Jacques Vaillant

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Jacques Vaillant, French singer born on June 8, 1952 in Strasbourg (Alsace, France).

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 Anecdotes
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Portrait of Jacques Vaillant

Jacques Vaillant is an interpret of French-language pop songs.

When he is six years old, he has to overcome the ordeal of a serious accident which left him almost completely blind. As he becomes a soprano in his school's choir, in Still, France, he feels a revelation : he already dreams about singing onstage.

In 1968, he is a contestant in the French radio Europe 1's show, « Les numéro 1 de demain », (« Numbers 1 of tomorrow »), which is touring via Strasbourg. In 1970, aged 18 and strong-minded, Jacques Vaillant travels throughout France, hitch-hiking and living from salesman opportunities. He stops a while in Montpellier, and then in Marseilles. In this town, he meets Charles Humel, a French blind pianist and composer. Now deceased, the latter had composed the famous song Les plaines du far-west for Yves Montand. Next year, Jacques Vaillant arrives in the City of Lights, Paris.

In 1975, a guitar in his hands, he decides to go down singing in the Paris métro. Trocadéro, République, Montparnasse stations : he gathers bigger and bigger audience as days go by. The year 1980 marks the release of Jacques Vaillant's second 45 rpm record Pourquoi piétiner les fleurs, the starting point of his career : ten thousand copies sold within a few months only. During the 1980s, the title Slow pour Alvina is distributed in disc shops, with Carrère publishing. Broadcasted on major French radios (such as Europe 1, NRJ, Radio Monte Carlo, Radio 7, Sud Radio), this title is a first-place hit for days in Belgium, Switzerland, Benelux and in French DOM-TOM territories.

Unfortunately, Jacques Vaillant can't reckon up on a poor distribution : finally, he goes back down in the Métro again. In these underground corridors, he will sell off 40 000 copies of his first vynil album Correspondances, produced in 1983. Henceforth, he writes poems and song texts, finding his inspiration in everyday life. After more than ten years of silence, Jacques Vaillant comes up again with his latest CD album, Paris Nostalgie.

[edit] Discography

1980 : Pourquoi piétiner les fleurs (45 rpm record)
1981 : Slow pour Alvina (45 rpm record)
1982 : Le chanteur des rues (45 rpm record)
1983 : First album Correspondances
1986 : Second album Plein Soleil
2007 : Third album Paris Nostalgie

[edit] Anecdotes

When Jacques Vaillant decides to sing in the Paris métro, the first coin falls into the guitar case and a voice tells him : « It's ORTF (French national radio and TV broadcasting at the moment) ». He answers back, smiling : « Already ! ». It was a sign of fate...

When entertaining undergroud passers-by he was nicknamed « the little Prince of the Métro » by his fans.

Because of the words of song Slow pour Alvina that tells : Like roses, she would close in the evening, Jacques Vaillant was frequently offered nice bunches of roses by his fans, when he used to sing underground.