൯ PAUL MAURIAT, Love Is Blue|Toccata|Penelope|El Bimbo|Romeo&Juliet|

Paul Mauriat (Marseille, 4 March 1925 – 3 November 2006 in Perpignan) was a French orchestra leader, specializing in light music. He is best known in the United States for his remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue," which was #1 for 5 weeks in 1968. Other recordings for which he is known include "El Bimbo," "Toccata" and "Penelope."

Mauriat grew up in Marseilles and began leading his own band during the Second World War. In the 1950s he became musical director to at least two well-known French singers, Charles Aznavour and Maurice Chevalier, touring with them respectively.

Relative to his peers, Paul Mauriat has one of the largest recording catalogs, featuring more than 1,000 titles just from his Polygram era (1965-1993). He was awarded with the Grand Prix from the French recording industry, a MIDEN trophy, and in 1997 won the prestigious distinction of "Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres" from the French Ministry of Culture. He has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and held 28 tours in Japan from 1973 to 1998.

In the early-mid 1980s, Paul Mauriat appeared in several Japanese coffee and wine TV commercials, which featured music from his orchestra. A line of saxophones are named for Paul Mauriat, known as P. Mauriat Saxophones. Paul Mauriat died on November 3, 2006 at the age of 81. [wikipedia]