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47-646: Alain Bashung (born Alain Claude Baschung , French pronunciation: [alɛ̃ klod baʃuŋ] ; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded as the most important French rock musician after Serge Gainsbourg . He rose to prominence in the early 1980s with hit songs such as " Gaby oh Gaby " and "Vertige de l'amour", and later had

94-540: A band called Les Dunces playing folk music and rockabilly . He later formed a band with musicians met in Royan , and then began to tour in restaurants, hotels and U.S. military bases. He began his career with his first EP , "Pourquoi rêvez-vous des États-Unis ?" in 1966, which he wrote and composed. At the same time, he joined the RCA label to become a music arranger . He wrote songs for French artists. In June 1967, at

141-435: A capella , completed in 1908. Maurice Ravel wrote Trois Chansons for choir a cappella after the outbreak of World War I as a return to French tradition, published in 1916. In France today chanson or chanson française is distinguished from the rest of French "pop" music by following the rhythms of French language, rather than those of English, and a higher standard for lyrics. In La Planche , Loire-Atlantique ,

188-516: A country and rockabilly sound, which was a commercial failure as punk rock was rising. In 1979, he produced another album, Roulette russe , darker and leaning more openly toward rock. In 1980, he released the single " Gaby oh Gaby ", which became his breakthrough success (selling more than a million copies). His critical and commercial success was confirmed with his next album, Pizza , which allowed him, thanks to his second hit success, "Vertige de l'amour", to tour in prestigious locations, such as

235-568: A couple of evenings in the Salle Pleyel in Paris, and played the role of Jack the Ripper for the song "Panique Mécanique" on Dionysos ' album La Mécanique du Cœur . That same year, he played with Belgian singer Arno in the movie J'ai toujours rêvé d'être un gangster , by Samuel Benchetrit . They appear as themselves, arguing over the authorship of a song. In 2008, he sang "L.U.V." as

282-461: A duet with Daniel Darc for the latter's album, Amours suprêmes . He was also involved in Étienne Daho 's Daho Show, covering "I Can't Escape from You" as a duet with Daho. He also rerecorded Serge Gainsbourg's classic album, L'Homme à tête de chou , for a show. On 24 March 2008, he released the album Bleu pétrole , collaborating notably with Gaëtan Roussel of French band Louise Attaque , Arman Méliès , M. Ward or Gérard Manset (covering

329-577: A human dimension by making people happy with records." In February 2010, the French edition of Rolling Stone magazine placed six of his albums in their list "100 disques essentiels du rock français" (100 Essential French Rock Albums) with two albums in the top 10, Osez Joséphine at number one, and Fantaisie militaire at number nine. Chanson A chanson ( UK : / ˈ ʃ ɒ̃ s ɒ̃ / , US : / ʃ ɑː n ˈ s ɔː n / ; French: chanson française [ʃɑ̃sɔ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] , lit.   ' French song ' )

376-559: A live video recorded at the Olympia 10 and 15 June 2008 was released. This DVD was awarded the 2010 Victoires de la musique award for best musical DVD of the year. At the same Victoires ceremony, French singer Benjamin Biolay , who was awarded the Best male artist of the year award, paid tribute to Bashung. He can be heard singing La nuit je mens in the closing scenes of the final episode of

423-602: A pervading imitation (all voices sharing material and moving at similar speeds), similar to that found in contemporary motets and liturgical music. The first book of music printed from movable type was Harmonice Musices Odhecaton , a collection of ninety-six chansons by many composers, published in Venice in 1501 by Ottaviano Petrucci . Beginning in the late 1520s through mid-century, Claudin de Sermisy , Pierre Certon , Clément Janequin , and Philippe Verdelot were composers of so-called Parisian chansons , which also abandoned

