 |
Alain Souchon | |
|---|---|
 Alain Souchon in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Alain Édouard Kienast 27 May 1944 Casablanca, Morocco |
| Origin | Paris, France |
| Genres | Alternative rock French pop Pop rock New wave Synthpop Experimental Chanson Techno |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Labels | RCA (1973–1984), Virgin (1985–present) |
| Website | alainsouchon.net |
Alain Souchon (French pronunciation: [alɛ̃ suʃɔ̃]; born Alain Édouard Kienast [alɛ̃ edwaʁ kinas(t)]; 27 May 1944) is a French singer-songwriter and actor. He has released 15 albums and has played roles in seven films.
Profile
[edit]Alain Souchon was born in Casablanca, Morocco. His mother’s family was of Swiss origin, and he holds dual French-Swiss nationality. When he was six months old, the family relocated to France. At age 15, Souchon's father died in an accident. Subsequently, his mother sent him to a French high school in England, but due to enrollment issues, he remained in London, where he worked for a time. Upon returning to France, he developed an interest in music, learning to play the guitar under the influence of British and American artists.
In 1970, Souchon married and had his first son. During this period, he began performing in cabarets and bars on the Rive Gauche in Paris.[citation needed]
Souchon in 1978
In 1971, he signed his first recording contract with the Pathe-Marconi label, though it did not lead to commercial success. His career gained momentum when Bob Socquet, artistic director at RCA, encouraged him to perform the song "L'amour 1830" at the Rose d'Or festival in Antibes. Around this time, Souchon began collaborating with composer and arranger Laurent Voulzy. Although they wrote songs together, each pursued a solo recording career.
Souchon achieved his first major success with the 1974 single "J'ai 10 ans", the title track of his debut album.[citation needed] He continued to release albums throughout the 1970s, and in 1978 he composed the theme song for François Truffaut's film L'amour en fuite (Love on the Run). That same year, his second son was born.
In 1980, Souchon was invited to perform at l'Olympia, a prestigious Parisian concert venue. He also launched his acting career, earning critical acclaim for his role in the 1983 film L'été meurtrier. Following the release of his album On avance, Souchon left RCA and, at age 40, signed with Virgin Records. In 1989, his song "La beauté de Ava Gardner" was named Best Song of the Year by the Victoires de la Musique.[citation needed]
In 1993, Souchon released what would become one of his most iconic songs, "Foule sentimentale", featured on the million-selling album C'est déjà ça. At the 1995 Victoires de la Musique awards, the song won the award for Best Original Song. The following year, he received the Prix Vincent Scotto from SACEM (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique) for the song "Sous les jupes des filles".
Souchon returned in 2005 with the commercially successful album La vie Théodore, which included the hit single "...Et si en plus y'a personne".
Discography
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]| Year | Album | Record label | FRA [1][2] |
BEL (Fl) [3] |
BEL (Wa) [4] |
SWI [5] |
Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | J'ai dix ans | RCA | – | – | – | – | |
| 1976 | Bidon | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1977 | Jamais content | 1 | – | – | – | France: Gold (100,000) | |
| 1978 | Toto 30 ans, rien que du malheur... | 1 | – | – | – | France: Gold (100,000) | |
| 1980 | Rame | 5 | – | – | – | France: Gold (100,000) | |
| 1983 | On avance | 16 | – | – | – | France: Gold (100,000) | |
| 1985 | C'est comme vous voulez | Virgin | 108A | – | – | – | |
| 1988 | Ultra moderne solitude | 6 | – | – | – | France: Gold (100,000) | |
| 1993 | C'est déjà ça | 1 | – | 7 | – | France: Diamond (1,000,000+) | |
