DRANEM
One of the greatest singers and fantasists of his time, Charles Armand Ménard
alias Dranem recorded a large number of puns. Born in Paris on May 23, 1869, he
learned the trade from his father, an artisan jeweler, and, interested in
café-concert stars, joined a troupe of amateur comedians. After military service
and a variety of jobs, he performed at the local Verrerie and found a stage name
that was an anagram of his own name. Ménard became Dranem, who suffered several
failures before being hired in 1884 at the Electric-Concert as a comic trouper
"in the style of Polin", then mov...
