Pour toi Arménie

"Pour toi Arménie" (English translation: "For You, Armenia") is a 1989 song written and composed by Charles Aznavour, and recorded by a group of French singers (and also a few actors and TV presenters) who were popular at the time. This charity single was intended to raise funds to help the Armenians who experienced the 1988 Spitak earthquake. It sold more than 1 million copies under the Trema-EMI label.[1]

"Pour toi Arménie"
Single by Various French artists
Released	February 1989
Recorded	1989
Label	Trema-EMI
Songwriter(s)	Charles Aznavour (lyrics) Georges Garvarentz (music)
Producer(s)	Georges Garvarentz Gérard Melet Jacques Revaux

Background and writing

This song was entirely written and composed by Charles Aznavour and Georges Garvarentz which made a great tribute to the country of his ancestral origins and his relationship that he always have kept in his heart. After the earthquake in Armenia, he asked his singers, actors and TV presenters friends to sing with him "Pour toi Arménie", song devoted to help victims of this tragedy.[2]

At the same time, in the United Kingdom, the collective band named Rock Aid Armenia made a cover of "Smoke on the Water" also for the same charitable purpose.[2]

Vocalists

The artists that composed this group were :

Adamo Serge Avedikian Marcel Amont Animo Rosy Armen Charles Aznavour Katia Aznavour Didier Barbelivien Phil Barney Gilbert Bécaud Jane Birkin Gérard Blanc Richard Bohringer Zani Boni Carlos Jean Carmet Jean-Pierre Cassel Alain Chamfort Frédéric Château Louis Chédid Julien Clerc Nicolle Croisille Dallas David et Jonathan Michel Delpech Sacha Distel Dorothée Michel Drucker Yves Duteil Elsa Lunghini (credited as Elsa)

Jean-Pierre Foucault Roland Giraud Richard Gotainer Félix Gray Serge Guirao Johnny Hallyday Robert Hossein Images Jairo Véronique Jannot Patricia Kaas Kimera David Koven Gilles Lacoste Jean-Luc Lahaye Francis Lalanne Serge Lama Philippe Lavil Lio Marie Myriam Didier Marouani Mireille Mathieu Fred Mella Macha Méryl Eddy Mitchell Pierre Mondy Gilbert Montagné Éric Moréna Nana Mouskouri

Georges Moustaki Thierry Mutin Nacash Nicoletta Florent Pagny Vanessa Paradis Popeck Jakie Quartz Rachid Serge Reggiani Renaud Line Renaud Pierre Richard Dick Rivers Patrick Sabatier Henri Salvador Michel Sardou Shushana Alain Souchon Linda de Suza Jean-Marc Thibault François Valéry Rosy Varte Hervé Vilard Marina Vlady Laurent Voulzy Jacques Weber

All the names feature on the single's cover.

Track listings

7" single

1. "Pour toi Arménie" – 4:05
2. "Ils sont tombés" – 4:06

Chart performances

Since it was launched, the single was a great success. It went straight to No. 1 on 11 February 1989 on the French SNEP Singles Chart (Top 50) and remained there for ten weeks. Then it kept on dropping and left the chart after 18 weeks of attendance.[3] The same year, the single was certified Platinum disc by the French certifier, the SNEP.

The song featured for a long time on the Guinness Book of Records because it was the first single to enter the French Singles Chart at No. 1.[4]

It was also the first appearance of Charles Aznavour on the Top 50.

Peak positions

Chart (1989)	Peak position
French SNEP Singles Chart	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1989)	Position
European Hot 100 Singles[5]	36

References

1. "Pour Toi Armenie". Retrieved 24 February 2008.
2. Elia Habib, Muz hit. tubes, p. 151-152 (ISBN 2-9518832-0-X)
3. "Pour toi Arménie", French Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved 19 February 2008)
4. Alex P. King, Hit-parade, 20 ans de tubes, 2005, Pascal Ed., p. 9 (ISBN 978-2350190099) Vingt ans de tubes (Retrieved 23 April 2008)
5. "Eurochart Hot 100 1989" (PDF). Music & Media. 6 (51): 6. 23 December 1989. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 17 January 2020 – via American Radio History.