Dur dur d'être bébé!

"Dur dur d'être bébé!", which was retitled "Dur dur d'être bébé! (It's Hard to Be a Baby)" for its American audience, is a 1992 song recorded by French singer Jordy Lemoine, credited as Jordy. The first single from his debut album Pochette surprise, it was released in September 1992 and achieved success across the world, particularly in France. The single reached number-one in Belgium, France, Italy, Greece and Spain.

"Dur dur d'être bébé!"
Single by Jordy
from the album Pochette Surprise
B-side"Remix"
ReleasedSeptember 1992
RecordedFrance, 1992
GenrePop, dance, children's song
Length3:23
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Patricia Clerget
Alain Maratrat
Frédéric Taïeb
Producer(s)Claude Lemoine
Jordy singles chronology
"Dur dur d'être bébé!"
(1992)		 "Alison"
(1993)
Music video
"Dur dur d'être bébé!" on YouTube

Background

After having tried to involve Jordy in TV advertisements for nappies where the baby should repeat "hard, hard to be wet", Claude Lemoine, Jordy's father, had the idea of using dance music and simple lyrics to create a catchy song. The result was well received in discothèques, which convinced Lemoine to release it as a commercial single.[1]

Charts performances and records

Thanks to this song, Jordy was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest singer ever to reach number one on a singles chart. He achieved this feat in France in October 1992 at the age of four and a half, beating the previous world record held by Osamu Minagawa and French record held by Elsa Lunghini. Jordy was also the youngest artist to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 58 with the song.

"Dur dur d'être bébé!" entered the French chart at number four on 26 September 1992, rose to number two for two weeks, and then topped the chart for 15 weeks, which was the record at the time. The previous record for the longest stretch atop the French chart had belonged to Images' "Les Démons de minuit" (1986) and Licence IV's "Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison" (1987), at 13 weeks apiece. Following its stay atop the chart, Jordy's single held the number two slot for another four weeks, eventually totalling 26 weeks in the French top ten and 30 weeks in the top 50. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" was also a dance hit across Europe, Latin America and Japan.

The song is currently the 224th best-selling single of all time in France.[2] An English-language version and a mix version were also recorded and are available on the album Pochette Surprise.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Here's an artist who can make the members of Kris Kross look like old fogies." He added, "Five-year-old rapper/singer from France has topped the charts in almost every country in the free world (and a few that aren't). The concept is simple: Jordy chirps and rhymes in French about the rigors of childhood over a bouncy pop/dance beat. Top 40 pundits who regularly indulge in wacky novelty items will be salivating after the first chorus."[3] Troy J. Augusto from Cashbox said, "Jordy, the hardest-working kindergartener in show biz. A novelty to be sure, his American intro is catchy enough that he may actually score a chart-topper here, too."[4] Music Week commented, "Jordy is an impossibly cute French kid, aged four, whose vocal efforts have earned him a number one hit at home and abroad." They added the song as "a serviceable house track".[5]

Cover versions

In 1993, the song was adapted into Portuguese by Ana Faria to be performed by children/teenpop group Onda Choc, known thus as "Que Vida A De Um Bebé!" It's featured on their thirteenth album Viva o Verão![6]

In 2010, the song was covered by Bébé Lilly and released as single in France, where it hit number 15 for two weeks on the singles chart.[7]

Track listings

Charts and sales

References
  1. Habib, Elia (2002). Muz hit.tubes (in French). Aliné Bis. p. 250. ISBN 2-9518832-0-X.
  2. "Best-selling singles of all time in France" (in French). Infodisc. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  3. Flick, Larry (15 May 1993). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 84. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  4. Augusto, Troy J. (5 June 1993). "Pop Singles: Reviews" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 13. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  5. "Mainstream: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 28 November 1992. p. 7. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  6. "Information on Viva O Verão! album by Onda Choc" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  7. "Bébé Lilly - "Dur dur d'être bébé", French Singles Chart" (in French). Lescharts. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  8. "Jordy - "Dur dur d'être bébé", in various singles charts" (in French). Lescharts. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  9. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9 no. 41. 10 October 1993. p. 40. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  10. Belgian peak Archived 9 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  12. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 7. 13 February 1993. p. 20. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  13. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 4. 23 January 1993. p. 24. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  14. "Single top 100 over 1993" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  15. "JORDY - DUR DUR D'ÊTRE BÉBÉ! (SONG)". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  16. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 29. 17 July 1993. p. 24. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  17. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  18. "Jordy singles, Billboard". allmusic. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  19. "Les certifications depuis 1973, database" (in French). Infodisc. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
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