470-410: A pop singer in the 80s, but who was then nearly unknown, sings background vocals on the album. The album was also released as the first side to a joint compilation with Herbert Léonard , titled 16 grands succès ( 16 golden hits ), a rather misleading title given the fact that this album would be a commercial failure. The album was a commercial failure when it was first released in 1977. After that,

517-400: A professional class of jongleurs or ménestrels . These usually recounted the famous deeds ( geste ) of past heroes, legendary and semi-historical. The Song of Roland is the most famous of these, but in general the chansons de geste are studied as literature since very little of their music survives. The chanson courtoise or grand chant was an early form of monophonic chanson ,

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564-486: A string of hit records from the 1990s onward, such as "Osez Joséphine", "Ma petite entreprise" and "La nuit je mens". He has had an influence on many later French artists, and is the most awarded artist in the Victoires de la Musique history with 12 victories obtained throughout his career. Bashung's Play blessures (1982), Osez Joséphine (1991), and Fantaisie militaire (1998) have made multiple French lists of

611-539: A structural tenor. These works are typically still 3 voices, with an active upper voice (discantus) pitched above two lower voices (tenor and altus) usually sharing the same range. Musicologist David Fallows includes the Burgundian repertoire in A Catalogue of Polyphonic Songs 1415–1480. Later 15th- and early 16th-century figures in the genre included Johannes Ockeghem and Josquin des Prez , whose works cease to be constrained by formes fixes and begin to feature

658-528: Is generally any lyric -driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of French pop music which emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. The genre had origins in the monophonic songs of troubadours and trouvères , though the only polyphonic precedents were 16 works by Adam de la Halle and one by Jehan de Lescurel . Not until

705-465: Is now considered a classic album in France. In 1983, he produced another dark album, Figure imposée , which also met with little success. However, in 1984 he made peace with Boris Bergman, and the lyricist wrote for him "SOS Amor" which was a surprise hit. In 1985, he sang "Touche pas à mon pote", a single for the association SOS Racisme . In the wake of the success of "SOS Amor", he released in 1986

752-479: The ars nova composer Guillaume de Machaut did any composer write a significant number of polyphonic chansons. A broad term, the word chanson literally means " song " in French and can thus less commonly refer to a variety of (usually secular ) French genres throughout history. This includes the songs of chansonnier , chanson de geste and Grand chant ; court songs of the late Renaissance and early Baroque music periods, air de cour ; popular songs from

799-522: The Cité de la musique in Paris, he got the opportunity to sing for several days. There he brought on stage artists such as Christophe , Dominique A , Rodolphe Burger or Arto Lindsay . In early 2007, after a small break, he was involved in the Les Aventuriers d'un autre monde tour alongside rock and pop artists Jean-Louis Aubert , Cali , Daniel Darc , Richard Kolinka and Raphaël . He sang for

846-512: The Musée de la chanson française was established in 1992. The museum has the goal to remember the artists that have established the heritage of the chanson . Roman-photos Alain Bashung was 30 years old when he recorded this first album, even though his career was already 11 years old, as he had published several singles that were commercial failures. French singer Daniel Balavoine , who would go on to have enormous commercial success as

893-497: The Olympia . However, he broke with Bergman at the time. In 1982, Bashung released an album called Play blessures , written by Serge Gainsbourg . The album, in contrast with its immediate predecessor, is dark, minimalistic and inaccessible. The album was intended to break away from his unexpected success. It was a commercial and, at first, critical failure, Bashung being called by some the " Johnny Hallyday of new wave ". Yet, it

940-610: The Palais des Sports of Paris , he was the opening act (alongside Noël Deschamps and Ronnie Bird ) of artists such as the Pretty Things , the Troggs or Cream . In 1968, he released his first single, "Les Romantiques", which was largely ignored by the public and unsuccessful. Around that time, he dropped the "c" from his name and spent some time at the house of fellow singer Christophe . From 1972 to 1974, he composed some of

