Gilles Marchal

Real name Gilles Pastre, born in Paris on September 2, 1944, Gilles Marchal is best known for the song "Comme un étranger dans la ville", the French adaptation of the classic "Everybody's Talkin'". Discovered by Georges Châtelain, he signed with Lucien Morisse's Disc'AZ label and made a name for himself in 1967 with his first EP, featuring "Le Père Noël est mort", followed by other songs such as "La Valse à quatre pattes", "Dieu qu'elle était belle" and its hit B-side "Ne pleure pas ma mie", then "Le Chanteur d'amour". In 1969, Gilles Marchal adapted Lee Hazlewood's "Summer Wine" into French, with singer Martine Habib, with whom he also sang "Window Seat" and "Where Do People Go", the song from Eddy Matalon's film Trop petit mon ami. The same year sees the singer perform "Comme un étranger dans la ville", Eddy Marnay's adaptation of Fred Neil's theme song, "Everybody's Talkin'", for John Schlesinger's film Macadam cowboy (in French, Midnight Cowboy). Gilles Marchal's first album, released in 1971, also included two other adaptations: "L'Étoile filante" after Lee Marvin ("Wanderin' Star") and "Pauvre Buddy River" after Lee Hazlewood ("Buddy River"). After a final song for Disc'AZ, "Liberté" in 1971, several singles followed for Motors, including "Un homme libre " from the film of the same name, with music by Francis Lai (1973), a second album, Clémentine Pépin, released in 1974 by the Charles Talar label, and three singles for Pathé, before a final album, Drôle de Vie (1978). In 1985, Gilles Marchal put an end to his career after a cover of Hugues Aufray's "Céline " and compositions for Eddy Mitchell, Carlos, Joe Dassin, Isabelle Aubret, Jean-Claude Pascal and Michèle Torr. He then devoted himself to his passion for history, publishing several books. On April 11, 2013, Gilles Marchal died in Le Chesnay (Yvelines), at the age of 68.