Mistinguett was at one time the highest-paid female entertainer in the world. A performer at the legendary Moulin Rouge, her legs were insured for 500,000 francs in 1919. Though her well-insured gams were easy on the eyes, Jean Cocteau said her voice was” slightly off-key, (like) that of the Parisian street hawkers—the husky, trailing voice of the Paris people.”

Mistinguett (real name Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois) first recorded her signature song, “Mon Homme”, in 1916. It was popularised under its English title “My Man” by Fanny Brice and has become a jazz standard. Billie Holiday (video below) sang a beautiful, perhaps definitive version in her later years of performing.

Chanson Du Jour 11/7/2016: “Mon Homme” performed by Mistinguett 1938

Billie Holiday “My Man”