"Joue pas" is a 1989 song recorded by French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 artist François Feldman

François Feldman

François Feldman is a French singer. He had a great success in the 1980s and the 1990s in France.-Biography:The young François Feldman spent his adolescence listening soul music, including songs by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and James Brown, among other artists...

, in duet with the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer Joniece Jamison

Joniece Jamison

Joniece Jamison is an American singer. In France, she achieved notability recording two successful duets with French artist François Feldman: "Joue pas" in 1989 and "J'ai peur" in 1991...

. It was released as a single from Feldman's album Une Présence

Une Présence

Une Présence is a 1989 album recorded by French singer François Feldman. It provided two number one, two number two and one number seven singles in France. It remains to date the singer's most successful album, achieving Diamond status. The album also helped launch the career of American vocalist...

in July 1989, and was his fifth single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 overall. The song achieved great success, becoming a number two hit and a popular song throughout the years.

Song information

Written and composed by François Feldman and Thierry Durbet, "Joue pas" has funky sonorities and starts with a brief guitar riff. It was "very well received by the public". It was the singer's first duet in his career, and he recorded other two ones with Joniece Jamison : "J'ai peur" in 1991 (#7 in France) and "Love platonique" in 1996.

In France, the single debuted at #47 on July 15, 1989, climbed quickly and finally entered the top ten in its fourth week. It hit number 2 for five non consecutive weeks, but was unable to disloge Kaoma

Kaoma

Kaoma was a pop group made up in France of former members of the band Touré Kunda: Chyco Dru , Jacky Arconte , Jean-Claude Bonaventure , Michel Abihssira , Fania , and Loalwa Braz , Chico and Roberta...

's smash hit "Lambada

Lambada (Kaoma song)

"Lambada", also released as "Chorando Se Foi " and "Llorando se fue ", is a 1989 song recorded by the French pop group Kaoma with the Brazilian vocalist Loalwa Braz. It was released as the first single from Kaoma's debut album Worldbeat...

" which topped the chart then. Thereafter, it dropped and totaled 14 weeks in the top ten and 22 weeks on the chart (top 50). "Joue pas" is currently the 640th best-selling single of all time in France.

The song was included on many French compilations released in the 1990s and the 2000s, such as Les années tubes spécial 80, Tubes d'un jour tubes de toujours spécial années 80, Nostalgie Classiques 80 and La Discothèque du XXè siècle - 1989. It also features on Feldman's compilations Two Feldman and Gold.

Cover versions

The song was covered in 2000 by Karen Mulder

Karen Mulder

Karen Mulder is a Dutch former model and singer. During the 90s, she had a successful modeling career and was recognized as a world-class "supermodel" by various media...

, Roch Voisine

Roch Voisine

Joseph Armand Roch Voisine, OC better known as Roch Voisine, is a Canadian Acadian singer-songwriter, actor, and radio and television host...

 and Ophélie Winter

Ophélie Winter

Ophélie Kleerekoper-Winter is a French singer and actress.- Biography :Her father David Alexandre Winter, was a Dutch pop singer during the 1970s, while her mother was a French fashion model, who is now her agent...

 on Les Enfoirés

Les Enfoirés

Les Enfoirés , is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur .-History:...

' album Les Enfoirés en 2000. This 3:46 version is the 11th track. It was also covered in 2002 by Houcine and Anne-Laure Sibon, two contestants of Star Academy 2, on the album Fait sa boum. In 2008, French DJ Soma Riba, who covered many 1980s songs, made his own version of the song and, as for the original one, recorded it as a duet with Joniece Jamison.

Track listings

7" single

1. "Joue pas" — 4:02
2. "Joue pas" (instrumental) — 4:00

12" maxi

1. "Joue pas" (maxi) — 6:45
2. "Joue pas" (instrumental) — 6:10

Certifications and sales

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified	Physical sales
France	Gold	1989	400,000	476,000

Charts

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Eurochart Hot 100	22
French SNEP Singles Chart	2