this hit that was made behind his back… “A fifteen-day fight”

If Michel Sardou is now enjoying happy days with his wife Anne-Marie, in their XXL villa in the South of France, with a view of the Mediterranean Sea, the divisive singer has long toured the stages and multiplied the recordings of albums. We owe the artist, now 79 years old, a slew of legendary hits: I will love you, To be a woman, The lakes of Connemara or even Africa farewell… But one of its immense successes gave rise to an open conflict with its producers.

This is what Fabien Lecoeuvre relates in his work entitled Our happy years in songs (Fayard). Indeed, referring to the title love sicknesspublished in 1973 and number one in the hit parade for no less than eleven weeks, he assures that the song was co-written and recorded by Michel Sardou in barely four days, during the month of May in Toulouse, and was to be the first side of his new 45 rpm. “But, once mixed, the song no longer appeals to the singer. Michel only half believes it. In any case less than his other new title Le Curé (which talks about the marriage of priests, editor’s note)”, we read. He wants to make it his summer hit but his producers do not agree.

“Faced with pressure from the record company (…) he plays the protester (…) a fight begins which will last fifteen days. He refuses to give in, no longer speaks to his producers, being convinced of his idea“, adds the French song specialist and TV columnist. But that was without taking into account the trickery of the composer of the title, Jacques Revaux, who played the song to radio programmers for whom, unanimously, it is “of a tube” !

So what will his team do? “They don’t listen to their artist’s pleas, they disobey and have Love’s Sickness recorded on the A side of the 45 rpm single. So, appearing on the same vinyl support, the two songs will ultimately be crowned with the same success.” The song sold more than a million copies, it is the 4th best-selling of Michel Sardou’s entire career.