French Sweep: December 3, 2013...

Bonjour, mes amis, it's time to cross the Atlantic again to check out the songs reaching the top 100 spots in France this week, according to their official sales charts, as Belgian singer/songwriter Stromae scores his third #1 hit from his excellent album Racine Carree, "Tous Les Memes"...

The top entry of the week is from singer/rapper/producer Pharrell Williams, with his contribution to the soundtrack to the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, "Happy". The song has been released with a series of 24 hour-long music videos featuring celebrities, stars of the movie like Steve Carrell, and Pharrell himself (this below is a compilation of them)...

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British boyband One Direction have a good week this week, as three of their songs from their Midnight Memories album sell enough individually to debut in the top-20, which is especially notable since they haven't had as big of a success as in other countries. In fact, the first, "Diana" at #12, matches their highest ever rank (done by "Best Song Ever" from the same album)...

The second 1D debut at #14 is the title track from Midnight Memories...

The final One Direction entry at #15 is "Strong"...

An oddity on the charts is at #44 as British prog-pop/rock band Supertramp is in with an album cut from their 1982 album Famous Last Words, "Don't Leave Me Now". It's their first to ever make the top 100 in this country, and I'm not sure what drives it (maybe a TV appearance?)...

French-Canadian singer Garou returns at #57 with "Avancer" ("Advance"). He's topped the charts in this country three times so far, the last time in 2004 with "La Riviere De Notre Enfance"...

The seventh of Justin Bieber's "Music Monday" singles, "PYD" with R. Kelly, enters at #62...

French/Algerian pop singer Etienne Daho arrives at #64 with "La Peau Dure" ("Tough Skin"). He has had a couple of top ten hits in France, with "Mon Manege a Moi" going to #4 in 1993...

Emmanuel Moire, a pop singer from Le Mans who came out in 2009, enters at #74 with "Ne S'aimer Que La Nuit" ("Only Love The Night"). He's placed four singles in the top ten here, with "Je fais de toi mon essentiel" going to #3 in 2005...

British singer Lily Allen returns at #80 with "Hard Out Here". Her first four singles went top-20 in this country, with "Fuck You" making it to #14 in 2009...

 Katy Perry leaps in at #83 with "Unconditionally"...

Rwandan/German soul singer Corneille debuts at #84 with "Les Sommets Des Nos Vies" ("The Tops of our Lives"). Nine years ago he made the top-ten with "Parce qu'on vient de loin"...

British indie-pop singer/songwriter Tom Odell makes it onto the top 100 at #85 with "Another Love"...

Zach Sobiech, a teen singer and songwriter who sadly passed away in May from cancer, posthumously has a hit here as "Clouds" is in at #98...

Elephanz debuts at #99 with the last entry with "Time For A Change"...

That's it for this week's musical rendezvous...I'll be back later to cross the border to see what's new in Germany....au revoir!