Boby Lapointe

Singer, songwriter, and actor Boby Lapointe was born in Pézenas, Hérault, France on April 15, 1922. Initially interested in an aviation career, he prepared for the entrance exam at an engineering school. However, the Second World War extinguished his plans, and he was drafted, eventually sent to a compulsory work service camp in Linz, Austria in 1943. He escaped the camp, changed his name to Robert Foulcan, and found a job at the port of La Ciotat. After marrying and having two children, he moved his family to Paris, where he took various jobs while singing at night. Boby Lapointe performed his act at the cabaret Le Cheval d'Or and befriended Georges Brassens, Ricet Barrier, and Raymond Devos. Boby Lapointe released his first composition, “Les douze chants d’un imbecile,” in 1951 and wrote and produced plays while also operating a fashion shop in Paris. He came to prominence when his song "Aragon et Castille" was performed by Bourvil in the film Poisson d'Avril in 1954. Four years later, director François Truffaut offered him the role of the pianist in Shoot the Pianist (1960), where he sang the song “Framboise” alongside songwriter Charles Aznavour. Signing to Fontana Records, he released his debut album, Sacré Boby Lapointe, in 1961. Boby Lapointe became known for his lyrics that were laced with humor and he achieved acclaim for songs such as "Avanie et Framboise" (1960), "La Peinture à l'huile" (1963), "Jack Sélaire” (1964), and “J’ai Fantaisie” (1966). A car accident in 1965 left him immobile for several months while he recovered from his injuries. During this recovery time, Boby Lapointe – who was also a mathematician – created the Bibi-binary system, which is a hexadecimal numeral system still being used some decades later. Suffering from pancreatic cancer, Boby Lapointe made his final stage performance in December 1972. He died on June 29, 1972, at the age of 50. Since his passing, Boby Lapointe’s music has kept his memory alive and has been compiled numerous times on releases such as Comprend Qui Peut (2002), Anthologie (2003), Master Serie Vol. 1 & 2 (2003), Gold (2006), Le Best Of (2007), and Boby Lapointe (2018).