All Music Guide的介紹：
Usually thought of as a middle-of-the-road popular singer, Fran蔞ise Hardy —
at the beginning of her career, at least — covered more stylistic ground and
owed more debts to pop/rock than she's given credit for. Immensely popular in
her native France, the chanteuse first displayed her breathy, measured vocals
in the early and mid-'60s. Her (mostly self-penned) recordings from that era
draw from French pop traditions, lightweight '50s teen-idol rock, girl groups,
and sultry jazz and blues — sometimes in the same song. The material is
perhaps too unreservedly sentimental for some (in the French tradition), but
the songs are invariably catchy and the production, arrangements, and
near-operatic backup harmonies excellent, at times almost Spector-esque. Fans
of Mariane Faithfull's mid-'60s work can find something of a French equivalent
here, though Hardy's material was stronger and her delivery more confident.
In the 1950s, Hardy was inspired by early rock recordings to pick up guitar,
and was already writing her own songs by the time she was a teenager. By the
age of 17, she was already singing her own compositions in French clubs, and
successfully auditioned for Vogue Records in France in late 1961. Her debut
EP appeared the following year, inaugurating a series of successful EPs and
albums that would last through the '60s.
Hardy sang of young love with both fetching moodiness and unrestrained
ebullience; although she often wrote both her music and lyrics, she often
co-wrote tunes with others as well. She was greatly aided by a number of
talented arrangers who seemed to be attempting (usually successfully) to
blend American and British production sophistication with a Continental
European sensibility. Charles Blackwell was the most notable and effective of
these figures; in 1964, interestingly, she recorded some tracks under the
direction of the great American R&B guitarist Mickey Baker (yes, the same one
who played on Mickey & Sylvia's "Love Is Strange"), who was then based in
France.
Starting in 1964, Hardy made periodic attempts to capture the international
market with English recordings. Although these weren't entirely unsuccessful
("All over the World" was actually a British Top 20 hit in 1965), by the late
'60s she was concentrating on more mainstream, middle-of-the-road material
and arrangements on both her French and English sessions. She has remained
popular in France until the present. — Richie Unterberger
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