroticism, his songs employed everyday slang to startlingly poetic effect. Born in Castelsarrazin on July 9, 1934, Perret spent a sizable chunk of his adolescence in his father's restaurant, Le Café du Pont, absorbing the street-smart patois of the local workers who comprised its core clientele. At the same time, he studied music theory and saxophone, and later attended the Toulouse Conservatoire. Beginning in 1953, Perret served a three-year term in the French military. Assigned to the army music corps, he began writing his first songs, and during a subsequent stint playing guitar in support of aspiring singer Françoise Lô (later known as Sophie Makhno), he occasionally performed his own material in between sets. In time Perret came to the attention of agent Emile Hebey, who introduced him to label owner Eddie Barclay. His debut single, "Moi J'Attends Adèle," was released in 1957, but despite a regular presence on the Paris nightclub circuit, most notably an extended residency at the Colombe on the Ile de la Cité, the record failed to catch on. After a 1958 tour of Africa and France in support of the immortal American R&B vocal quintet the Platters, Perret was diagnosed with pleurisy. He spent the better part of two years in a sanatorium, writing the songs that comprised his 1960 debut LP, Le Bonheur Conjugal, but sales were again middling and Barclay terminated his contract. Perret resurfaced on Vogue in 1963 with "Le Tord Boyaux" ("Rot Gut"). The single proved a blockbuster hit, selling more than 100,000 copies and establishing the acerbic wit that would remain the hallmark of his lyrics for the duration of his career. A series of follow-up hits including "Trop Contente" and "La Corrida" culminated with 1966's "Les Jolies Colonies de Vacances," the biggest and most beloved French pop song of its year. That November, Perret headlined his first performance at the famed Olympia Theatre, returning two years later to cut a live album. After co-starring in Claude Autant-Lara's 1969 feature film Les Patates, Perret resumed his music career with 1971's "La Cage aux Oiseaux." His biggest hit to date, 1974's "Le Zizi" ("The Willie") sold more than five million copies, but in the years to follow his music grew more thoughtful, with 1977's "Lily" winning the Prix de la Ligue Contre le Racisme et l'Antisémitisme for its attack on racism. Perret subsequently explored suburban malaise ("Y'a des Gosses Dans l'Escalier"), abortion ("Elle Attend Son Petit"), and famine ("Riz Pile"), and spent much of the 1980s channeling his energy into books, most notably Le Petit Perret Illustré par l'Exemple.