Find out why Guy Marchand hated his song Destinée, heard in “Le Père Noël est une ordre” and “Les Sous-doués en vacances”.
Guy Marchand left us on December 15, and with him, a part of popular cinema has gone. For the general cinema-loving public, he was above all the interpreter of a song heard in two notable films of the 80s: Destiny.
It is present on the screens via two comedies: Les Sous-doués en vacances and Santa Claus is trash, but where does this song really come from and why did Guy Marchand hate it?
Before being an actor known in particular for his series Nestor Burma, Marchand had started in song with the title La Passionata, a summer hit, and several albums.
In 1982, he co-wrote with Philippe Adler (music columnist notably on RTL) the song Destinywhich is composed by the great Vladimir Cosma, to whom we owe some of the most striking soundtracks of French cinema, such as The Big Blond with a Black Shoe, The Wing or the Thigh, The Goat, The Boom or even The Ace of Aces.
Working on the music of Les Sous-doués on vacation, Cosma naturally co-signs Destiny, which is an integral part of the film. In this sequel to Les Sous-doués, Guy Marchand plays Paul Memphis, a crooner who falls under the spell of Claudine (Grace de Capitani), ex-girlfriend of Bébel (Daniel Auteuil).
For Destiny, Vladimir Cosma takes up the notes of the song Indian summer by Joe Dassin, but backwards : a hit was born! A hit such as it also illustrates the slow scene between Thierry Lhermitte and Christian Clavier in Le Père Noël est une ordure:
If Guy Marchand hated the song, it’s because it was intended to be a parody of successful slow songs in the 70s and 80s, but it achieved resounding success, overshadowing the “real” career. Guest in 2019 on TV5 World :
That’s bullshit! I don’t care about that! It’s wrong (…).
A year later, back on the same stage, he gave a more nuanced speech:
“I shouldn’t make fun of this song, in the sense that it appealed to people. Destiny, there are plenty of people who felt a little bit concerned, but for me, it’s the song of film Les Sous-doués on vacation. (…) So I must not make fun of this song like I did all the time, because afterwards, I was criticized for it.”
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Contacted by The Parisian following the singer’s death, Vladimir Cosma declared:
“It’s his greatest success as a singer, but he never took it on. He agreed to sing it in Les Sous-Doués because Claude Zidi and I absolutely wanted it. But it was too popular for him. He preferred it jazz, blues and tango, crooning.”