Eddy Mitchell, French singer-songwriter
Claude Moine (French pronunciation: [klod mwan]; born 3 July 1942), known professionally as Eddy Mitchell, is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires (The Black Socks), taking his name from the American expatriate tough-guy actor Eddie Constantine (later the star of Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville) and Mitchell simply because it sounds American. The band performed at the Parisian nightclub Golf-Drouot before signing to Barclay Records and finding almost instant success; in 1961 it sold two million records.
Heavily influenced by American rock and roll, Mitchell (who went solo in 1963) has often recorded outside France, at first in London, but later in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. Guitarists Big Jim Sullivan and Jimmy Page and drummer Bobby Graham were among the British session musicians who regularly supported him in London. For his American recordings he employed session men such as Roger Hawkins, David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Kenneth Buttrey, Reggie Young, David Briggs, Charlie McCoy, Leland Sklar, Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper and others.A great lover of American films, he hosted La Dernière Séance, a TV show about American cinema from 1981 to 1998 on FR3 (later France 3). Its format was like an old-fashioned double-feature picture show, with two movies, cartoons, newsreels, and stage attractions. The title was taken from the name of one of Mitchell's albums, which in turn took it from the French title of the movie The Last Picture Show.
He is also the voice of Dylan (Flappy) in the French version of the 2005 film of The Magic Roundabout, as well as the voice of Chanticleer in the French version of Rock-a-Doodle.
1942Jul, 3
Eddy Mitchell
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Events on 1942
- 25Jan
Thailand
World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom. - 8Mar
Myanmar
World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces captured Rangoon, Burma from British. - 10Jul
Soviet Union
Diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union are established. - 13Aug
Manhattan Project
Major General Eugene Reybold of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizes the construction of facilities that would house the "Development of Substitute Materials" project, better known as the Manhattan Project. - 25Sep
Holocaust
World War II: Swiss Police instruction dictates that "Under current practice ... refugees on the grounds of race alone are not political refugees", effectively denying entry to Jews trying to flee occupied Europe during the Holocaust.