Éthiopie
Encyclopedia
"Éthiopie" is a charity song recorded in 1985
by the collective band known under the name 'Chanteurs sans Frontières'. The song achieved a huge success in France
, topping the chart for two months and becoming one of the best-selling singles in that country.
association founded in 1985 following the Anglo-Saxon
model of the band Band Aid
with the same purpose : providing assistance to victims of the famine then raging in Ethiopia
. The association was presided by Antoine di Zazzo, the general director of EMI Pathé Marconi, and was led by Dominique Quiliquini (Renaud
's wife), Francis Cabrel
(treasurer), Franck Langolff (composer of music) and Rony Brauman (president of Médecins sans Frontières. The idea of a single was found by Valérie Lagrange and under the direction of Renaud.
The song was written by Renaud and the music composed by Franck Langolff. It was produced by Franck Langolff and Thomas Noton.
The total donations reached 23,000,000 francs distributed to various associations : Médecins sans Frontières
(90%), AICF, Médecins du monde
, and Restos du Cœur.
Certified Platinum disc
by the SNEP in 1985 for a minimum of 1,000,000 copies sold, the vinyl was quickly sold more than one million copies and yielded over 10 million francs (1 million euros ½), which were donated to Médecins sans Frontières association. It was the best-selling single of 1985 and the third best-selling single of the 1980s in France.
According to Infodisc website, the song is the eighth best-selling single of all time in France, with about 1,724,000 copies sold. To date, this song remains the best-selling charity single in France.
1985 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1985.-January–March:*January 1 - The newest music video channel, VH-1, debuts on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV...
by the collective band known under the name 'Chanteurs sans Frontières'. The song achieved a huge success in France
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...
, topping the chart for two months and becoming one of the best-selling singles in that country.
Background and writing
Chanteurs sans Frontières was a FrenchFrance
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...
association founded in 1985 following the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
model of the band Band Aid
Band Aid
Band Aid may refer to:* Band Aid , a musical ensemble raising money for famine relief* "Band Aid", a song on Pixie Lott's album Turn It Up* Band-Aid, a brand of adhesive bandage** Adhesive bandage, a genericised trademark...
with the same purpose : providing assistance to victims of the famine then raging in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. The association was presided by Antoine di Zazzo, the general director of EMI Pathé Marconi, and was led by Dominique Quiliquini (Renaud
Renaud
Renaud, born Renaud Séchan, is a French singer, songwriter and actor.Renaud may also refer to:* Renaud , a male French given name* Renaud , a 1783 opera by Antonio Sacchini* Renaud, Quebec, part of Laval, Quebec...
's wife), Francis Cabrel
Francis Cabrel
Francis Cabrel is a well-known French singer-songwriter and guitarist. Inspired heavily by Bob Dylan, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the realm of folk, with occasional forays into blues or country. Several of his songs, such as "L'encre de tes yeux" and "Petite Marie"...
(treasurer), Franck Langolff (composer of music) and Rony Brauman (president of Médecins sans Frontières. The idea of a single was found by Valérie Lagrange and under the direction of Renaud.
The song was written by Renaud and the music composed by Franck Langolff. It was produced by Franck Langolff and Thomas Noton.
The total donations reached 23,000,000 francs distributed to various associations : Médecins sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
(90%), AICF, Médecins du monde
Médecins du Monde
Médecins du Monde or Doctors of the World, is a non-governmental humanitarian aid organisation created in March 1980 by 15 French doctors, including Bernard Kouchner after he had left Médecins Sans Frontières , the aid society which he had co-founded earlier in 1971...
, and Restos du Cœur.
Artists who participated in the song
These are the artists who participated in the recordings:- Jean-Louis AubertJean-Louis AubertJean-Louis Aubert is a French guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has also composed music for the cinema and for television, including the soundtrack for the film I've Loved You So Long, starring Kristin Scott Thomas .In 1976, he co-founded the rock band Téléphone...
- Hugues AufrayHugues AufrayHugues Aufray is a French singer. He began his career singing in Spanish....
- Josiane BalaskoJosiane BalaskoJosiane Balasko is a French actress, writer and director.She was born Josiane Balašković in Paris. One of Balasko's most recognized roles among English speakers is as a lesbian in 1995's Gazon maudit...
- Daniel BalavoineDaniel BalavoineDaniel Balavoine was a French singer and songwriter. He was hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and inspired many singers in the 1980s, such as Jean-Jacques Goldman, and Michel Berger, his closest friend...
- Didier BarbelivienDidier BarbelivienDidier Barbelivien is a French author, lyricist, songwriter and singer. Beginning in the 1970s, he wrote a number of successful songs for artists such as: Dalida, Johnny Hallyday, Michel Sardou, Daniel Guichard, Claude François, Gilbert Montagné, Sylvie Vartan, Patti Layne, Gilbert Bécaud, Enrico...
- Axel BauerAxel BauerAxel Bauer is a French singer.In 2001, his duet with French singer Zazie, "À ma place", reached number four on the French charts.-Biography:...
- Michel BergerMichel BergerMichel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
- Richard BerryRichard Berry (actor)Richard Berry is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He has appeared in nearly 100 films since 1972. He starred in The Violin Player, which was entered into the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
- Gérard Blanchard
- Francis CabrelFrancis CabrelFrancis Cabrel is a well-known French singer-songwriter and guitarist. Inspired heavily by Bob Dylan, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the realm of folk, with occasional forays into blues or country. Several of his songs, such as "L'encre de tes yeux" and "Petite Marie"...
