Space Art (band)

Last updated

Space Art
Also known asDominique Perrier Project (2012)
OriginFrance
Genres
Years active1977–1981, 2012–present
Labels
  • IF Records
  • Carrère
  • Waves Records
  • Spalax
  • C.Zen Prod
  • Deserted Island Music
MembersDominique Perrier
Tommy Rizzitelli
Past membersRoger Rizzitelli
Janet Woollacott
Michel Valy
Lilli Lacombe
Alain Pype
Laurent Faucheux
Patrick Rondat

Space Art is a French electronic music duo that originally consisted of Dominique "Terracota" Perrier on keyboards and Roger "Bunny" Rizzitelli on drums. Formed in 1977, Space Art split up in 1981, after releasing three studio albums. Rizzitelli died in 2010, and two years later, Perrier released a tribute album with a number of musicians including his late wife, Janet Woollacott, under the name Dominique Perrier Project. In 2016, Perrier recruited Rizzitelli's son Tommy to play drums, and they have since released two studio albums, once more under the name Space Art.

Contents

History

Formation: 1977

In 1974, Dominique "Terracota" Perrier had been working as an arranger with Christophe, for whom Roger "Bunny" Rizzitelli had been drumming. Christophe brought an ARP Odyssey synthesizer, which was used mainly as a metronome, into the studio. He then lent the synthesizer to Perrier for two years, during which time the band was born. [1] [2]

According to Perrier, he originally preferred to name the band Moon, but after a trip to a fun fair, Rizzitelli suggested an alternative. One of the fair attractions had been named after Spessart, the German mountain range. This then morphed into Space Art, which sounded better to them both. [1]

Career peak: 1977–1980

The duo released three albums between 1977 and 1980, [3] selling three million units worldwide and achieving number-one status in France. [4] Space Art (1977), Trip in the Center Head (1979), and Play Back (1980) were all recorded at Studios Ferber  [ fr ] in Paris. [1] In 1981, they supported Jean-Michel Jarre during his Concerts in China tour, thereby becoming among the first Western musicians to perform in that country during its reform era.

Space Art dissolved in 1981, and Perrier went on to co-found the pop rock group Stone Age in 1992. [5]

Death of Rizzitelli and aftermath: 2010–present

Following the death of Rizzitelli in 2010, Perrier invited a number of musicians to record a tribute album, which was released in 2012 under the Dominique Perrier Project moniker. [6] It included input from Perrier's wife, Janet Woollacott, on vocals; Lilli Lacombe on violin and vocals; Michel Valy (Stone Age) on bass; Laurent Faucheux on drums; Alain Pype on drum programming; and Patrick Rondat on guitar. [6]

Perrier kept the project going, reclaiming the name Space Art, and released a compilation album in 2016, titled On Ne Dira Rien – Best of All Times. A few years later, he recruited Rizzitelli's son Tommy to play drums on the project's new album, Entrevues, which came out in 2020. [4] In 2023, the duo published the album Personal Duty. [7] [8]

Band members

Current lineup

  • Dominique "Terracota" Perrier – keyboards
  • Tommy Rizzitelli – drums

Original lineup

  • Dominique "Terracota" Perrier – keyboards
  • Roger "Bunny" Rizzitelli – drums, percussion

Other members

  • Janet Woollacott – vocals (died 2011)
  • Lilli Lacombe – violin, vocals
  • Michel Valy – bass
  • Laurent Faucheux – drums
  • Alain Pype – drum programming
  • Patrick Rondat – guitar

Discography

1977–1980 [9]

  • Space Art (1977)
  • Trip in the Center Head (1979)
  • Play Back (1980)

2012–present

  • Space Art Tribute – credited as Dominique Perrier Project (2012)
  • On Ne Dira Rien – Best of All Times (compilation, 2016)
  • Entrevues (2020) [10]
  • Personal Duty (2023)

Related Research Articles

Synth-pop is a genre of new wave and pop music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s to the mid-1980s.

Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, and funk. Records in the genre typically feature drum machines and heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals, although if vocals are present they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. This is the main distinction between electro and previously prominent genres such as disco, in which the electronic sound was only part of the instrumentation. It also palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Marley and the Wailers</span> Jamaican reggae band

Bob Marley and the Wailers were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer.

Ollie Olsen is an Australian multi-instrumentalist, composer and sound designer. He has performed, recorded and produced rock, electronic and experimental music since the mid-1970s. His post punk groups included Whirlywirld (1978–80), Orchestra of Skin and Bone (1984–86) and No (1987–89). Olsen joined with Michael Hutchence to form a short-term band, Max Q, which issued an album in 1989. He co-founded the alternative electronic music record label Psy-Harmonics with Andrew Till in 1993. In 2014 he formed Taipan Tiger Girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Perry</span> British singer and multi-instrumentalist (born 1959)

Brendan Michael Perry is a British singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as half of the duo Dead Can Dance with Lisa Gerrard.

<i>Chronologie</i> 1993 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Chronologie is the eleventh studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, and was released on Disques Dreyfus with license to Polydor in 1993. Chronologie peaked at Number 11 in the UK charts and the album cover art was created by long-time collaborator Michel Granger.

