France Joli  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop


Featured:

France Joli is a Canadian singer (born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1963), best known for Pop, Urban and Hi-NRG hits.

Her first single (released when she was 16) was "Come to Me," and it hit #1 on the US Dance chart in 1979. On the Billboard Hot 100, it was her biggest mainstream hit, breaking the Top 20 at #15. The success of the single put her in demand for talk shows with Merv Griffin and Dinah Shore and a Bob Hope special.


Contents

The 1980s

In 1980, Joli released two Top 5 Disco/Dance hits, "The Heart to Break the Heart" and "Feel Like Dancing," from her second album, Tonight. In 1981, she scored her second biggest hit with "Gonna Get Over You," which was her second single to hit #1 on the U.S. Disco/Dance chart. It was the lead single from her third album, Now. Although Joli continued to chart hits on Billboard's Disco/Dance charts throughout the 1980s, these never reached the pop pinnacle of "Come to Me." After parting ways with Prelude Records, she struck a label deal with Epic Records. Her first album for the label, Attitude (1983), featured Synth Pop, Euro-pop and Dance-pop songs with imaginative, creative lyrics. The album's singles included "Girl in the '80's" and "Blue Eyed Technology," but sales diminished since the label did not understand how to market Joli and her music. Joli's fifth album, Witch Of Love (1985) suffered a similar fate. The lead single from Witch of Love was "Does He Dance." Joli decided to stop recording and instead concentrated on touring the international club scene.

The 1990s

In 1996, Joli returned with the single Touch on Popular Records. The original incarnation of the single was a CD single with eurodance/hi-nrg styled remixes intended for radio but received limited airplay. The song belatedly became a hit in clubs, reaching #24 on Hot Dance Music/Club Play, when new remixes by Darrin "Spike" Friedman were released on vinyl 12" single. There were two separate 12" singles released individually, each featuring a different Darrin Friedman remix, along with the other mixes from the CD single divided between the two records. The song became a regional hit in the New York tri-state area, as it was a favorite of DJs such as Jonathan Peters and Junior Vasquez at their weekly residencies.

The follow-up single "Breakaway" included remixes geared toward the underground clubs. Two different CD singles of "Breakaway" were released, Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 had the Junior Vasquez and Eddie Baez mixes of "Breakaway," while part 2 included additional remixes of "Breakaway," including a remix by Andy the Lamboy, as well one of the Darrin Friedman mixes of "Touch" and a previously unreleased Junior Vasquez mix of "Touch." Both "Touch" and "Breakaway" were featured on Joli's first album in 13 years, If You Love Me (1998).

In recent years, she made New York club appearances and dated New York disc jockey Joe Causi. No official word on whether or not she is working on new material.

Film

Joli performing "Come to Me" is featured in When Ocean Meets Sky (2003), a documentary detailing the 50-year history of the Fire Island Pines community. The film had its television premiere on June 10, 2006. It includes much previously unseen archival footage, but unfortunately the electrifying July 1979 performance of vocalist France Joli is presented only in still photographs with music background, suggesting no footage of that well-remembered event exists. The sequence includes interviews with those who recall Joli's 1979 performance on Fire Island. When Ocean Meets Sky is seen occasionally on the Logo channel.

Albums

Singles

  • "Come to Me"
  • "Don't Let Go"
  • "Don't Stop Dancing"
  • "The Heart to Break the Heart"
  • "Feel Like Dancing"
  • "You're Good Lovin'"
  • "Gonna Get Over You"
  • "Girl in the '80's"
  • "Blue Eyed Technology"
  • "Does He Dance"
  • "Touch"
  • "Breakaway"
  • "Save Me"

See also





Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "France Joli" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

Personal tools