Indochine (band)

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Indochine is a French new wave/rock band, formed in 1981. The band was very successful in France in the 1980s, but also in other parts of continental Europe, with songs like L'Aventurier and Canary Bay. After a largely unproductive period in the 1990s, the group returned in 2002 with the successful Paradize album.

Indochine
Background information
Origin	Paris, France
Genre(s)	New Wave Rock
Years active	1981–present
Website	Official site (French)
Members
Nicola Sirkis Marc Eliard Boris Jardel Olivier Gérard François Soulier (Mr Shoes) François Matuszenski (Matu)

1 History
2 Band members
3 Discography
4 Biography
5 External links
- 5.1 Links in English
- 5.2 Links in French
6 References

[edit] History

[edit] 1980s

Indochine (French for "Indochina") was formed in May 1981 by two Frenchmen in their early twenties, Nicola Sirkis and Dominique Nicolas, in Paris. They soon took on Dimitri Bodianski, the cousin of one of Nicola’s friends.

They gave their first concert at "Le Rose Bonbon", a café in Paris on the 29th of September 1981. This brief performance on stage earned them their first contract with a record company.

They recorded their first single in November 1981. It included two songs, Dizzidence Politik and Françoise, but drew more attention from critics than from the mainstream media and only reached a limited audience.

Stéphane Sirkis, Nicola’s twin brother who had already performed with the band on stage, officially joined the band, and in April 1982 the group recorded their first album, L'aventurier, which sold more than 250,000 copies. The album was well received by the press and by an emerging new wave audience.

In 1983, Indochine released a second album entitled Le Péril Jaune ("Yellow Peril") which sold 225,000 copies. Indochine had by this stage become a major act in French music. In 1984, the band toured over France. They were also successful in Scandinavia, and most notably in Sweden.

By 1985, they had achieved a large following, reflected by the success of such songs as 3e sexe ("third sex"), Canary Bay, and 3 Nuits Par Semaine. Their third album, 3, sold 750,000 copies in Europe. Serge Gainsbourg directed the video to Tes Yeux Noirs, one of the group's most successful songs.

In 1986, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the band, Indochine decided to release the recording of the concert given at the Zénith in Paris.

Their fourth album, 7,000 Danses was released in 1987. It sold about 320,000 copies making it a successful album though far less so than its predecessor, 3. This is partly due to the band's efforts to produce a less mainstream, commercial album. 7,000 Danses was also released amidst a polemic stemming from rock critics claiming that Indochine were a mere copy of British band The Cure. In spite of the polemic, the public continued to support the group.

In March 1988, Indochine began their world tour.

[edit] 1990s

Drained after many months touring, the band took a break. Their fifth studio album, Le Baiser was released in early 1990. Fans were shocked to discover that Dimitri Bodianski was no longer part of the group, having decided to leave the band in January 1989. His departure can be attributed to a number of reasons. First of all, Indochine’s sound had evolved over the years and Dimitri found he had less and less to do as a saxophonist. He was also feeling pressure at home having recently become a father. All this contributed to tension between him and the rest of the band. Dimitri remains a much loved member of the original Indochine line-up and has since his departure guest starred with the band on stage, much to the delight of fans.

1991 marked Indochine’s tenth anniversary. To celebrate the occasion, Le Birthday Album was released. It was a best of compilation, including one new track, La Guerre Est Finie ("The War Is Over"), which was released as a single. The album’s success was considerable (it sold 600,000 copies across Europe) and rekindled interest in the group. However, the single’s title proved unfortunate in light of the fact that the Gulf War had just started at the time. Due to this many radio stations opted not to play the track.

Un Jour Dans Notre Vie, their 6th studio album was released in 1993. It was unsuccessful both commercially and critically.

In 1999, Stéphane Sirkis, guitarist, keyboardist and Nicola's twin brother, died at the age of thirty-nine of hepatitis. He requested that the band continue after his death^[1].

[edit] 2000s

In 2002 they enjoyed renewed success with the Paradize album which sold 1,000,000 copies, including the chart topper "J'ai Demandé à La Lune".

In December 2005, Indochine returned with Alice Et June, featuring a collaboration with Placebo frontman Brian Molko.

[edit] Band members

Current Members

Nicola Sirkis (vocals, guitar, synthesizer and harmonica, from 1981 to present)
Marc Eliard (bass since 1992)
Boris Jardel (guitar since 1998)
Mr Shoes (François Soulier) (drums since 2002)
François Matuszenski (Matu) (keyboards on stage since 2006)
Oli de Sat (Olivier Gérard) (on stage: keyboards and guitar since 2002)

Past Members

Stéphane Sirkis (guitar and keyboards from 1982 to 1999 → death)
Dominique Nicolas (guitar from 1981 until 1994)
Dimitri Bodianski (saxophone from 1981 until 1988)
Arnaud Devos (drums from 1985 until 1986)
Diego Burgar (bass on stage in 1988)
Jean-My Truong (drums from 1988 until 1994)
Philippe Eidel (accordion in 1992)
Jean Pierre Pilot (keyboards from 1994 until 2001)
Alexandre Azaria (guitar from 1995 until 1997)
Monsieur Tox (guitar from 1996 until 1997)
Monsieur Yann (drums from 1996 until 1998)
Matthieu Rabaté (drums from 1999 until 2002)
Monsieur Frédéric (Frédéric Helbert) (keyboards from 2002 until 2004)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio Albums

1982 - L'Aventurier
1983 - Le Péril Jaune
1985 - 3
1987 - 7000 Danses
1990 - Le Baiser
1993 - Un Jour Dans Notre Vie
1996 - Wax
1999 - Dancetaria
2002 - Paradize
2005 - Alice et June

[edit] Live Albums

1986 - Indochine Au Zénith
1994 - Radio Indochine
1997 - INDO LIVE
2001 - Nuits Intimes
2004 - 3.6.3
2007 - Indochine - Hanoï

[edit] Compilations

1991 - Le Birthday Album
1996 - Unita
1996 - Les Versions Longues

[edit] Biography

Indochine (1986) by Jean-Eric Perrin
Le Septennat (1988) by Marc Thirion
Indochine de A à Z (2003) by Sébastien Bataille
L'Aventure Indochine (2004) by Christian English and Frédéric Thibaud
Insolence Rock (2004) by Sébastien Michaud

[edit] External links

[edit] Links in English

[edit] Links in French

[edit] References

^ Biographie de Stéphane. [1] (November 26th, 2006).

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Categories: 1980s music groups | 1990s music groups | 2000s music groups | French musical groups | Rock music groups