White and Black Blues

1990 song by Joëlle Ursull

"White and Black Blues"

Single by Joëlle Ursull
from the album  Black French
Language| French
B-side| "Instrumental"
Released| 1990
Recorded| 1990, France
Genre| Pop
Length| 3:00
Label| CBS
Composer(s)| Georges Augier de Moussac [fr]
Lyricist(s)| Serge Gainsbourg
Producer(s)| Serge Gainsbourg
Joëlle Ursull singles chronology
|  | "White and Black Blues"
(1990)  | "Amazone"
(1990)

|
|

Eurovision Song Contest 1990 entry
Country|

France

Artist(s)|

Joëlle Ursull

Language|

French

Composer(s)|

Georges Augier de Moussac

Lyricist(s)|

Serge Gainsbourg

Conductor|

Régis Dupré

Finals performance
Final result|

2nd

Final points|

132

Entry chronology
◄ "J'ai volé la vie" (1989)
"C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison" (1991) ►
Official performance video
"White and Black Blues" on YouTube

"White and Black Blues" is a song recorded by French singer Joëlle Ursull, with music composed by Georges Augier de Moussac [fr] and French lyrics (with some words in English) written by Serge Gainsbourg. It represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 held in Zagreb, placing second. It is the first single from her album Black French and has become something of a fan favourite.

## Background

[edit]

### Conception

[edit]

Composed by Georges Augier de Moussac [fr] with lyrics by Serge Gainsbourg, "White and Black Blues" was originally titled "Black Lolita Blues", however Joëlle Ursull declined to perform it due to the pejorative connotations of the word "Lolita".[1] The rewritten version met with her approval.

Gainsbourg, had previously composed France Gall's winning entry for Luxembourg in 1965, "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", as well as the Monegasque entry "Boum-Badaboum" for Minouche Barelli in 1967, which had finished fifth (and he had also composed "Comme un boomerang" for Dani to enter the 1975 Eurovision, but the song was rejected as some of its lyrics were deemed too violent; that song was released by Dani in 2001, 26 years later, as a duet with Étienne Daho, and was a major success in France that year).

"White and Black Blues" itself deals with the need to overcome the prejudices of skin colour. Ursull sings, "when someone talks to me about skin colour / I have the blues which sends shivers down my spine / I feel as if I'm in a tale by Edgar Allan Poe". That said, she does not believe in relinquishing her connection to Africa entirely ("Africa, my love, I have you in my skin"), but admits that she faces difficulties in a white society ("we, the blacks / we're a few millions, a dime a dozen").

Musically, it features an accordion as well as the synthesiser effects starting to appear in the early 1990s. The song is in triple metre, with the verses following an unusual phrasing of seven triplets per phrase, and the chorus with a more conventional eight triplets per phrase.

### Eurovision

[edit]

Antenne 2 internally selected "White and Black Blues" as its entrant for the 35th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Ursull became the first black woman to represent France at Eurovision.[2]

On 5 May 1990, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb hosted by Radiotelevizija Zagreb on behalf of Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija (JRT), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Ursull performed "White and Black Blues" fourteenth on the evening. Régis Dupré conducted the event's orchestra in the performance of the French entry.[3]

At the close of voting, the song had received 132 points, tying for second place with "Somewhere in Europe" by Liam Reilly that represented Ireland, in a field of twenty-two.[4] It was succeeded as French representative at the 1991 contest by Amina with "Le Dernier qui a parlé...".

## Chart performance

[edit]

"White and Black Blues" had a great success in France and was one of the summer hits of 1990. It debuted at number 47 on 26 May 1990 and reached number two seven weeks later, but was unable to top the chart, as Zouk Machine, Ursull's former band, was then number one with "Maldòn". The single remained in the top ten for 18 weeks and left the top 50 after 26 weeks of presence, and was certified Gold disc by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. In Sweden and Germany, the single achieved a minor success, peaking respectively at number 19 and number 86. It was also a top ten hit in Austria.

