Forgotten Fridays: Jordy - "Dur dur d'être bébé! (It's Tough to Be a Baby)"

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. We go back and remind you of their existence, and help decide if they were any good.

Allow me to break from our normal format for Forgotten Fridays where I bring up a beloved if forgotten indie album, usually from the 90's. I don't typically use this for top 40 music, but every so often I'll say something like "Hey, remember when that French toddler had a hit song about how hard it was to be a baby?" and everyone looks at me like a rambling drunk. This has happened so many times I finally looked it up to make sure it wasn't just my poor memory. It wasn't.

Back in 1992, a French record company gave a record contract to a four year old. Jordy Lemoine, recording under just the name Jordy, had the number one song in France with "Dur dur d'être bébé!" This song was such a hit that and English language version was also released in the US with the title "Dur dur d'être bébé! (It's Tough to Be a Baby)." The song reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's catchy, novelty Euro dance pop that spends over three minutes discussing the difficulties a baby must endure. Somehow while other early 90's novelties like "I'm Too Sexy" and "Cotton Eyed Joe" still endure at weddings and karoake, "Dur dur d'être bébé! (It's Tough to Be a Baby)" has all but disappeared.