| 1997 | Sol en si (with Francis Cabrel, Michel Jonasz, Catherine Lara, Maxime le Forestier, Maurane, Zazie) |
3 | – | – | – | ||
| 1999 | Au ras des pâquerettes | 1 | – | 5 | 74 | France: Diamond (1,206,000) | |
| 2005 | La Vie Théodore | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | France: 2xPlatinum (462,100) | |
| 2008 | Écoutez d'où ma peine vient | 1 | – | 2 | 27 | France: Platinum (200,000) | |
| 2011 | À cause d'elles | 8 | – | 11 | 90 | France: Platinum (200,000) | |
| 2014 | Alain Souchon & Laurent Voulzy (jointly with Laurent Voulzy) |
Parlophone | 1 | 117 | 1 | 8 | |
| 2019 | Âme fifties | Parlophone | 2 [6] |
152 | 2 | 6 |
Live albums
[edit]| Year | Album | Record label | FRA | BEL (Wa) [4] |
SWI | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Olympia 83 | RCA
|
– | – | – | |
| 1990 | Nickel | Virgin | 49A | – | – | France: Gold (100,000) |
| 1995 | Défoule sentimentale – Live (2 CDs) | – | 9 | – | France: 2xGold (200,000) | |
| 2002 | J'veux du live | 29 | 26 | – | France: Gold (100,000) | |
| 2010 | Alain Souchon est chanteur | 13 | 15 | – | ||
| 2016 | Le concert (jointly with Laurent Voulzy) |
Columbia
|
15 [7] |
– | – | |
| 2022 | Ici & là - En concert au dôme de Paris | Parlophone
|
– | 58 | – |
- A Re-release
Compilations
[edit]| Year | Album | Record label | FRA | BEL | SWI | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | L'Intégral (5 CDs) | RCA
|
– | – | – | |
| 1997 | 20 Chansons (Also known as 20 Sur 20) | BMG
|
– | – | – | France: Platinum (300,000) |
| 2001 | Collection (1974–1984) | RCA
|
– | 30 | 10 | France: Platinum (300,000) |
| Collection (1985–2001) | Virgin | – | – | – | France: Platinum (300,000) | |
| 2002 | Par les Sentiments (2 CDs) | – | – | – | ||
| 2004 | Platinum Collection | – | 13 | – | ||
| 2007 | 100 Chansons (5 CDs) | EMI France
|
– | – | – |
Singles
[edit]| Year | Single | FRA | BEL [4] |
Certification | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | "La Ballade de Jim" | 24 | - | C'est comme vous voulez | |
| 1989 | "Quand je serai k.o. | 29 | - | Ultra moderne solitude | |
| 1993 | "Foule sentimentale" | 1 | - | FR (SNEP): Silver (125,000) |
C'est déjà ça |
| 1994 | "L'amour à la machine" | 21 | - | ||
| 2000 | "Tailler la zone" | 71 | - | Au ras des pâquerettes | |
| 2001 | "Le baiser / Caterpillar" | 80 | - | ||
| 2002 | "La vie ne vaut rien" | 46 | - | J'veux du live | |
| 2005 | "Et si en plus y'a personne" | 19 | 12 | La vie Théodore | |
| 2006 | "La vie Théodore" | 68 | - | ||
| 2008 | "Écoutez d'où ma peine vient" | - | 7 | Ecoutez d'où ma peine vient | |
| 2009 | "Parachute doré" | - | 39 | ||
| 2011 | "Les filles à quoi ça sert" (Bénabar / Cabrel / Goldman / Souchon) |
- | 3* (Ultratip) |
||
| "Le jour et la nuit" | - | 2* (Ultratip) |
|||
| 2014 | "Derrière les mots" (with Laurent Voulzy) |
35 | 22 | ||
| "La baie des fourmis" (with Laurent Voulzy) |
197 | – | |||
| 2019 | "Presque" | - | 39 | Âme fifties |
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts
Awards
[edit]- 1986: Music Video of the Year (La Ballade de Jim), directed by Philippe Bensoussan
- 1986: Song of the Year (Belle-Île-en-Mer)
- 1990: Song of the Year (Quand j'serai KO)
- 1991: Album of the Year (Nickel)
- 1994: Male Artist of the Year
- 1994: Song of the Year (Foule sentimentale)
- 1996: Album of the Year (Défoule sentimentale)
- 2006 : Best Male Singer
References
[edit]- ^ lescharts.com – Les charts français Archived 6 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ InfoDisc
- ^ Discografie Alain Souchon
- ^ a b c Discographie Alain Souchon
- ^ Discographie Alain Souchon – hitparade.ch
- ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 43, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 29 October 2019.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 51, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
External links
[edit]
- (in French) Official site
- Biography of Alain Souchon, from Radio France Internationale
- Alain Souchon at IMDb
