Soldat Louis is a French group formed in Lorient in 1987 by Renaud Detressan dit ‘Gary Wicknam’ and Serge Danet dit ‘Soldat Louis’.
A group that released their first album "Première bordée" a year later in 1988, an album from which a title called…"Du rhum, des femmes" will be extracted as the first single. And for a first title, it's a real masterstroke. The title was a real hit that year in France (it will sell more than 750,000 copies) and literally explodes the notoriety of the group which is becoming one of the biggest phenomena of the moment.
New album "Black Pavilion" in 1990, album which will not really know the same level of success as its predecessor. So much so that the group disappeared from radar almost as quickly as he had appeared there.
All the albums that will be released later will unfortunately only meet with success limited to the Breton-Celtic sphere.
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
Du rhum, des femmes 1988
Emmène-la 1988
Martiniquaise 1989
T’es mon secret 1989
Pavillon noir 1990
The show must go on 1990
Jusque une jigue en Do 1990
Savannah 1992
Marylou 1993
Donnez nous des bars 1993
Femmes de légende 1993
C’est un pays 1995
Ménestrel 1999
Cheyenne 1999
Clips :
1988 ... a single title, THIS title, was enough to make the group's fortune and glory. For a first title, they sign here quite simply the biggest title of all their discography and one of the biggest successes of the year 1988 on the French side. HU-GE !
1988 ... unfortunately, the fall will be as fast as the meteoric rise achieved thanks to the previous title. The group will be unable to repeat the feat and the rest will be much more complicated to manage than expected ...
1989 ... their style is sympathetic and is based on a subtle mix of rock sounds morned with Celtic sounds. But this particularity is as much a strength as a weakness concerning them. It will have worked perfectly on the first title. Much less on the following ...
1989 ... in such an atypical musical niche, it is particularly hard to renew oneself. Not to mention a fairly small audience potential which is mainly limited to their geographical area ...
1990 ... whatever the case, the group believes in it and continues the adventure for whatever reason. A good will that commands respect, especially since they are far from being ridiculous. But the public has already gone elsewhere and it is therefore difficult in these conditions to hope for any improvement in terms of success ...
1990 ... their style is nice but they are light years away from the musical standards of the moment. A bias that can only isolate and marginalize them completely in the long term ...
1990 ... the world of music is ruthless and the group will quickly pay the price. Their shattering start had opened up enormous prospects for them. Perspectives that quickly closed ...
1992 ... it's a real shame because it wouldn't have taken much for the group to reverse the trend. An evolution of sound, a change of style could have saved the furniture. Changes that will never happen ...
1993 ... a friendly group with festive and cheerful music. Everything you need to set fire to the local parties but certainly not enough to fight on equal terms with the French heavyweights of the moment ...
1978 ... a year 1978 which saw them particularly in good shape. Nothing fancy, just a good job !
1993 ... a Celtic style which will experience its heyday the following decade. But the group will unfortunately have arrived a little too early in the French musical landscape ...
1995 ... they continue to believe in it again and again. There is much more than them to believe it precisely but who would be angry with them ...
1999 ... a nice ballad to end the decade. Unfortunately, almost 10 years after their debut, the group is reaching the end of its history and can no longer hope for miracles as to a return to the big leagues ...
1999 ... like all particularly 'typed' groups, the adventure was much more complicated than for the others. But they can always boast of having produced one of the biggest titles of the 1980s on the French side. And that, no one will be able to take away from them !
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