"Joue pas" () is a 1989 song recorded by French artist

François Feldman François Feldman (; born 23 May 1958) is a French singer. He had a great success in the 1980s and the 1990s in France. Biography The young François Feldman spent his adolescence listening to soul music, including songs by Marvin Gaye, Stevi ...

as a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with the American singer

Joniece Jamison Joniece Jamison (born December 11, 1956 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States) is an American singer. In France, she achieved notability recording two successful duets with French artist François Feldman: " Joue pas" in 1989 and " J'ai peur" in ...

. It was released in July 1989 as the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from Feldman's album ''

Une Présence ''Une Présence'' is a 1989 audio album recorded by French singer François Feldman. It provided two number one, two number two and one number seven singles in France. It remains to date the singer's most successful album, achieving Diamond statu ...

'', and was his fifth

overall. It achieved great success, becoming a number two hit and a popular song throughout the years. The song was included on Feldman's three

best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilations ''Two Feldman'' (1996), ''Best Feldman'' (1998) and ''Gold'' (2008). It was also performed during Feldman's 1991 tour and was thus included on the live album ''Feldman à Bercy'' (1992).

Lyrics and music

Written and composed by François Feldman and Thierry Durbet, "Joue pas" has

funky Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid ...

sonorities, starts with a brief

guitar riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accomp ...

, and was "very well received by the public". It was Feldman's first duet in his career, followed by other two ones with

, namely "

J'ai peur "J'ai peur" () is a 1989 song recorded as a duet by French and American singers François Feldman and Joniece Jamison. Written by Jean-Marie Moreau with a music by Feldman, this dance-pop song was released in February 1991 and became the fifth si ...

", released as a single in 1991, and "Love platonique" in 1996.

Critical reception

A review in Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' deemed "Joue pas" as "a commercial pop song, profiting from a bouncing dance beat. Jamison's vocals have a definite R&B feel"; it also considered it as "an outstanding duo in the tradition of romantic and touching love songs".

Chart performance

In France, "Joue pas" debuted at number 47 on 15 July 1989, climbed quickly and entered the top ten in its fourth week. It hit number two for five non consecutive weeks, but was unable to dislodge

Kaoma Kaoma was a French-Brazilian band formed in 1988 by Loalwa Braz (lead vocals), Chyco Dru (bass), Jacky Arconte (guitar), Jean-Claude Bonaventure (keyboard), Michel Abihssira (drums and percussion) and Fania (backing vocals). Dru is from Martini ...

's smash hit "

Lambada Lambada () is a dance from State of Pará, Brazil. The dance became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in the Philippines, Latin America and Caribbean countries. It has adopted aspects of dances such as forró, salsa, merengue, m ...

" which topped the chart then. Thereafter, it dropped and totaled 14 weeks in the top ten and 22 weeks on the top 50. On the

European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and '' Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, it started at number 71 on 12 August 1989 and reached a peak of number 12 seven weeks later.

Cover versions

The song was covered in 2000 by

Karen Mulder Karen Mulder (born 1 June 1970) is a Dutch model and singer. She is well known for her work with Versace, Dior, and Chanel as a supermodel during the 1990s. Mulder repeatedly was featured on the cover of ''Vogue'' and was also a Victoria's Secr ...

Roch Voisine Joseph Armand Roch Voisine, (born 26 March 1963) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, and radio and television host who lives in Montreal and Paris. He writes and performs material in both English and French. He won the Juno Award for Male V ...

and

Ophélie Winter Ophélie Kleerekoper-Winter (born 20 February 1974) is a French pop and R&B singer, songwriter, model and actress. The daughter of Dutch singer, David Alexandre Winter and French fashion model, Catherine Fefeu. She rose to prominence in much o ...

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 ''Les Enfoirés en 2000''. This 3:46 version is the 11th track. It was also covered in 2002 by Houcine and Anne-Laure Sibon, two contestants of Star Academy 2, on the album ''Fait sa boum''. In 2008, French DJ Soma Riba, who covered many 1980s songs, made his own version of the song and, as for the original one, recorded it as a duet with Joniece Jamison."Soma Riba & Joniece Jamison, le nouveau clip "Joue Pas"", ''TF1'
Video.TF1.fr
(Retrieved November 16, 2008)

Track listings

* 7" single # "Joue pas" — 4:02 # "Joue pas" (instrumental) — 4:00 * 12" maxi # "Joue pas" (maxi) — 6:45 # "Joue pas" (instrumental) — 6:10

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs François Feldman songs Male–female vocal duets Phonogram Records singles Joniece Jamison songs