With the exception of
Maurice Chevalier, no French vocalist was more popular in the 1930s and '40s than
Charles Trenet, and in addition to possessing a strong voice that was well suited to romantic and nostalgic material,
Trenet was also a gifted songwriter whose best known tune, "La Mer," has been recorded by hundreds of artists around the world (it became a hit in America for
Bobby Darin when it was translated as "Beyond the Sea").
Anthologie is a definitive overview of
Trenet's career, an eight-disc box set that features 195 selections from his most celebrated era and includes his most popular songs. ~ Mark Deming