Anne Kern

French singer Anne Kern released just five EPs in France in the mid-1960s – none of which were hits – but nevertheless, today she has a firm following amongst fans of French femme pop. She was born on 12 July 1945 and raised in Lyon, in central France. After leaving school she went to work in a bank, though she held on to the dream of becoming a singer and took every chance she could to sing. Eventually, in 1965, she headed to Paris and was offered a recording contract with the Polydor label. Her first EP, Ce ne sera plus comme avant, was released shortly afterwards but flopped. Two further EPs, Si seulement tu osais and Je t’attendrai, fared no better. In 1966 she switched to the Ducretet Thomson label, part of EMI, and underwent something of a makeover, both in her terms of her looks and her musical style. She ditched her brunette locks for a blond 'do and dropped her original French material in favour, largely, of covers of international hits. Her first release for the new label was an EP that led with Ne crains rien, a version of Make him mine. The EP also featured Il ne veut plus me croire, a version of US singer Betty Everett’s Gettin’ mighty crowded. But it is the follow up that has won her the hearts of many aficionados of French girl pop. Released later that same year, the EP led with the so-so Achete-moi des fleurs, a version of The Tornados’ 1963 hit The ice cream man. It also contained three stronger tracks, the original Sans avoir rien donné (which could easily have passed for a Petula Clark track), Oh! Seigneur, ecoute ma prière, a version of Neil Sedaka’s The answer to my prayer, and Tant pis, tant pis, entre donc, a cover of Come on in. Despite the quality of the release, when it failed to attract the attention of record buyers, Anne was dropped by the label. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.