On the Eurochart Hot 100, "White and Black Blues" debuted at number 76 on 16 June 1990, peaked at number nine in its seventh week, and totalled ten weeks in the top twenty and 23 weeks on the chart. It ranked number 30 on the European year-end chart. It was also much aired on radio, spending 12 weeks on the European Airplay Top 50 Chart with a peak at number 11 in its fourth week, and was number two on French both AM and PM airplay charts on 28 July 1990.

## Track listings

[edit]

* CD single

1. "White and Black Blues" — 3:00
2. "White and Black Blues" (instrumental) — 3:00

* 7" single

1. "White and Black Blues" — 3:00
2. "White and Black Blues" (instrumental) — 3:00

## Charts and certifications

[edit]

### Weekly charts

[edit]

| Chart (1990)  | Peak
position

|

Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] | 10
Belgium (Ultratop 40 Wallonia)[6] | 7
Europe (European Airplay Top 50)[7] | 11
Europe (European Hot 100)[8] | 9
France (SNEP)[9] | 2
Germany (Official German Charts)[10] | 86
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11] | 19

### Year-end charts

[edit]

| Chart (1990)  | Peak
position

|

Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[12] | 30

### Certifications

[edit]

Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

France (SNEP)[13] | Gold  | 400,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "White and black blues". Diggiloo. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
2. ^ "National Selections: 1990". Eurovisionworld.
3. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1990". Eurovision Song Contest. 5 May 1990. JRT / EBU.
4. ^ "Official Eurovision Song Contest 1990 scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest.
5. ^ "Joëlle Ursull – White and Black Blues" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
6. ^ "Playlist report" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 30\. 28 July 1990. p. II. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 3 September 2021 - via World Radio History.
7. ^ "European Airplay Top 50" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 29\. 21 July 1990. p. III. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 3 September 2021 - via World Radio History.
8. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 30\. 28 July 1990. p. IV-V. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 3 September 2021 - via World Radio History.
9. ^ "Joëlle Ursull – White and Black Blues" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
10. ^ ""White and Black Blues", German singles charts" (in German). Musicline. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
11. ^ "Joëlle Ursull – White and Black Blues". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
12. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 of 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51\. 22 December 1990. p. 60\. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 15 January 2020 - via American Radio History.
13. ^ "French single certifications – Joëlle Ursull – White and Black Blues" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 26 November 2021. Select JOËLLE URSULL and click OK.

## External links

[edit]

* ""White and Black Blues"" at Discogs (list of releases)

* v
* t
* e

Eurovision Song Contest 1990

Countries|

* Austria
* Belgium
* Cyprus
* Denmark
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Israel
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Portugal
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* United Kingdom
* Yugoslavia

Artists|

* Anastasiou
* Azúcar Moreno
* Beat
* Christos Callow and Wave
* Céline Carzo
* Toto Cutugno
* Lonnie Devantier
* Edin-Ådahl
* Egon Egemann
* Emma
* Kayahan
* Chris Kempers and Daniel Kovac
* Philippe Lafontaine
* Maywood
* Nucha
* Liam Reilly
* Rita
* Simone
* Stjórnin
* Ketil Stokkan
* Tajči
* Joëlle Ursull

Songs|

* "Bandido"
* "Brandenburger Tor"
* "Eitt lag enn"
* "Frei zu leben"
* "Fri?"
* "Give a Little Love Back to the World"
* "Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim"
* "Há sempre alguém"
* "Hajde da ludujemo"
* "Hallo Hallo"
* "Horis skopo"
* "Ik wil alles met je delen"
* "Insieme: 1992"
* "Keine Mauern mehr"
* "Macédomienne"
* "Milas poli"
* "Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus"
* "Quand je te rêve"
* "Shara Barkhovot"
* "Som en vind"
* "Somewhere in Europe"
* "White and Black Blues"

