It sounded so unique because of the quality and the originality of the compositions, that of the voice and of the singer's phrasing and lyrics. The newcomer was the only French artist who could rival Elton John, Cat Stevens and Bowie -and later Carole King, Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell-, on my record player. As for these songwriters, it was the interpreter’s own music and words that I heard, not those of others. Of course, with regard to Elton John, it was no mystery to me that Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics, because firstly the two Englishmen totally merged, as Lennon / McCartney did, and secondly Elton John’s true genius on a musical level was such that one could easily forgive him for being only the creator of the music of his songs... - after all, Gershwin and Chopin had never really been appreciated for their lyrics either, have they?…

My paintings having recently been used by Elton John for his 1974 Tour, I had decided by late 1975 to contact Véronique Sanson with the purpose of creating some artwork for one of her future albums. I did not attempt to contact her record company, my experience with Elton John having taught me that it was better to address God directly rather than His saints.

As usual, it was thanks to clues displayed by the press that I finally found Véronique Sanson’s address, or at least what I suspected to be the address of the closest people to her, namely her parents. Herself was inaccessible since she had become the little fiancée of America after her move to the United States that followed her coup-de-tête marriage with Stephen Stills in 1973. At the time, the Press was my number one ally to feed my musical passions, and as I was living with my parents, I had lined my walls with a variety of posters which magazines sometimes included as "bonuses" in their issues. And of course Elton John and Véronique Sanson were displayed prominently near my bed with the inevitable teddy bear from my childhood (which incidentally had the privilege of being introduced to Elton John, a few years later…).