"Ces soirées-là" (, ) is a 2000 song recorded by French singer/

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Yannick Yannick is a first name that originated in Brittany, France, where the combination of its two Breton language parts, '' Yann'' and ''-ick'', results in the meaning of ''Little John'' or ''Petit Jean'' in French. It is used as a first name mostly ...

. It was the second single from his debut album ''C'est comme ça qu'on aime'' and was released in March 2000. Based on a

Claude François Claude Antoine Marie François (; 1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978), also known by the nickname Cloclo, was a French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of "Comme d'habitude" (c ...

' song (''Cette année-là''), it achieved a smash success in France, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Background and structure

In 1976, the band Four Seasons recorded the hit single "

December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" is a song originally performed by the Four Seasons, written by original Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Gaudio and his future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group's album, ''Who Lov ...

". The same year, Claude François adapted the song in

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

under the title "Cette année-là" ("That Year"). In 2000, Yannick made a partial cover of François' version: it used almost the same music, but changed the verses. The song, a "dancing and joyful

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

", is "festive and lively". According to an analysis of an expert of French charts, the song is characterized by "the

brass instruments A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin ...

support ngthen punctuat ngthe refrain, the rhythmic tune so characteristic (...) and the bass

laying Laying is the act of making equipment level. It usually involves moving equipment in small motions so that spirit levels are centralised in all planes. Movement is usually done by small worm gears or other fine setting devices for accurate sma ...

in the soloist passage".. The lyric "avec bien plus de style que Travolta" pays homage to

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

as Tony Manero in ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

''.

Chart performance

In France, the song debuted at No. 13 on 25 March 2000, then climbed and reached No. 1 three weeks later. It stayed there for 15 consecutive weeks, then dropped rather slowly. It totalled 24 weeks in the top ten, 36 weeks in the top 50 and 37 weeks on the chart (top 100)"Ces soirées-là", French Singles Char
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved 29 September 2008) and was certified

Diamond disc The Edison Diamond Disc Record is a type of phonograph record marketed by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. on their Edison Record label from 1912 to 1929. They were named Diamond Discs because the matching Edison Disc Phonograph was fitted with a permanent ...

by the SNEP. "Ces soirées-là" was also successful in Belgium (Wallonia). It went to number 33 on 6 May 2000 and reached number one three weeks later. After 10 weeks atop, it kept on dropping and fell off the chart (top 40) after a total of 24 weeks."Ces soirées-là", Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Char
Ultratop.be
(Retrieved 29 September 2008) The song was No. 4 for two weeks in July 2000 in Switzerland, but remained on the chart for 30 weeks, 14 of them in the top ten."Ces soirées-là", Swiss Singles Char
Hitparade.ch
(Retrieved 29 September 2008)

Cover versions

The song was covered by The Song Family on the cover album of the same name.

Pierre Palmade Pierre Palmade (born 23 March 1968) is a French actor, comedian, stage director and playwright. Biography Pierre Palmade began his career in sketch comedy shows on stage and on television in the late 1980s, and in the 1990s he wrote and played ...

and

Patrick Timsit Patrick Timsit () is a French comedian, writer and film director. He has been nominated for four César Awards – three times as an actor and once as a writer. He is best known for the French comedy ''Un indien dans la ville''. In 2006, he pa ...

recorded their own version of the song on

Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés (, 'The Tossers' or 'The Bastards') is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur The Restaurants du Cœur (literally ''Restaurants of the Heart'' but meaning ''Restau ...

' album ''2002: Tous dans le même bateau'', on which it features as second track.''2002: Tous dans le même bateau'', track listings and chart
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved 29 September 2008) It is also the opening number in worldwide smash-hit musical ''

Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and eventual break-up of th ...

'', which features the life story of

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The band evolved out of a previous band called The Four Lovers, with ...

Track listings

; CD single # "Ces soirées-là" (edit radio) – 3:21 # "Ces soirées-là" (extended version) – 4:43 # "Qui ne tente rien n'a rien" – 4:45 ; Sales in private circuit # "Ces soirées-là" (edit radio) – 3:21 # "Ces soirées-là" (house mix) – 5:08 # "Ces soirées-là" (version instrumentale) – 3:21 # "Ces soirées-là" (a capella) – 3:25

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ces soirees-la 2000 singles Yannick songs Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Bob Gaudio 2000 songs