Bobby Lapoint
Travels With Anzie – Boby Lapointe
May 2019
Moliere and Boby
You mean you don’t know Boby Lapointe? Why, he’s the favorite son of Pezenas, France, along with Moliere. Boby is a more legitimate son, since he was born in Pezenas. Whereas Moliere spent some time here over a few years. The city has been celebrating Boby’s birthday for the past two weeks. You probably know Charles Boyer, the movie star? Maurice Chevalier, movie star (“Gigi”), singer – “Thank Heavens for Leetle Girls”? Yves Montand, movie star? Maybe even Charles Aznevour, singer? Still, Boby Lapointe doesn’t ring a bell? Well, we had never heard of him either until we became temporary residents of the charming town of Pezenas.
There’s a Boby Lapointe museum in the middle of town. You can tell true Boby Lapointe fans by their blue and white striped sailor shirt.
So … what about this guy Boby? Born in Pezenas in 1922, he was a brilliant student. He applied and was accepted at a technical college in Montpellier. Unfortunately he was conscripted into a war work program in 1942, and sent to Austria. He escaped from there the following year, and work several jobs in Marseille and Paris. While in Paris he began singing and writing songs and plays. In 1951 he produced his first group of songs, “Twelve Songs of an Imbecile”. In 1960 Francois Truffaut cast him in his film, “Shoot the Piano Player”, opposite the singer Charles Aznavour. Boby died, in Pezenas, in 1972, age 50.
So … Why is Boby famous? Mostly for his funny texts, alliteration and plays on words. Now is the time to check out Boby’s singing. See the links below to listen to two of his best known songs. The first song you’ll watch him sing is “Ta Katie t’a quitté”, “Your Katie Left You”. Never mind you don’t understand the words. Just listen and watch his presentation. The second is “Maman des Poissons”, which is sung by school children all over France.
If you have a few more minutes, go to “Boby Lapointe Printival” to sample the annual Spring Boby Lapointe Festival. You’ll see all the Boby fans dancing in their sailor shirts.
By the way, Boby was also a technical genius. He developed a binary system. Based on “hexadecimal’ (16 digits), it was termed “bibi-binary”, because it was based on 2x2x2. Was it ever used? Yes, in a color coding system. It would have been useful at Bletchley Park during WWII as an Enigma code.
Does your town have a favorite son?
A la Prochaine.
Chuck & Anzie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhGf2WzAS84 Maman des Poissons