She wanted to see the wolf again in the caves of Rockamadour...

Nostra Dam
Jul 25, 2020
4 min read

Updated: Dec 15, 2023

Gérard Blanchard is a French singer-songwriter who can boast of having been one of the first to use the accordion in rock compositions.

He was interested in painting and music from an early age, which prompted his mother to enroll him in Fine Arts.

It is in 1973 that things will accelerate when he realizes that despite his rather low level in accordion, he is still quite gifted to set the mood in dancing partys, which quickly pushes him to compose his first songs.

He created a first group "Roxy Musette", which he himself calls decadent rock. Group that will last only two years.

In full punk movement, in 1977, he created a new group "Gueule d’amour" which will last only ... 1 month ! Followed by "Jo BB Folk" which will last more than a year and a half and which, unlike the previous one, will be highly regarded.

At the start of the 1980s, groups were over, back to basics with his accordion as the only companion. He toured France and went on café-concerts.

The year 1981 arrives, the year that will change everything. Back in Paris, he was noticed one evening by two artistic directors of the Barclay label who felt in him enormous potential, despite his rustic side. They sign him immediately.

His first album "Troglo dancing" was released shortly after, from which the huge hit "Rock Amadour" was to be extracted. Flagship Single that will sell more than one million seven hundred thousand copies ! The accordion, a has-been instrument par excellence at that time, becomes again thanks to this suddenly very trendy title ...

A second track "Marylou" follows in the wake and in turn hits the mark, the result of the public's enormous enthusiasm for this fantastic singer.

In 1983 the album "Matinée et soir" was released, followed in 1984 by "Lac des Cygnes". But Blanchardmania is starting to falter and both albums are failures.

There followed a mini crossing of the desert and it was not until 1987 that the singer returned to success once again with the release of the album "Amour de voyou". Album which will produce a second hit, namely the sparkling “Elle voulait revoir sa Normandie". Cover of a 40s hit by Jean Lumière.

Other albums were released later, but the singer gradually fell back into anonymity. Anonymity that he will devote mainly to painting and graphics.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

80s Decade :

Rock Amadour 1981
Marylou 1982
Anachronique 1983
Papous 1983
Gabriel le pyromane 1984
Les escrocs Rock’N’Roll 1986
Amour de voyou 1987
Elle voulait revoir sa Normandie 1987
Moi, Nous, Vous, Ils 1989
Dans les nouilles 1989
La ballade de Piou Piou 1989

90s Decade :

Les filles du Cardinal 1991
Quand elles s'en vont 1991
Johnny revient de la guerre 1994
La lune dans mon verre 1994

2000s Decade :

Sardine (Quisaz, quisaz, quisaz) 2002
Elle éclabousse 2002
Gigolo express 2002

Tracks :

1981 ... the HUGE hit that will reveal him. Suddenly it blows like a wind of madness over France. All against a backdrop of accordion notes, a musical instrument totally Has Been for the time. Too strong Gérard !

1982 ... a continuation clearly more in finesse and especially in curves. Unfortunately, this title will not really have the same level of success as its predecessor ...

1983 ... the key word for him is : to the cleats ! Songs that spin at 200 km/h. The Dancefloor are downright in fusion so fast it goes !

1983 ... Gérard finally slows down ! A delirious title of certain quality but which does not find, or no longer, its audience ...

1984 ... what is very paradoxical is that the more Gérard is wacky, the more it works. And the more he plays it in the Intimist category, the less he finds echo in the public ... Frankly a pity !

1986 ... Gérard, where did your little accordion go ? Only at the end of the piece, decidedly, nothing goes ...

1987 ... in reggae mode. The more it goes, the more it slows down. Will soon make us an Ultimate Slow le Gérard ...

1987 ... the resurrection ! The Phoenix is reborn from its ashes, regains its wacky side and, as if by chance, success is back ! And what a success ! New top hit which makes him definitively enter the musical history of the 80s on the French side

1989 ... the upturn was short-lived. The relapse is violent and the singer will disappear from the radar again. Hard law of the trade ...

1989 ... his crazy style found its limits at the end of the 1980s. However, he showed an obvious goodwill, but that was no longer enough ...

1989 ... here he is slowing down the tempo drastically. Like what, when he wants, he can also do soft. But it won't pay more ...

1991 ... he will attempt the transition to the 90s but the bet is almost lost in advance as the competition is light years ahead ...

1991 ... here it is, the Ultimate Slow which was missing from his discography ! As much as this title could have worked during the previous decade, it is clearly out of step with the latest musical trends of the moment ...

1994 ... he still believes in it hard as iron but there is only him to believe in it unfortunately. The public has already moved on for a long time ...