987-504: The formes fixes , often featured four voices, and were in a simpler, more homophonic style. This genre sometimes featured music that was meant to be evocative of certain imagery such as birds or the marketplace. Many of these Parisian works were published by Pierre Attaingnant . Composers of their generation, as well as later composers, such as Orlando de Lassus , were influenced by the Italian madrigal . French solo song developed in

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1034-520: The 16th century. Sometimes, the singers were accompanied by instruments . The first important composer of chansons was Guillaume de Machaut , who composed three-voice works in the formes fixes during the 14th century. Two composers from Burgundy , Guillaume Du Fay and Gilles Binchois , who wrote so-called Burgundian chansons , dominated the subsequent generation of chanson composers ( c.  1420–1470 ). Their chansons, while somewhat simple in style, are also generally in three voices with

1081-444: The 17th to 19th century, bergerette , brunette , chanson pour boire , pastourelle , and vaudeville ; art song of the romantic era, mélodie ; and folk music, chanson populaire  [ fr ] . Since the 1990s, the term may be used for Nouvelle Chanson , a French song that often contains poetic or political content. The earliest chansons were the epic poems performed to simple monophonic melodies by

1128-593: The 18th century, vocal music in France was dominated by opera , but solo song underwent a renaissance in the 19th century, first with salon melodies and then by mid-century with highly sophisticated works influenced by the German Lieder , which had been introduced into the country. Louis Niedermeyer , under the particular spell of Schubert , was a pivotal figure in this movement, followed by Édouard Lalo , Felicien David and many others. Another offshoot of chanson , called chanson réaliste (realist song),

1175-460: The French scene (most famously, the song "Volontaire" from Play blessures with French band Noir Désir ). That same year, he cowrote "L'Eau et le vin" for Vanessa Paradis ' album Bliss . In 2002, he released another album, L'Imprudence to critical acclaim, which is considered one of the darker albums of his discography. The album is not easily accessible and features strings and electronic arrangements, with sometimes nearly spoken lyrics, and

1222-486: The French television series Les Bleus: premiers pas dans la police (2006–10). On 26 April 2011, a tribute album called Tels Alain Bashung was released. It features twelve covers of Bashung songs by various artists and bands, with a documentary called Alain Bashung - Faisons envie directed by Thierry Villeneuve. On 7 November 2011, his rerecording of L'Homme à tête de chou was released on Barclay Records . A multi-platinum artist, Bashung received three awards during

1269-408: The age of one, Bashung was sent to Wingersheim , near Strasbourg to live with his stepfather's parents. He spent his childhood in the countryside, in a rather conservative environment, alongside a grandmother who did not speak French. He discovered music during his childhood, notably Kurt Weill 's Mahagonny , and began to practice with a Rosebud harmonica offered to him when he was five. He also

1316-699: The album Passé le Rio Grande , which allowed him to get his first Victoires de la musique award. In 1989, he returned to a dark, experimental style with the album Novice , from which the singles "Bombez !", "Pyromanes" and "Étrange été" were released. The album marked his first collaboration with lyricist Jean Fauque and his definitive breakup with Boris Bergman. In 1991, he released another album with Fauque as lyricist, Osez Joséphine , which also included some cover versions of classic American rock songs. The album helped him achieve mainstream success, selling 350.000 copies and "Osez Joséphine" became his first real popular success since "Vertige de l'amour". On

1363-402: The album was "La nuit je mens" which was another hit for Bashung. For the album, he received 3 more Victoires de la musique awards in 1999 (and in 2005, he received another for the "best album of the last twenty years"). For Bashung, it was a huge commercial and critical success. In 2000, he released the compilation Climax , on which some songs are rerecordings as duets with notable artists from

