Éric Greff (; born 19 July 1975 in
Forbach
Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) is a commune in the French department of Moselle, northeastern French region of Grand Est.
It is located on the German border approximately 15 minutes from the center of Saarbrücken, Germany, with which it const ...
,
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
), better known by his aliases Helmut Fritz and Géronimo, is a French singer-songwriter and record producer. Greff is known for his 2009 single "
Ça m'énerve
"Ça m'énerve" (, ) is a 2009 electronic novelty song recorded by French singer Helmut Fritz. It was his debut single from his album ''En observation'' and was released on 16 March 2009. It was a huge hit in France, where it topped the singles c ...
", in which he portrays a German dandy living in Paris. The single, produced by
Laurent Konrad, was released in March 2009 and rapidly reached number one in France.
To reinforce his identification with the song "Ça m'énerve", Éric Greff wrote a fictional biography for Helmut Fritz.
Fictional biography of Helmut Fritz
![Nuvola apps important](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Nuvola_apps_important.svg)
''This biography is imaginary, it describes Helmut Fritz character's life, not Éric Greff's''
Helmut Günter von Fritz () was born in
Reinbek
Reinbek (; probably from "Rainbek" = brook at the field margin; Northern Low Saxon: ''Reinbeek'') is a town located in Stormarn (district), Stormarn district in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein within the metropolitan regio ...
, Germany, the only child of Rudy von Fritz and Annegret Spiegeln, who ran a small factory manufacturing knitted sweaters which earned them a modest but happy living.
In 1998, Helmut's great grand-uncle, Baron Titten von Fritz, died gored and trampled by wild boar while game hunting. Helmut became the only heir to a 300-million
Deutsche mark
The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...
fortune. Rich but stingy, he bought a second-hand
Vespa
Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooter (motorcycle), scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of ...
, gave his parents some money, and left Germany.
He settled in Paris and began leading the high life with his newly acquired fortune. However, his lifestyle weighed more and more heavily on him.
Suffering from profound boredom, Helmut broke down: parties, gallery openings,
haute couture
''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...
, etc. were all getting on his nerves. Wishing to share his woes with someone, he met DJ Laurent Konrad, who suggested writing a song about his experiences.
Discography
Albums
His first album ''En Observation'' was released on 22 June 2009, available digitally since 15 June.
* ''
En Observation
En or EN may refer to:
Businesses
* Bouygues (stock symbol EN)
* Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (reporting mark EN, but now known as Southern Railway of Vancouver Island)
* Euronews, a news television and internet channel
Language and writing
* E ...
'' – #32 in France, #63 in Belgium (Wallonia), #92 in Switzerland
Singles
* "
Ça m'énerve
"Ça m'énerve" (, ) is a 2009 electronic novelty song recorded by French singer Helmut Fritz. It was his debut single from his album ''En observation'' and was released on 16 March 2009. It was a huge hit in France, where it topped the singles c ...
" – #1 in France, #21 in Belgium (Flanders), #3 in Belgium (Wallonia), #8 in Switzerland
* "Miss France" – #7 in France, #15 in Belgium (Wallonia), #55 in Switzerland
* "Ça Gère" – #14 in France
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fritz, Helmut
1975 births
Living people
People from Forbach
21st-century French singers
21st-century French male singers