"Suzette" is a 1986 song recorded by French singer

Dany Brillant Dany Brillant (; né Daniel Cohen-Biran, 28 December 1965 in Tunis), is a French singer of a Jewish- Tunisian origin. Born in Tunis, his parents immigrated to France while he was a newborn infant. They settled in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois n ...

. Written by Brillant initially for a film in which it starred, it was released only six years later as his debut

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 ...

, and included on his first studio album ''C'est ça qui est bon'', on which it appears as the sixth track. Released in the last days of 1991, it was a top three hit in France in 1992 and became Dany Brillant's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

Background and release

In 1986, Brillant, then a student at

Cours Florent The Cours Florent is a private French drama school in Paris established in 1967 by François Florent. The school is located on three nearby sites in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France: rue Archereau, rue Mathis, and Avenue Jean-Jaurès; f ...

and singer in the cabaret '' Aux Trois Mailletz'', was hired to play in

Francis Huster Francis Huster (born 8 December 1947) is a French stage, film and television actor, director and scriptwriter. Biography Francis Huster was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. His father is Charles Huster, commercial director at Lancia, and his Poli ...

's film '' On a volé Charlie Spencer'' in which

Béatrice Dalle Béatrice Dalle (née Cabarrou; December 19, 1964) is a French actress. Biography Dalle was born in Brest, Finistère, France, as Béatrice Cabarrou. In 1985, she married the painter Jean-François Dalle, whom she divorced in 1988. Working as ...

played the character of Suzette. Brillant was to portray a young man singing a song by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, but this was not possible for budget reasons, so the director's assistant asked him to create a new song, which Brillant wrote with the help of a

rhyming dictionary A rhyming dictionary is a specialized dictionary designed for use in writing poetry and lyrics. In a rhyming dictionary, words are categorized into equivalence classes that consist of words that rhyme with one another. They also typically suppor ...

from the Centre Beaubourg library,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. However, the role of Brillant and his song "Suzette", which he had performed dozens of times for the film, were removed in the final cut. Brillant continued to sing "Suzette" with his

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

in his cabaret, proposing it to various record companies, but each time they refused it as they considered it old-fashioned; nevertheless, in 1990, a friend of Brillant helped him to meet a

Warner Warner can refer to: People * Warner (writer) * Warner (given name) * Warner (surname) Fictional characters * Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' * Aaron Warner, a character in ''Shatter Me s ...

director who came to the cabaret, which resulted in a contract and the song's release as a single.

Lyrics and video

Lyrically, "Suzette" deals, in a marked

retro style Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

, with the narator's

love at first sight Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...

with Suzette and their romantic. The music video accompagning the song was inspired by the retro-

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

of the Jazz Age and the

1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...

, the Parisian

jazz club A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is license ...

s of

Saint-Germain-des-Prés Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its official borders are the River Seine on the north ...

and the Paris Latin Quarter.

Chart performance

In France, "Suzette" debuted at number 43 on the chart edition of 8 February 1992, entered the top ten six weeks later where it remained for 14 weeks with a peak at number three twice, and fell off the top 50 after 23 weeks of presence. It earned a

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, awarded by the

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (french: Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique; SNEP) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym ...

, and remained Brillant's most successful single. On the

Eurochart 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 f ...

, it started at number 97 on 14 March 1992, reached number 20, its highest position, in its 14th week, and dropped from on the chart after 19 weeks.

Track listings

* 7" single, 7" single (Dany Brillant – "Suzette") (accessdate: 29 October 2021). # "Suzette" — 3:51 # "Ma fiancée, elle est partie" — 2:15 * CD single, CD single (Dany Brillant – "Suzette") (accessdate: 29 October 2021). # "Suzette" — 3:51 # "Ma fiancée, elle est partie" — 2:15 * Cassette, Cassette (Dany Brillant – "Suzette") (accessdate: 29 October 2021). # "Suzette" — 3:51 # "Ma fiancée, elle est partie" — 2:15

Personnel

* Arrangement — Alain Pewzner, Dany Brillant * Engineer — Patrice Kung * Producer — Daniel Lellouche, Varda Kakon, Alain Pewzner * Lyrics and music — Dany Brillant * Photography — Filippa Lidholm

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzette 1986 songs 1992 debut singles Dany Brillant songs Warner Records singles