Ringo | |
---|---|
Birth name | Guy Bayle |
Born | 11 May 1947 |
Origin | Toulouse, Occitanie, France |
Genres | Pop music |
Occupation | Singer |
Years active | 1972–early 1980s |
Guy Bayle (born 11 May 1947) [1] [2] , known as Ringo and Ringo Willy Cat, is a French pop singer who became famous in the 1970s. [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] According to Billboard magazine he "enjoyed a huge amount of sales" with various hits. [8] Bayle was cited by Billboard as an example of a French artist having a big impact in exporting French songs to the international arena and creating international hits despite the language barrier which French artists face abroad. [8] He was married to Sheila, a female French singer. [3] [9] Bayle's career ended in the mid–'80s. [2] [10]
Ringo, during his high-school years in Toulouse, enjoyed reading Albert Camus as well as literary works by other authors. He also wrote and performed songs and played the guitar. As a composer he was influenced by the American music of the era. In the late '60s he met musician Pierre Groscolas and the two formed the group Chœurs. After some initial success in Toulouse, the group decided to go to Paris. [2]
Ringo was discovered in Paris by Mario Padovan, a photographer and publisher of teen-girl magazines Nous Deux and Télé Poche who suggested to the young artist that he appear in one of his magazines. It was during a photo shoot at Padovan's magazines that Ringo met his future wife, Sheila. Meeting her led to his being introduced to Claude Carrère, who became the manager of his musical career. [2]
Carrère, a pioneer, who at the time, was France's most successful independent producer, launched Ringo's career in 1971. His first big hit under Carrère's management was Elle, je ne veux qu’elle. [2] Carrère wanted to capture the teenage market before they were attracted by established stars. [11] Carrère augmented his distribution network by entering into a deal with Sonopresse in 1972. [12] Under the deal, he released his first two discs under the Sonopresse label, one of which was Trop Belle Pour Rester Seule by Ringo. At the time, he also sang Help, Get Me Some Help in French, selling over one million records in France. [12] He also sang a rendition of the international hit, "Mamy Blue", by Los Pop Tops. [13]
Both Ringo and Sheila were managed by Carrère. In a 1974 interview to Billboard, Carrère mentioned that the wedding of Sheila and Ringo was attended by 15,000 people at the city hall and "resembled a royal wedding". [14] In the 1970s, Ringo sold 30 million records with hits such as Elle, je ne veux qu'elle, Ma jalousie, Les Oiseaux de Thaïlande, Rosanna fille sauvage and Goodbye Elvis. In 1973, his single Ma jalousie was featured in Billboard's Hits of the World in Belgium's and Switzerland's top 10 at No. 7, while his LP Ringo was at No. 8 in Belgium. [15] [16] With his then-wife Sheila, he also recorded a duet, Les gondoles à Venise, which became a big hit. [3] In 1980, he discontinued his association with Carrère and produced Allô à l'OVNI, followed by L'ange exterminateur (L'Antéchrist) in 1982. [2] These were followed in 1983 by J'ai toujours besoin d'amour, with Une star s'endort ainsi on the flip–side, his last records. [2]
To this date, there has been no compilation of his hits in CD format. [2]
In 1985, he opened City Rock Café in Paris, which closed in 1993. [2] Soon after, he left France for Florida and then after some years he returned to Toulouse, [3] where in 2001 he opened an American-nostalgia themed restaurant named Jim Mc Mahon's world famous cafe with his current wife Annick who also functioned as the acting artistic director of the place at the time. [2] [3] Ringo planned to decorate the restaurant with iconic artifacts from the 1950s such as a likeness of Marilyn Monroe in the subway scene, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Curtiss-Wright X-19 experimental aircraft, which he wanted to import from the United States. The Toulouse restaurant was to be part of a national chain. [3] In early 2000 this restaurant closed as well. [2]
In 1975, he and Sheila had a son named Ludovic Chancel, who became a writer. [10] After the couple were divorced in 1977, [2] Ringo rarely, if ever, saw his son. [2] [10] In 1981, Ringo married Annick, his second wife. [2] In 2005, Chancel published an autobiography entitled Fils de in which, among other things, he relates the details of his upbringing and his relationship with his parents. [10] [17] In 1982, Ringo sold his biography to France Dimanche . [2] Ludovic died in 2017, leaving behind his daughter, Tara Rose (b. 2001)
Claude Nougaro was a French jazz singer and poet.
Annie Chancel, known as Sheila, is a French pop singer who became successful as a solo artist in the 1960s and 1970s, and was also part of the duo Sheila & Ringo with her husband singer Ringo. She also fronted a disco act called Sheila and B. Devotion. Her stage name came from the title of her first release, a French cover version of "Sheila", a hit by Tommy Roe.
Salvatore Adamo is a Belgian-Italian musician, singer and composer, who is known for his romantic ballads. Adamo was born in Comiso, Sicily, Italy, and has lived in Belgium since the age of three, which is why he has dual citizenship. Through his career, he sold more than 80 million albums and 20 million singles worldwide, making him the best-selling Belgian artist of all time, and one of the most commercially successful musicians in the world.
Hélène Carrère d'Encausse was a French political historian who specialised in Russian history. From 1999 until her death in 2023, she served as the Perpetual Secretary of the Académie Française, to which she was first elected in 1990.
Gilles Marchal, born Gilles Pastre, was a French songwriter and singer who reached the height of his career during the 1970s.
Robert Goldman is a French songwriter. He was born in Paris, the son of Alter Mojze Goldman and Ruth Ambrunn who were Jewish Resistance fighters during the Second World War. He is the younger brother of Jean-Jacques Goldman and half-brother of Pierre Goldman.
Jean-Jacques Pascal, known professionally as Pascal Danel, was a French pop singer and composer.
Carrere Records was a French record label which specialized in Euro disco and rock music. The record company was sold to Warner Music Group in the early 1990s.
Frédéric François, is a French-speaking singer-composer living in Belgium.
Marc Liénart van Lidth de Jeude, known professionally as Art Sullivan, was a Belgian singer. He was successful in many countries, including Belgium, France, Portugal and Germany. Art Sullivan sold ten million records between 1972 and 1978. Compilations of his hits are still released.
Les Chats Sauvages was a French rock and roll band, that was formed in 1961. Together with Les Chaussettes Noires, they were among the first outfits to perform rock and roll music in France.
Serge Monast was a Quebecois conspiracy theorist. He is mostly known for his promotion of the Project Blue Beam conspiracy theory, which posits an imaginary plot to facilitate a totalitarian world government by destroying Abrahamic religions and replacing them with a New Age belief system using futuristic NASA technology. The entirety of the theory was notably plagiarized, in whole or in part, from the plots of various Star Trek episodes.
Daniel Bevilacqua, better known by the stage name Christophe, was a French singer and songwriter. He was born in the Paris suburb of Juvisy-sur-Orge, to an Italian father.
Anne Renée is a Canadian pop singer who rose to fame in Quebec in the 1970s.
"Adiós Amor" is a 1967 hit French-language song by French singer Sheila. It was one of the series of four hit singles in 1967 which made her best-selling artist of the year. Lyrics were by Jacques Plante, music by Claude Carrère and the recording was produced by American Sam Clayton. The song begins "Je ressens de l'amour pour toi."
Aut'Chose is a Canadian garage rock group from Montreal, Quebec, first active in the 1970s.
Lionel Leroy, the stage name of Yves Martin was a French singer.
Jacques Robert Penel Skorsky, known as Nicolas Skorsky was a French composer, lyricist, and music producer.