La Tordue

Last updated

La Tordue (French for "The Twisted") was a popular musical group from Paris, France that existed from 1989 to 2003.

Contents

History

Formation and early performances

French writer and artist Benoît Morel was working as a designer at publishing house Éditions Gallimard in Paris's Belleville quarter when he met Pierre Payan, a multi-instrumentalist who was in need of lyrics. Morel had already written lyrics for neo-realist group Les Têtes Raides, and discovered that he and Payan shared an interest in 'literary’ music such as the work of Georges Brassens, Léo Ferré's song interpretations of the poetry of Louis Aragon, Les Frères Jacques' performances of the poems of Jacques Prévert, and anarchist singer-songwriter Gaston Couté. The two were soon joined by Eric "Fil" Philippon, and began playing out in October 1990 with the release of a self-financed 10" vinyl EP and as openers for Les Têtes Raides. By 1992 La Tordue were headlining gigs that featured a rotation of many instruments, including concertina, guitar, piano, double bass, musical saw and saucepans.

This versatility of instrumentation allowed the band to play a variety of venues from informal gigs on the street to large festivals, and soon La Tordue found themselves headed on a 400-date tour. In 1993, they opened the Transmusicales rock festival in Morel's hometown of Rennes. The following year they were selected by FAIR (Fonds d'Aide à l'Initiative Rock) and went on to win the Tremplin du Chorus des Halles competition, following this up with the Grand Prix du Sentier des Halles and the Prix du Coup de Cœur Francophone. In June 1994 they performed at the Music Festival of Romania, a month later they were guests at the Francofolies festival in La Rochelle. [1]

Recording and later years

For five years La Tordue played without releasing an album. Their 1995 debut release, Les Choses de Rien sold 3,000 copies in less than three months without any publicity.

Their second album, 1997's T'es Fou, was awarded the prestigious Académie Charles Cros Grand Prix du Disque. A long tour followed, including a two weeks in Eastern Europe and a three-week stint at L'Européen in Paris.

La Tordue's third album, 2000's Le Vent t'Invite ("The Wind Invites You") broke through with French music fans, establishing the group as one of the most interesting acts on the French Nouvelle Chanson scene. In their first decade as a band, La Tordue had played over 1,000 concerts and sold some 150,000 albums. For the band's tenth anniversary, they released the live album En Vie and embarked on a 40-stop mini-tour with the addition of a fourth member, percussionist Mathieu Morel.

In late 2002, Sony Music released La Tordue's major label debut, Champ Libre ("Open Field"). More slickly produced, the album mixed reggae and ska with La Tordue's more traditionally French chanson style. The album's final track, Le Pétrin, is a protest against France's "double punishment" law that deports immigrants from France after they have served a prison sentence. The track was sung in a dozen foreign languages by numerous artists such as Robert Wyatt, Lo’Jo Triban, Magyd Cherfi of Zebda, Sergent Garcia, Samy Birnbach, Dezoriental, Danyel Waro, and the Tuvan throat singing of Yat Kha. Their track "René Bouteille" was also included in the 2002 compilation 'Cuisine Non-stop' on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label.

La Tordue disbanded in 2003. Benoît Morel continued his work as an illustrator and went on to record a solo album, Félin pour l’Autre, released in 2007. [2]

Personnel

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

Related Research Articles

Mylène Farmer Canadian-born French recording artist;

Mylène Jeanne Gautier, known professionally as Mylène Farmer, is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is among the most successful recording artists of all time in that country. She holds the record for the most number one hit singles in the French charts, with twenty-one to date – eight of which were consecutive.

Debout sur le Zinc

Debout Sur Le Zinc is a French music band.

Alain Bashung French singer

Alain Bashung was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded in his home country 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 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.

Jorane Musical artist

Jorane Pelletier, known professionally as Jorane, is a French-Canadian singer/cellist, who performs pop and alternative music style on the cello, a typically classical instrument, while singing at the same time. She has released eight full-length studio albums to date.

<i>Dion chante Plamondon</i> 1991 studio album by Celine Dion

Dion chante Plamondon is the tenth studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion. It was originally released on 4 November 1991 by Columbia Records and features French-language songs with words written by French-Canadian lyricist, Luc Plamondon. In Francophone countries in Europe, the album was renamed Des mots qui sonnent, meaning Words That Resonate. It includes French hit song, "Un garçon pas comme les autres (Ziggy)". Dion chante Plamondon won the Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year and Félix Award for Best Selling Album of the Year. It topped the chart in Quebec and reached number four in France.

Benoît Poher French singer

Benoît "Ben" Poher is a French singer, songwriter. He is the lead singer of French rock band Kyo and was the lead singer in the supergroup Empyr.

Zachary Richard American musician and poet

Ralph Zachary Richard is an American singer-songwriter and poet. His music is a combination of Cajun and Zydeco musical styles.

Véronique Sanson Musical artist

Véronique Marie Line Sanson is a three-time Victoires de la Musique award-winning Frenc] singer-songwriter and record producer with an avid following in her native country.

Gérard Lenorman French singer-songwriter (born 1945)

Gérard Lenorman is a French singer-songwriter.

Jacno was a French musician.

<i>Lautre...</i> 1991 studio album by Mylène Farmer

L'autre... is the third studio album by Mylène Farmer, released on 9 April 1991. It contains the singer's biggest hit, "Désenchantée", which was number-one in France for nine weeks, and other three top ten hits. The album was generally well received by the critics and was a great success in terms of chart and sales, becoming the best-selling album throughout the singer's career and the twenty second best-selling album of all time in France.

Imposs Haitian rapper

Stanley Rimsky Salgado, known by his stage name Imposs, is a Haitian-Canadian rapper based in Quebec. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of Muzion, one of the well-known hip hop bands of Quebec. He has collaborated on many occasions with Wyclef Jean during Muzion days and as a solo artist. He is also well known for dubbing the phrase "Real City" for Montreal. He is signed to Sony

Colette Renard

Colette Renard born Colette Lucie Raget, was a French actress and singer. Renard is closely associated with the titular character from the musical Irma La Douce, a role she played for over a decade.

Michel Delpech French singer and actor

Jean-Michel Delpech, known as Michel Delpech, was a French singer-songwriter and actor.

Christine Charbonneau Musical artist

Christine Charbonneau was a French Canadian singer and songwriter.

Luc de Larochellière Canadian singer from Quebec

Luc De Larochellière is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Quebec.

Eddy de Pretto French singer-songwriter and actor

Eddy de Pretto is a French singer-songwriter and actor.

Christophe Chabouté

Christophe Chabouté, is a French comics artist.

Renée Claude was a Canadian actress and singer who was known as an interpretive singer, particularly of songs by Stéphane Venne, Michel Conte, Georges Brassens and Léo Ferré.

References

  1. "La Tordue". RFI Music. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  2. Herbert, Francis. "Benoit Morel: Félin pour l'autre". Voir. Retrieved 20 July 2013.