* v
* t
* e

France in the Eurovision Song Contest

Participation|

* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* ~~1974~~
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* ~~2020~~
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Artists|

* Ahez
* Alma
* Mathé Altéry
* Alvan
* Amir
* Amina
* Lisa Angell
* Anggun
* Isabelle Aubret
* Louisa Baïleche
* Alain Barrière
* Roger Bens
* Frida Boccara
* Guy Bonnet
* Amandine Bourgeois
* Jacqueline Boyer
* Dan Ar Braz
* Jonatan Cerrada
* André Claveau
* Martine Clémenceau
* Cocktail Chic
* Noëlle Cordier
* ~~Dani~~
* Dany Dauberson
* Anne-Marie David
* Paule Desjardins
* Fanny
* Les Fatals Picards
* Catherine Ferry
* Patrick Fiori
* Sandrine François
* Jean Gabilou
* Bilal Hassani
* Héritage des Celtes
* Jean Philippe
* Patricia Kaas
* Kali
* Serge Lama
* ~~Tom Leeb~~
* Gérard Lenorman
* Louane
* Madame Monsieur
* Guy Mardel
* Marie Line
* Betty Mars
* Jessy Matador
* Jean-Paul Mauric
* Sofia Mestari
* Christine Minier
* Nina Morato
* Marie Myriam
* Nayah
* Ortal
* Nathalie Pâque
* Virginie Pouchain
* Barbara Pravi
* Joël Prévost
* Profil
* Rachel
* Nicole Rieu
* Nathalie Santamaria
* Slimane
* Natasha St-Pier
* Sébastien Tellier
* Annick Thoumazeau
* Twin Twin
* Joëlle Ursull
* Amaury Vassili
* Dominique Walter
* La Zarra

Songs|

* "À chaque pas"
* "Allez Ola Olé"
* "L'Amour à la française"
* "Autant d'amoureux que d'étoiles"
* "La Belle amour"
* "C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison"
* "Chacun pense à soi"
* "Le Chant de Mallory"
* "Chanteur de charme"
* "Chez nous"
* "Comé-comédie"
* "Divine"
* "Diwanit bugale"
* "Dors, mon amour"
* "Echo (You and I)"
* "Elle était si jolie"
* "L'Enfer et moi"
* "Et bonjour à toi l'artiste"
* "Et s'il fallait le faire"
* "Européennes"
* "Évidemment"
* "Femme dans ses rêves aussi"
* "Fulenn"
* "Hé, hé M'sieurs dames"
* "Humanahum"
* "Il doit faire beau là-bas"
* "Il est là"
* "Il était temps"
* "Il faut du temps"
* "Il me donne rendez-vous"
* "Il y aura toujours des violons"
* "J'ai cherché"
* "J'ai volé la vie"
* "Un jardin sur la terre"
* "Je n'ai que mon âme"
* "Je suis l'enfant soleil"
* "Je suis un vrai garçon"
* "Je veux donner ma voix"
* "Un jour, un enfant"
* "Mama Corsica"
* "Maman"
* "Marie-Blanche"
* "Mercy"
* ~~" Mon alliée (The Best in Me)"~~
* "Mon amour"
* "Monté la riviè"
* "Monts et merveilles"
* "Les Mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche"
* "Moustache"
* "N'avoue jamais"
* "N'oubliez pas"
* "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant"
* "On aura le ciel"
* "Où aller"
* "Oui, oui, oui, oui"
* "Un premier amour"
* "Printemps, avril carillonne"
* "Requiem"
* "Roi"
* "Sans toi"
* "Sentiments songes"
* "Sognu"
* "La Source"
* "Le Temps perdu"
* "Tom Pillibi"
* "Un, deux, trois"
* ~~" La Vie à vingt-cinq ans"~~
* "Vivre"
* "Voilà"
* "White and Black Blues"

Note: Entries scored out signify where France did not compete. Italics indicate an entry in a future contest.

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work

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