- Louis ChédidLouis ChedidLouis Chedid is a French singer-songwriter of Lebanese origin.-Biography:Louis Chedid is the son of the writer Andrée Chedid and the father of Matthieu Chedid ....
- ColucheColucheMichel Colucci , better known as Coluche, was a French comedian and actor, famous for his irreverent sense of humour....
- Charlélie CoutureCharlélie CoutureCharlélie Couture is a French musician and multi-disciplinary artist, who has recorded over 25 albums and 17 film soundtracks, and has held a number of exhibitions of paintings and photographs...
- Hervé Christiani
- ChristopheChristophe (singer)Christophe is a French singer and songwriter. He was born Daniel Bevilacqua on 13 October 1945 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Essonne to Italian parents....
- Julien ClercJulien ClercJulien Clerc, , born as Paul Alain Leclerc on 4 October 1947 in Paris, Clerc's parents divorced when he was still young. He grew up listening to classical music in his father's home, while his mother introduced him to the music of such singers as Georges Brassens and Edith Piaf...
- Michel DelpechMichel DelpechJean-Michel Delpech, known as Michel Delpech, is a French singer-songwriter.-Career:In 1963, he had his debut release hit "Anatole" on Disques Vogue...
- Gérard DepardieuGérard DepardieuGérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
- Diane DufresneDiane DufresneDiane Dufresne, CQ is a singer and painter, and has sung a number of classics of Quebec repertoire of popular songs....
- France GallFrance GallFrance Gall is a popular French yé-yé singer.Gall was married to, and had a successful singing career in partnership with, French singer-songwriter Michel Berger....
- Jean-Jacques GoldmanJean-Jacques GoldmanJean-Jacques Goldman is a Grammy Awards-winning French singer-songwriter. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and since 2003 was the second-highest-grossing French living pop singer, after Johnny Hallyday.- Biography :...
- Richard Gotainer
- Jacques HigelinJacques HigelinJacques Joseph Victor Higelin is a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Early in his career, many of Higelin's songs were effectively blacklisted from French radio because of his controversial left wing political beliefs, and his association with socialist groups...
- Valérie Lagrange
- Catherine LaraCatherine LaraCatherine Lara is a French violinist, composer and singer.-Music career:As a child, Lara studied violin and received the first prize of chamber music at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1966....
- Maxime Le ForestierMaxime Le ForestierMaxime Le Forestier is a French singer.He was born in Paris to an English father and a French mother who had lived in England. He had two older sisters, Anne and Catherine....
- Olive, member of the band Lili Drop
- Jeane Manson
- Nicolas PeyracNicolas PeyracNicolas Peyrac is a French musician, writer and photographer.-Youth:Jean-Jacques spent his youth in the small town of Saint-Brice-en-Coglès, $2, together with his brothers and parents, both of whom were physicians. As a youngster, not partial to the advance of rock 'n' roll, he had a passion for...
- RenaudRenaudRenaud, born Renaud Séchan, is a French singer, songwriter and actor.Renaud may also refer to:* Renaud , a male French given name* Renaud , a 1783 opera by Antonio Sacchini* Renaud, Quebec, part of Laval, Quebec...
- Véronique SansonVéronique SansonVéronique Sanson is a two-time Victoires de la Musique Award-winning French singer-songwriter, musician, and producer with an avid following in her native country.She brings a very personal vocal style to the singing of French pop songs: Her voice has a very strong vibrato.Unlike...
- Alain SouchonAlain SouchonAlain Souchon is a French singer, songwriter and actor. He has released 15 albums and has played roles in seven films.-Profile:...
- Diane TellDiane TellDiane Tell is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She first studied music at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal and the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Val-d'Or, then studied jazz guitar at Cégep de Saint-Laurent in Montreal...
- Fabienne ThibeaultFabienne ThibeaultFabienne Thibeault is a Canadian singer. She is particularly known for her role in Starmania. Thibeault has released numerous albums over her career. She has been the recipient of two Félix Awards.-History:...
- TrustTrust (band)Trust is a French rock band closely associated with both AC/DC and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.-History:Trust was founded in 1977 by:* Bernard "Bernie" Bonvoisin * Norbert "Nono" Krief...
- Laurent VoulzyLaurent VoulzyLaurent Voulzy is a French singer and composer.-Biography:Voulzy originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénus before joining Pascal Danel as guitarist from 1969 to 1974...
Charts performances and sales
The single went straight to #6 on the French SNEP Singles Chart, on May 18, 1985. It jumped to #1 the following weeks and stayed at the top for eight consecutive weeks. After that, the single slowly dropped but managed to remained for 14 weeks in the top ten and 22 weeks on the chart (Top 50).Certified Platinum disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the SNEP in 1985 for a minimum of 1,000,000 copies sold, the vinyl was quickly sold more than one million copies and yielded over 10 million francs (1 million euros ½), which were donated to Médecins sans Frontières association. It was the best-selling single of 1985 and the third best-selling single of the 1980s in France.
According to Infodisc website, the song is the eighth best-selling single of all time in France, with about 1,724,000 copies sold. To date, this song remains the best-selling charity single in France.
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified | Physical sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | Platinum | 1985 | 1,000,000 | 1,724,000+ |
Charts
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Eurochart Hot 100 | 19 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 1 |