Mike Brant: how a simple phone call changed the singer’s life

Let me Love You, It’s my prayer, Just a tear, Who will know, Tell him (controversial posthumous song)… So many hits (interpreted phonetically!) by one of the most beautiful voices in French song, almost equal to Claude François, Michel Sardou and Dalida. Died at the age of 28, in 1975, Mike Brant sold in barely 5 years no less than 15 million records in France. A record for a sad end: the fall of the idol from the 6th floor of a building in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Accident, suicide, murder? Mike Brant, the shooting star, a shocking documentary broadcast this Saturday April 15 at 11 p.m., on France 3, looks back on the life and death of Moshe (aka Mike) Brandt. And, in particular, on his debut in France.

Haifa-Tehran-Paris

Born in 1947, the son of Polish Jews who had survived Nazism, his mother having been deported to Auschwitz where she saw her family disappear, Moshe Brandt grew up in the young State of Israel. In a strange way: during his first years, the boy is almost mute, Which arouses the legitimate concern of his parents. Until the day when Moshe awakens to the world and opens up to others through an unsuspected artistic expression. Gifted for drawing, the child is above all for singing. He was 16 when he was invited to host New Year’s Eve in a large hotel in Haifa. A year later, Moshe became the lead singer of the Chocolates, his younger brother Zvi’s band. One more year and he has his own group: The Skymasters, where he covers the hits of Elvis Presley and Tom Jones. Attractive, with a powerful crooner’s voice that can also reach very high, also famous for his irresistible impersonations, including that of Jerry Lewis, Moshe, who has just renamed himself Mike, begins to make a name for himself and to tour in other countries with his group. It was during one of them, in the nightclub of the Hilton hotel in Tehran, that the young man made a decisive encounter. On May 17, 1969, Mike Brant, who gave his name to a dog in Scènes deménages, was noticed by Sylvie Vartan and her secretary, the famous Carlos, who succumbed to his voice and his charm. They invite him to come and find them in Paris where, they assure him, he has all the cards in hand to make a good career. Even if the Israeli singer gabs in English and doesn’t speak a word of French! But two months later, in the middle of summer, Mike Brant takes Sylvie Vartan and Carlos at their word and lands in France.

The last chance

Orly Airport, August 1969. The 1.87 meter forecastle, “Magnificent“according to Sophie Darel, mechanically dials a telephone number that he learned by heart, the one given to him by Carlos in Tehran. At the other end of the line, a familiar voice startles him. But, immediately, he pulls himself together : “Hello ! Charles? It’s Mike!“The young man has been calling the blonde French star’s assistant regularly, and in vain, for days. Without imagining that the stars go on vacation! To pass the time, he sits on the terrace of Parisian cafes and admires the young French women who stroll through the capital in this beautiful season and do not seem insensitive to her Apollo physique. But every interlude has its limits and Mike Brant, short of money, is about to take the plane back to Tel Aviv. His phone call to Orly is the last chance call. Wasting no time, Carlos immediately invites him to his home. And, in the process, introduces him to Sylvie Vartan’s favorite songwriter : the talented Jean Renard who listens, flabbergasted, Mike Brant. Later, he will declare: “In addition to her look, her beauty, what stood out, through her clear smile, was a star magnetism. And then, he had such an ease of voice and, above all, such a vibration that it took me a few seconds to recover from the shock experienced.” Renard then offers a title that he composed and wrote and that Johnny Hallyday has just refused: Let me Love You. The laborious recording of the song translated phonetically into French for Mike Brant, whose death is still enigmatic, will last a month. Let me love you will sell 1.2 million copies. For Brant, it’s the beginning of a lightning career…