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Joe Dassin music biography continued...

to American film noir director Jules Dassin and Béatrice Launer, a Hungarian virtuoso violinist, Dassin spent his childhood in Los Angeles. However, after his father became a victim of McCarthyism, he and his family moved from place to place across Europe. Dassin moved back to the United States to go to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he met Berry Gordy, the Motown impresario, and Bob Dylan, while DJing at a local radio station. Dassin was gradually becoming interested in music himself and he would frequently go busking with a French friend, performing classic Brassens's songs on the sidewalks and cafe terraces. In the early 60's Joe returned to France where he got work at a Paris radio station, and through the job met an executive at CBS records who encouraged him to record a first single. Dassin's début "Je change un peu de vent", an adaptation of a popular American song of the time, was released in March 1965, but he wouldn't achieve success until he paired with songwriter Jacques Plaid, and came out with "Bip Bip" in 1966. An overnight sensation, the song led to Dassin's concert début in 1967, supporting Salvatore Adamo on tour. By 1968 he was back at the top of the charts with "Les Dalton", which was soon followed by a whole string of new hit singles. By 1969 the young Franco-American star was firmly established at the forefront of the French music scene.



Dassin' success continued into the 70s, when he recorded such hits as "Les Champs-Elysées," as well as "L'été indien," which went on to become one of the French music scene's all-time classics, "Ça va pas changer le monde" and "A toi" which proved to be another smash hit. Beginning in 1979, Dassin was plagued by cardiac problems. He ultimately died of a heart attack on August 20, 1980 at 52. Despite his untimely death, Dassin remains an iconic figure in French music. His songs, which sold millions worldwide during his lifetime, are still frequently played on French radio today over twenty years after his death.