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Today is the 40th anniversary of Jacques Brel’s death, on 9 October, 1978. That’s why we publish today one of his best know songs ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’. Considered by some as “Brel’s ultimate classic“, it was written after Brel’s mistress “Zizou“ (Suzanne Gabriello) threw him out of her life. ’Ne Me Quitte Pas’ has been recorded by many international artists over the years. A well-known adaptation, with English lyrics by Rod McKuen, is “If You Go Away“. Romain Georges Brel (8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer, songwriter, poet, actor and film director who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson. Although he recorded most of his songs in French and occasionally in Dutch, he became an influence on English-speaking songwriters and performers. English translations of his songs were recorded by many performers, including David Bowie, Scott Walker, Alex Harvey, Marc Almond, Rod McKuen, Ray Charles, Judy Collins, John Denver, the Kingston Trio, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Williams. This exclusive video clip is part of the stunning performance Jacques Brel did on 21 May 1961 in the Kurhaus, Den Haag, The Netherlands, recorded and broadcast on June 10, 1961 by AVRO Television and directed by AVRO Managing Director Ger Lugtenburg himself. This video will be part of the Dutch book/DVD release ‘Brel in Nederland’ written by Henk van Gelder. Other material on the DVD includes other Jacques Brel AVRO TV concerts recorded in 1962 and 1963. The release coincides with the 40th anniversary of Brel’s death. Brel is accompanied by the AVRO house orchestra ‘de Zaaiers’ under the direction of Jos Cleber and with Brel’s own pianist Gérard Jouannest. In the full video of the concert Jacques Brel slips and falls on the stage, ultimately damaging his guitar after performing the song ’Quand on n’a que l’amour’. ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’ was recorded a.o. by the following artists: Barbara, Nina Simone, Frida Boccara, Sandie Shaw, Vicky Leandros, Gigliola Cinquetti, Mari Trini, Mireille Mathieu, Alison Moyet, Liesbeth List, Juliette Gréco, Sting, Hugues Aufray, Barbara Streisand, Celine Dion, Caro Emerald, Wyclef Jean and many, many others. Watch our great music videos ❯ More TopPop? Subscribe here ❯ More info on Wikipedia ❯ This is to let you know that the video recording of the video clip was originally recorded by AVROTROS Broadcasting. AVROTROS Broadcasting hereby warrants and represents that it is the sole and exclusive owner of the physical film and/or videotape footage in this video clip. The performance of the artist(s) in the clip was filmed and recorded with the written consent of the artist(s) and their representatives. AVROTROS is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster, founded in 2014 from a merger of AVRO and TROS. From January 1st, 2014 the name of the merged broadcaster was used in joint programmes. AVRO was founded in 1923 as the Netherlands first public broadcaster. TROS started broadcasting in 1964. Toppop was a weekly AVRO pop program that was aired between 1970 and 1988. AVROTROS Broadcasting PO Box 2 1200 JA Hilversum The Netherlands TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music TV show in the Dutch language area. Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 1970 to 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted the show for its first fifteen years. World famous music artists performed on TopPop: ABBA, 10CC, Bee Gees, The Jacksons, David Bowie, Earth & Fire, Boney M, Smokie, KC & The Sunshine Band, Chick, Donna Summer, Rod Stewart, and many many more.
