“Beautiful! Beautiful! Belles!”, “For pleasure”, “Céline”: Vline Buggy, lyricist of great names in French song, from Claude François to Herbert Léonard, died at 97, host Julien Lepers announced to AFP on Sunday, on behalf of the family.
“Vline died during the night from Friday to Saturday. It was his daughter who warned me,” said Mr. Lepers, who worked with Vline Buggy for twenty years.
She “was the greatest lyricist in France. I am very sad,” continued the presenter and singer who composed the music for “For the Pleasure” by Herbert Léonard, of which she had co-signed the lyrics.
“Vline meant a lot to me when I started. I’m losing the one I started with. We co-wrote several songs. For “Céline”, it is the loss of her very young sister and the loss of my brother. We combined our emotions,” singer Hugues Aufray told AFP.
Great collaboration with Claude François
Blonde streak and big smile, Vline Buggy co-wrote the hit that launched Claude François’ career “Belles! Beautiful! Beautiful!” in 1962, an adaptation of “Girls Girls Girls (Made to Love)” by the Everly Brothers.
Their collaboration was fruitful, with more than 70 songs (“If I had a hammer” in particular), and would last throughout the singer’s career until his sudden death in 1978.
“On the evening of October 14, 1962, a little blond with a red sweater entered my life and never left,” said Vline Buggy in his autobiography, published in 2018.
But also Johnny Hallyday, Michel Sardou, France Gall…
But the feats of arms of Vline Buggy, daughter of the lyricist Géo Koger who wrote for music hall stars of the 20s and 30s like Joséphine Baker and Tino Rossi, do not stop there.
Liliane Konyn, her real name, also writes texts for Johnny Hallyday (“Le Pénitencier” 1964, co-written with Hugues Aufray), Michel Sardou (“Les Bals populaire” 1970), Hervé Vilard and even France Gall, Dalida, Juliette Gréco and Régine.
“Vline Buggy becomes essential when music is looking for words. It’s a special art,” declared Hugues Aufray when presenting him with the insignia of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in 2018, according to the daily Figaro.
She chose the pseudonym “Vline Buggy” to pay tribute to her sister Évelyne Yvonne Konyn, known as Vline, with whom she began her activity as a lyricist and who died in 1962.
