C. Jérôme

French chanteur C. Jérôme, who later gained widespread recognition as a radio host, first rose to prominence as one of France’s leading pop acts during the early 1970s. Claude Dhotel entered the world in Paris’s twelfth arrondissement in 1946 and grew up under his grandparents’ care in the rural community of Meurthe-et-Moselle near Nancy, where rock & roll captured his imagination at an early age. By sixteen he was fronting the rock outfit les Storms and holding a day job selling shoes; regular visits to the Paris discotheque Golf-Drouot brought him into contact with producer Jean Albertini, who would guide his career for years. A string of overlooked singles preceded the breakthrough of 1972’s “Kiss Me,” a chart-topping hit throughout France and neighboring European territories. The LPs Baby Boy (1974), Cindy (1976), and Retro C’est Trop (1977) appeared in quick succession, yet Eve et Moi, issued in 1983, arrived after his mainstream appeal had already faded. A resurgence materialized two years later when Didier Barbelivien supplied the song “Et Tu Danses Avec Lui,” which lingered on the French album charts for nearly six months. Three further releases—C’est la Nuit (1988), Danielle S’en Va: Kiss Me (1990), and the final Nuits Blanches (1994)—preceded his withdrawal from recording. Shifting focus to broadcasting, he hosted Radio Monte Carlo’s morning program Les Annees Tubes, later joined TF1’s La Chanson Tresor, and collaborated with Michel Drucker on Vivement Dimanche. That television role marked his last public undertaking; he succumbed to bowel cancer in 2000.