Edmond Vartan (10 August 1937 – 19 June 2001) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

musician, bandleader,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, and record producer of Armenian descent.

Life and career

Vartan was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and moved to France with his parents and younger sister Sylvie in 1952. He worked as a trumpet player in Paris jazz clubs, including the Blue Note, and in 1961 gave up his law studies to work as a full-time musician and A&R man for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. Sylvie Vartan Timeline, ''Sylvissima.com''
Retrieved 22 September 2019 He worked with jazz enthusiast Daniel Filipacchi on the radio programme ''Pour ceux qui aiment le jazz'' ("For those who love jazz"). They also wrote songs together, including "Le transistor", a 1961 hit in France for

Frankie Jordan Claude Benzaquen (born 19 July 1938), known during his music career as Frankie Jordan, is a French former rock and roll singer, later a dentist. Born in Oran, Algeria, he moved as a child with his family to Casablanca, Morocco. He developed a lo ...

, and then worked on the popular radio show '' Salut les copains''. After Jordan recorded "Panne d'essence" (a version of Floyd Robinson's "Out of Gas") as a duet with Sylvie Vartan, her brother Eddie continued to work with both artists in the early 1960s. He also released records under his own name as a bandleader, and worked with many French singers, notably as the musical director and producer of Johnny Hallyday, who became Sylvie's husband. Among the musicians regularly used by Vartan was English guitarist Mick Jones, later of

Spooky Tooth Spooky Tooth were an English rock band originally formed in Carlisle in 1967. Principally active between 1967 and 1974, the band re-formed several times in later years. History Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding members h ...

and Foreigner. Eddie Vartan became a leading producer in the French yé-yé pop scene of the 1960s, and also produced Nick Garrie's cult 1969 LP, ''The Nightmare of J. B. Stanislas''. As a songwriter, Vartan's successes included "Jésus-Christ", a 1970 hit for Johnny Hallyday. "Mort d'Eddie Vartan", ''Liberation'', 23 June 2001
Retrieved 22 September 2019 Eddie Vartan, Credits, ''Discogs.com''
Retrieved 22 September 2019 Vartan also worked on film soundtracks, notably working on the 1968 film ''

À tout casser "À tout casser" is a song by French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday. It was used in the opening title sequence of the 1968 film of the same name. Hallyday also released it as a single and on his 1968 studio album ''Jeune homme''. The B-side " ...

'' and also with directors Georges Lautner, Michel Deville, and Michel Audiard. He published a memoir, ''Il a neigé sur le mont Vitocha'' ("It snowed on Mount Vitosha") in 1994. He died in 2001, aged 63, from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

, and was buried in his home village of Loconville. "Eddie Vartan est mort", ''Le Parisien'', 23 June 2001
Retrieved 22 September 2019 His son is the actor Michael Vartan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vartan, Eddie 1937 births 2001 deaths Bulgarian emigrants to France French people of Hungarian-Jewish descent French musicians French record producers Musicians from Sofia