Plus Belles Chansons

This mammoth five-disc set is a wide-ranging overview of Serge Gainsbourg's career as a songwriter, composer, and arranger. It also showcases his ability to make actual singers out of actresses and models – there are a few duets here with Brigitte Bardot, and others. Those who are encountering Gainsbourg for the first time will no doubt be intimidated by this set, it is a lovely package that moves basically in chronological order; but the three-disc De Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre set is more focused and a lot more affordable.

The three-disc, 50-track collection 50 Plus Belles Chansons is an excellent compilation of material from throughout Alain Bashung's three decade career. It contains all the hits and some well-chosen live and album cuts. It is both an excellent introduction to the artist and a seamless listening treat for fans.

Michel Sardou est né à Paris le 26 janvier 1947. Fils de comédiens (Fernand et Jackie), il arrête ses études en Terminale et anime les soirées du cabaret de son père. Michel Sardou sort son 1er 45 tours Le Madras en 1965. Lentement mais sûrement, il fait son chemin. En 1969, sa chanson Les Ricains est boycottée par les radios, ce qui décide Barclay à se séparer de lui. L'année suivante, c'est donc chez Tréma que Michel Sardou rencontre le succès avec son titre Les Bals populaires.

One of French pop's most poetic songwriters, Georges Brassens was also a highly acclaimed and much-beloved performer in his own right. Not only a brilliant manipulator of language and a feted poet in his own right, Brassens was also renowned for his subversive streak, satirizing religion, class, social conformity, and moral hypocrisy with a wicked glee. Yet beneath that surface was a compassionate concern for his fellow man, particularly the disadvantaged and desperate. His personal politics were forged during the Nazi occupation, and while his views on freedom bordered on anarchism, his songs expressed those convictions more subtly than those of his contemporary, Léo Ferré.