Gilles Marchal single record covers, 1967–1970
1967: Le Pere Noel Est Mort (EP record); the track listing appears to use Alternate Gothic.
Gilles Marchal (Paris 1944 – Le Chesnay 2013) was a French singer, composer and songwriter who celebrated his heyday as a chansonnier in the early 1970s.
Leading up to that, his record company, the Paris-based Disc’Az, released two handfuls of single records and EP records presenting Marchal as a solo artist. Most record covers show the singer’s name at the top, set in capitals from Roger Excoffon’s Banco with apparently the same letter spacing every time – as if his name was kept at hand as a logotype in the record company’s design department.
This does not hold true for the fonts used for the track listing and other information: here, a mishmash of sans serifs has been deployed without giving the impression of a ‘visual identity’ of either record company or singer.
1968: “Dieu Qu'elle Était Belle / Ne Pleure Pas Ma Mie” (single record). Track listing set in an unidentified sas serif, and all caps Futura.
1968: Le Chanteur d’Amour (EP record). The track listing in alternating line colors is set in Alternate Gothic.
Back cover of Le Chanteur d’Amour. Information set in a few weights and styles of Futura. The condensed sans serif with a single storey a is yet to be identified; the bottom line features Brush Script.
1969: “Summer Wine / Ma Belle” (single record). The track names use Filmotype Ginger.
1969: “Comme Un Etranger Dans La Ville / Nous Vivrons Tous Les Trois” (single record). Track names and information are set in two widths of Folio Condensed.
1969: “Window Seat”, a duet by Gilles Marchal & Martine Habib. The sans serif used for the track title is yet unidentified.
1970: “L’Étoile Filante / Quand Je Te Regarde Vivre” (single record). The song title names are set in Alternate Gothic.
1970: “Pauvre Buddy River / Je M’en Vais Dans Un Avion” (single record); Futura is used for the track names.
1970: “Non Non Personne” (single record), track names set in Folio Medium Condensed.