1410-1185: The album was disowned by Bashung and it was not reissued neither on vinyl nor on CD for a while. Only the track "C'est la faute à Dylan" ("It's because of Dylan") would resurface in other ways. The album was finally reissued on CD as part of the box set Les Hauts de Bashung ( Bashung's Highs ) in 2002. Bashung said about the album in French magazine Les Inrockuptibles : "J'ai volontairement fait disparaître cet album de mon intégrale, parce que j'estime qu'il ne me ressemble pas du tout. À l'origine, il devait s'intituler «  Maquettes  » et, avec le recul, il aurait vraiment mérité de rester dans les tiroirs. J'étais simplement satisfait d'avoir pu faire un album, à une époque où c'était encore un privilège réservé aux grands de la chanson, mais je n'avais encore abouti aucune de mes réflexions. J'avais un truc en tête, mais je cherchais encore confusément la manière de le faire. La production discographique n'était pas vraiment prête à investir dans le particularisme et, partant de ce constat, je n'avais pas ma place. Pas encore, en tout cas." ("I voluntarily left this album out my integral, as I think it does not reflect me at all. Originally, it

1457-462: The better-known performers of the genre are Damia , Fréhel , and Édith Piaf . Later 19th-century composers of French art songs , known as mélodie and not chanson, included Ernest Chausson , Emmanuel Chabrier , Gabriel Fauré , and Claude Debussy , while many 20th-century and current French composers have continued this strong tradition. In the 20th century, French composers revived the genre. Claude Debussy composed Trois Chansons for choir

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1504-515: The ceremony at the Paris Zenith, including best male artist, best album for "Bleu Pétrole" (Barclay/Universal) and best live show. He spent his career singing a pop-chanson repertoire. With 12 trophies won since 1993, he was the most awarded artist in the history of the Victoires de la Musique . Bashung, who had cancer, had to postpone several dates of his last tour. While receiving his award, he said he hoped that record companies would "remain in

1551-473: The chief lyric poetic genre of the trouvères . It was an adaptation to Old French of the Occitan canso . It was practised in the 12th and 13th centuries. Thematically, as its name implies, it was a song of courtly love , written usually by a man to his noble lover. Some later chansons were polyphonic and some had refrains and were called chansons avec des refrains . In its typical specialized usage,

1598-466: The greatest albums. L'Imprudence (2002) and Bleu pétrole (2008), the last two studio albums released during his lifetime, also garnered acclaim. Bashung died at 61 after a two-year fight with lung cancer. Alain Baschung (he later dropped the "c" from his surname) was the son of a Breton mother working in a rubber factory and an Algerian father, whom he never knew. His mother remarried, and at

1645-446: The late 16th century, probably from the aforementioned Parisian works. During the 17th century, the air de cour , chanson pour boire and other like genres, generally accompanied by lute or keyboard, flourished, with contributions by such composers as Antoine Boesset , Denis Gaultier , Michel Lambert and Michel-Richard de Lalande . This still affects today's chanson as many French musicians still employ harp and keyboard. During

1692-419: The late artist, Avec Léo ! and wrote the preface to a book about that artist. In 2004, the double live album La Tournée des grands espaces was released. In 2005, he sang "Le Sud" on a tribute album to Nino Ferrer , On dirait Nino . In 2006, he recorded a Charles Trenet song, " Que reste-t-il de nos amours ? " as a duet with Françoise Hardy for her album (Parenthèses...) . In June 2006, in

1739-565: The latter's song "Il voyage en solitaire" as the final song on the album). He then began to tour for the album. The 10 June 2008, he sang several times at the Olympia although he was undergoing a chemotherapy for his lung cancer. Jean Fauque claimed that a new album was underway. On 1 January 2009, Bashung was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur . On 28 February 2009, he received three prestigious Victoires de la Musique awards for his final album Bleu pétrole . The 2009 award ceremony

1786-590: The music and cowrote three albums and three singles (including "Marilou") for French rock singer Dick Rivers . In 1973, he played Robespierre in the musical La Révolution française by Claude-Michel Schönberg . In 11 years, he released no less than four EPs and ten singles, one under the moniker of David Bergen, and two others in 1976 and 1977 as Hendrick Darmen, composer for a band called Monkey Bizness . All of them failed to have any impact. He then met sound engineer Andy Scott and lyricist Boris Bergman. Together, they realized his first album Roman-photos , with