<i>Les Concerts en Chine</i> 1982 live album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Les Concerts en Chine is a live album by Jean-Michel Jarre, recorded in 1981 and released in 1982 on Disques Dreyfus. It was recorded during Jarre's Concerts in China tour of Autumn 1981, which consisted of five Beijing and Shanghai concerts in China; this was the first time a Western pop artist performed in China after the Cultural Revolution.

<i>Triumph</i> (The Jacksons album) 1980 studio album by The Jacksons

Triumph is the fourteenth studio album by the Jacksons, released in October 1980 by Epic Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassius (band)</span> French musical duo (1988–2019)

Cassius was a French musical duo active from 1988 to 2019 and consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard, better known as Zdar and Boombass. Under its different incarnations the duo is likened to the "French touch" movement of electronic music in the second half of the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Allen (musician)</span> Nigerian musician (1940–2020)

Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Rondat</span> French guitarist (born 1960)

Patrick Rondat is a French guitarist. He plays instrumental heavy metal associated with diverse influences such as new-age music, progressive metal, classical music and jazz. He has collaborated on various projects with Jean Michel Jarre and has taken part in some of his shows.

<i>Izitso</i> 1977 studio album by Cat Stevens

Izitso is the tenth studio album released by the British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens in April 1977. After the lacklustre Numbers, the album proved to be his comeback. The album updated the rhythmic folk rock and pop rock style of his earlier albums with the extensive use of synthesizers and other electronic music instruments, giving the album a more electronic rock and synthpop style, and anticipating elements of electro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nguyên Lê</span> French jazz musician and composer

Nguyên Lê is a French jazz musician and composer of Vietnamese ancestry. His main instrument is guitar, and he also plays bass guitar and guitar synthesizer.

<i>Rhythm of the Night</i> (album) 1985 studio album by DeBarge

Rhythm of the Night is the fourth studio album by DeBarge, released by Gordy Records on March 14, 1985. It reached #19 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the R&B Album Chart. The album was also certified Gold by the RIAA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominique Dalcan</span> Musical artist

Dominique Dalcan is a French electronic musician and film composer. He is the winner of the "victoires de la musique" in 2018 in the category "electronic album".

<i>Words</i> (F. R. David album) 1982 studio album by F. R. David

Words is the debut studio album by French singer F. R. David. Its title track, "Words", was a commercial success in Europe, reaching number one in ten countries across the continent, as well as peaking at No. 2 in the United Kingdom, France and Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bunny Rugs</span> Musical artist

William Alexander Anthony "Bunny Rugs" Clarke, OD, also known as Bunny Scott, was the lead singer of Jamaican reggae band Third World as well as a solo artist. He began his career in the mid-1960s and was also at one time a member of Inner Circle and half of the duo Bunny & Ricky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Woollacott</span> French singer and dancer (1939–2011)

Janet Edith Woollacott was a British-born French singer and dancer. She began dancing in the early 1960s, working on the Côte d'Azur, and launched her singing career in 1969. She released a few solo singles and later sang with the group Stone Age, alongside her fourth husband, Dominique Perrier. She was previously married to Claude François, Jean-Paul Barkoff, and Jean Sarrus. She also had a relationship of several years with Gilbert Bécaud, with whom she had one daughter, her only child. Woollacott died after a long illness on 13 November 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bunny Wailer</span> Jamaican musician (1947–2021)

Neville O'Riley Livingston, known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O'Riley, and Bunny Livingston.

Stone Age is a French pop rock band that combines Celtic, primarily Breton, themes with contemporary electronic arrangements, with the addition of world and new age elements. Originally from Paris, the group is composed of Michel Valy, Marc Hazon, Jérôme Guéguen, and Dominique Perrier. Stone Age has released five studio albums to date: Stone Age (1994), Les Chronovoyageurs (1997), Promessa (2000), Totems d'Armorique (2007), and Bubry Road (2022).

References

  1. 1 2 3 Richard, Philippe (29 November 2016). "Musique. Space Art, pionniers de l'electro à la française" [Music. Space Art, pioneers of French electro]. Ouest France (in French). Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  2. "Space Art". C Zen Prod. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  3. Fitzgerald, Colin (15 November 2016). "Classic albums from French proto-electro duo Space Art get reissues alongside new remix EP". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 "A new album from SPACE ART, the legendary French group with 3 millions of albums sold". 24 Presse. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  5. "[Musique Bretonne] Les vibrations lithiques de STONE AGE" [[Breton Music] The lithic vibrations of STONE AGE]. argedour.bzh (in French). 6 January 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 Schelle, Stephan (September 2012). "Dominique Perrier Project – Space Art Tribute". MusikZirkus-Magazin.de (in German). Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  7. "Space Art – Personal Duty". desertedislandmusic.nl. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  8. "Personal Duty". bandcamp.com. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  9. "Discographie Space Art" [Space Art Discography]. Lescharts.com (in French). Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  10. "News". Deserted Island Music. Retrieved 28 April 2021.