Over my years of friendship with Thierry Sportouche, I have become used to envelopes turning up from time to time with either books or CDs which he believes I may find interesting. The CDs always used to be ones he had been sent for Acid Dragon and he was wanting me to review, but in recent years he has also been sending me material from French artists which I would not normally hear. That is why I am now listening to an album which is more than 25 years old, recorded at The Roxy in Hollywood in 1995. At the time, French singer Michel Polnareff was 53 years old and had not released a new album since 1990, yet he decided to record a live album in the States. It was supposed to be a low-key, so it was not formally announced, but word got out and thousands attempted to get into a gig which was set for only 500.

The album went platinum and #1 in France when it was released, and to be honest I can see why, as this is a delight from start to finish. Even in the Nineties this must have been out of fashion, but to my ears it is a wonderful combination of Elton John and classic Chris de Burgh (and if you think he only recorded that song, then you need to investigate his albums up to then). We get ballads, we get pop numbers, and we even veer into soft rock. I love “Tam Tam (L’Homme Préhisto)” even though I have no idea what Michel is singing about – it is bouncy, infectious, and the lift into the falsetto in the chorus is an absolute delight. The crowd all join in at that point but none of them get as high as he can. In in many ways this one song typifies the album for me as it is just plain fun throughout and one can tell that both the band and the audience are having a blast.

This may be middle of the road compared to a great deal of what I listen to but sometimes all you need is music which makes you smile, and this album does it every time I play it. A delight from beginning to end.

Rating: 9/10

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/michelpolnareff
https://www.facebook.com/barclay