1833-456: The opening of a ballet using a rerecording of L'Homme à tête de chou , a 1976 Serge Gainsbourg album, by Bashung as the soundtrack, occurred at the Maison de la Culture de Grenoble , with a choreography by Jean-Claude Gallotta who approached him in 2007 to adapt the work. On 27 November 2009, a box set called À perte de vue , which contained the entire output of Bashung so far (on 27 discs),

1880-558: The same album is featured "Madame rêve", another classic in a different, more atmospheric style, which would be a trademark of his future releases. In 1992, he covered the French pop classic song "Les Mots bleus", from the album by the same name by Christophe , for an AIDS research support compilation. In 1994, he released Chatterton , which he called a "new age country " album. For this album, he worked with artists such as Sonny Landreth , Ally McErlaine , Link Wray , Marc Ribot or Stéphane Belmondo . The single "Ma petite entreprise"

1927-415: The word chanson refers to a polyphonic French song of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Early chansons tended to be in one of the formes fixes — ballade , rondeau or virelai (formerly the chanson baladée )—though some composers later set popular poetry in a variety of forms. The earliest chansons were for two, three or four voices, with first three becoming the norm, expanding to four voices by

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1974-778: Was a new popular success. Following the album, he toured for two years and in 1995 released the double live album Confessions publiques . From 1994 onwards, Bashung began to spend more time for his acting career (which he started in 1981 with Nestor Burma, détective de choc ), for instance with Ma sœur chinoise by Alain Mazars . After recording a duet with Brigitte Fontaine , "City" for her Les Palaces album, he came back to music in 1998 with Fantaisie militaire . For this album, he notably collaborated with Jean Fauque , Rodolphe Burger , Les Valentins , Jean-Marc Lederman and Adrian Utley of Portishead . The arrangements and strings were done by Joseph Racaille . The first single from

2021-476: Was a popular musical genre in France, primarily from the 1880s until the end of World War II. Born of the cafés-concerts and cabarets of the Montmartre district of Paris and influenced by literary realism and the naturalist movements in literature and theatre, chanson réaliste was a musical style which was mainly performed by women and dealt with the lives of Paris's poor and working class. Among

2068-641: Was his last public appearance. He appeared frail, but still performed "Résidents de la République." He won the Best male artist of the year, Best album and Best tour awards. Bashung died in Paris on 14 March 2009 from lung cancer at the age of 61 at the Hôpital Saint-Joseph in Paris. After a religious ceremony at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés , he was buried on 20 March 2009 in the Père Lachaise Cemetery . On 12 November 2009,

2115-409: Was inspired according to Bashung by old black and white movies. That same year, he recorded the album Cantique des cantiques with his new wife, singer Chloé Mons , the song was written for their wedding in 2001 by Rodolphe Burger, from a new translation of Solomon 's Song of Songs by Olivier Cadiot . In 2003, he sang the French chanson classic "Avec le temps" by Léo Ferré for a tribute album to

2162-478: Was involved in basketball and cycling , and sang in the church choir in Wingersheim. He came back to Paris in 1959, where he discovered the great chanson artists, and then rock artists such as Gene Vincent , Buddy Holly (whom he admired deeply), and Elvis Presley . While studying (before dropping out after he was awarded a BTS in accountancy from the École nationale de commerce in 1965), he formed

2209-407: Was released. The box set features his twelve solo albums so far, his five live albums, his two duet albums with Chloé Mons, two albums of instrumentals and three albums of covers, duets and rarities. Alongside this box set a double live album documenting his last tour, called Dimanches à l'Élysée and recorded at the Élysée Montmartre on 14 December 2008, was released on 16 November. That same day,

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