Mardel lived his first 15 years in Algeria before moving to France in 1959. He later enrolled in law school, while singing recreationally with a jazz band. He signed a contract with AZ Records in 1963 and released two singles before being chosen internally by channel ORTF in 1965 to represent France in that year's Eurovision Song Contest with the song "N'avoue jamais" ("Never admit"). At the contest, held in Naples on 20 March, "N'avoue jamais" finished in third place of the 18 entries.