''Mistral gagnant'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

from

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 ...

artist

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

on the

Virgin France Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

label, now part of

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, released in 1985. The first song, "Miss Maggie", made Renaud a controversial character in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

because the song praises women for their non-violence and honesty with the exception of PM

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

(a version of the song with the lyrics adapted in English was also recorded). The last verses read (translated from French): "In the final hour, ..if I can stay on earth, I would like to become a dog and have Margaret Thatcher as a lamp post to urinate against, daily." It was composed with Jean-Pierre Bucolo, who also helped with "La pêche à la ligne" and "Si t'es mon pote", while

Franck Langolff Franck Langolff (1948 – 8 November 2006) was a French composer and guitarist. 1948 births 2006 deaths French composers French male composers French guitarists French male guitarists People from Fez, Morocco 20th-century French musici ...

co-wrote the music for "Morts les enfants" and "Fatigué". In the title song "

Mistral gagnant ''Mistral gagnant'' is a studio album from French artist Renaud on the Virgin France label, now part of EMI, released in 1985. The first song, "Miss Maggie", made Renaud a controversial character in the United Kingdom because the song praises ...

", Renaud sings to his young daughter about his childhood and realizes that time flies as will fly away the laughs of his daughter as a child. This broad theme plus the very simple music make this song one of the classics among Renaud's "tender" songs. A mistral gagnant was a kind of candy and lottery. Some of them were "winning" (gagnant) and you could get another one for free. These candies were not on sale anymore when he wrote the song.

Track listing

# "Miss Maggie". # "La pêche à la ligne" oing fishing# "Si t'es mon pote" f you're my mate# "

" # "Trois matelots" hree sailors# "Tu vas au bal?" re you going dancing?# "Morts les enfants" ead the children# "Baby-sitting blues" # "P'tite conne" illy fool# "Le retour de la Pépette" # "Fatigué" ed up Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 11 are all used on the live album ''Visage pâle rencontrer public''. Tracks 1, 2, 4, 7 and 11 were included on the 2007 compilation ''The Meilleur of Renaud''. Tracks 1, 2, 4, 7 and 9 were covered for the tribute album ''

La Bande à Renaud ''La Bande à Renaud'' is a series of two tribute albums to French singer Renaud, consisting of songs of his performed by various other artists. The albums were released in June and October 2014, respectively. ''La Bande à Renaud'' The initial a ...

''.

Personnel

*Renaud - vocals, backing vocals *

Jean-Philippe Goude Jean-Philippe Goude is a French composer and keyboardist, born in Paris in 1952. Early years * 1969: first compositions * 1975: composition and recording of the soundtrack for Frankenstein, a play by Philippe Adrien at Théâtre de la Roquette ...

Randy Kerber Randy Kerber (born September 25, 1958) is an American composer, orchestrator and keyboard player, who has had a prolific career in the world of cinema.SeRandy Kerberat the IMDb Kerber was born in Encino, California. He began his first national t ...

- keyboards *

Neil Stubenhaus Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist. Career He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. He studied at the Berklee College of Music where he graduated in 1975. After graduation, he was rec ...

- bass * Mick "Pooh" Baird - drums *Judith Chilnick, Paulinho Da Costa - percussion *Jean-Louis Roques - accordion *

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's ...

, Larry Klimas - saxophone * John Johnson - tuba *Georges Costa, Jean-Jacques Cramier, Klaus Blasquiz, Michel Adjaj, Michel Costa - backing vocals *Donn Wilkerson - string conductor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mistral Gagnant 1985 albums Renaud albums Virgin Records albums