- (This page is about the French language. For the 00's band of the same name, see French. For the 80's band of the same name, see French(3). For the American band of the same name, see French(4)).
French (le français or la langue française) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents, most of which are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 84 countries which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France, the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick as well as other Francophone regions, Belgium (Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region), western Switzerland (cantons of Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Valais), Monaco, partly in Luxembourg, the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the United States, and in northwestern Italy (region of Aosta Valley), and by various communities elsewhere.
Links to Peel[]
Although not a fluent speaker, Peel did have some knowledge of French, which he learnt at school. He even received 14 out of 26 on his French in his Half Term Report at Shrewsbury School in 1954 [1].
On his radio debut for Kat's Karavan (1961), Peel helped in translating some of the words in French from his records, which he bought through mail order from France, when he was talking to presenter Bill 'Hoss' Carroll about his blues collection.
The Wedding Present - Pourquoi Es Tu Devenue Si Raisonnable
Peel would often go to France on holiday with his wife Sheila and one occasion mentioned on his radio show that he had to get her to translate when he came up against a native speaker there. He also played many French language songs from various genres in the Francophone world on his shows and some of his favourite English bands, such as the Wedding Present even did a French language version of their track, Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?, which was translated as Pourquoi Es Tu Devenue Si Raisonable?
Festive Fifty Entries[]
This is a list of Festive Fifty entry songs whose titles were in French
- 1998 Festive Fifty: L' Augmentation: Soleil #17
- 2003 Festive Fifty: Vive La Fete: Noir Desir #15
Sessions[]
This is a list of session artists whose song titles were mostly in French
MC Solaar - Peel Session 1994
- Clotaire K: (1 session, 2003)
- Honeymoon Killers: (1 session, 1982)
- Malicorne: (2 sessions, 1974-1975)
- MC Solaar: (1 session, 1994)
- Métal Urbain: (2 sessions, 1978)
- Young Gods: (1 session, 1988)