Alain Bashung

On Monday Liberation newspaper dedicated literally half of its edition to the death of a singer who no-one outside of France has heard of. I do not exaggerate. Banished was all mention of the economic crisis or indeed of any other news-worthy event. The first 18 pages were given over to the death, plus three more at the back. So who on earth -- you may ask -- is this Alain Bashung character, whose demise can merit such exhaustive coverage in the house journal of the bien-pensant left? The answer is that he was one of the most-respected French singers of the last thirty years -- a man who, according to Le Monde, proved you can be "un rocker francais sans ridicule". Such claims are often made by the French of their own musicians -- musicians who nonetheless provoke either laughter or agonised grimaces when exposed abroad. But in the case of Bashung, I suspect his fans may be right. Everyone I speak to has a good word about him -- the comparison is regularly made with Serge Gainsbourg, who definitely had the gift -- and if you check him out on Daily Motion you can begin to see why. John Lennon said that French rock put him in mind of English wine -- ie a cultural contradiction in terms. But come to thnk of it, they're making some half-decent reds in the Home Counties nowadays. Anyway poor old Bashung died of lung cancer at 61. He'd been a die-hard smoker. Only a few days before he'd been on television to receive a record 11th award at the annual Victoires de la Musique ceremony. Here's the linkhttp://www.dailymotion.com/search/bashung/video/x8j29t_alain-bashung-victoire-musique-09_music