From radio love at first sight to their friendship, Etienne Daho tells about his link with Françoise Hardy

Alexis Patri 9:00 p.m., December 27, 2021

INTERVIEW

1984. Etienne Daho is a huge success with his second album 

.

It is on this record that appears 

, his first duet with Françoise Hardy.

But it has been many years since the young singer-songwriter from Rennes has admired the singer of 

.

An artistic love at first sight that will give birth to a long friendship, as Etienne Daho explains Monday at the microphone of Stéphanie Loire on Europe 1, on the occasion of a special issue of the 

 dedicated to his 40-year career.

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"When I heard Françoise Hardy's voice, I immediately fell in love. It was on Europe 1, by the way," smiles Etienne Daho.

"I remember exactly where when I heard his voice. It was in Algeria, it was in my grandparents' house, a house by the sea in a small village that is calls Cape Falcon, where there are four barracks and the beach. And I listened to his voice. It was a song called

, which is not known at all. , I was completely captivated by his voice. "

A "dubbing" on cassette answering machine

When the future singer, still a child, returns to France, he watches for each of the appearances of his new idol on television.

"I found it sublime. I was captivated by its mystique," he recalls.

Several years later, Etienne Daho published 

, his first album.

It was during the promotion of this first disc that he met Françoise Hardy for the first time.

"Our meeting was played on a radio. She was doing a program and so was I. Passing in front of a studio, I saw that she was there. And I waited for her to say hello", details the artist.

"I shook her hand. I must have crushed her because I was so nervous! But obviously she didn't blame me."

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Very shy, Etienne Daho is careful not to tell Françoise Hardy that he wants to work with her. But the singer Jacno, a mutual friend of the two artists, talks about Etienne Daho to Françoise Hardy. "Then, I recorded the song 

 and I sent it to Françoise Hardy", continues Etienne Daho. The singer leaves him with a message on his answering machine to tell him that she accepts the duet. “At the time, they were answering cassettes,” recalls the singer-songwriter. "I listened to it a million times again. I was so proud and happy! It was a dubbing."

Beyond her love at first sight for the voice of Françoise Hardy, it was her entire generation of French artists that she represented (alongside Jacques Dutronc in particular) that the young Etienne Daho admired at the time.

"It was perfection for me: the music, the attitude, the casualness, the talent, the beauty. Everything", he is still moved today.

And this generation, not content to dub him as an artist, will also adopt him as a friend.

A Christmas at the Dutronc's

"They confronted me with the fact that we had to take a lot of distance from the fact that, when you are a beginner, you are a little intoxicated by all the people who discover you and who find you good", analyzes he.

"For me, they were really stars. There was nothing better. And yet, they were normal. Well, they were absolutely not normal. But they had a normal life."

“It was a real family for me,” adds Etienne Daho.

"I spent a Christmas for four with Jacques Dutronc, Françoise Hardy and Thomas, who was very small. There were moments like that of intimacy. I felt like part of their family. really mattered to me. "