Abaguedeflish Abaguedeflash...

Nostra Dam
Aug 2, 2020
7 min read

Updated: Dec 20, 2023

Richard Gotainer is a French singer who started his artistic career as a teenager by writing sketches with a certain…. Jacky (who would become famous thanks to the Club Dorothée).

He subsequently took Law lessons to please the family, but it was towards publicity that he was going, which would offer him a playground particularly suited to his vivid imagination.

He will thus compose now cult advertising spots such as “Buvez, éliminez” for Vittel, “Y'a des fruits, y'a de l'eau” for Banga, “Tu baguenaudes dans les paturages…” for Belle des Champs, “On se lève tous pour Danette…” for Danette or others “Abaguedeflish Abaguedeflash…” for Malabar !

It was while recording the commercial for Banga that he met musician Claude Engel, a providential meeting that would change everything. It is with him that he will achieve his highest standards.

A first album "Forgeur de tempo" was released in 1977 followed by "Contes de traviole" in 1979, albums with relative success.

It was in 1980 that everything accelerated when the Single "Primitif" was released, a Single that finally made him known to the general public. But it was above all a year later, in 1981, that his notoriety exploded when the Single "Le sampa" was released, a Single which gave him his first hit and immediately marked this very particular sound identity which characterized Gotainer.

The consecration came in 1982 with the release of the album "Chants zazous", an album from which will be extracted the enormous "Mambo du decalco", the flagship Single of the singer's career and which will shatter everything in its path. The singer then reached the height of popularity.

He did it again two years later in 1984 with the Single "Le youki", a Single which had the luxury of attacking the sacrosanct cliché of "doggies to their grandmother" and which brought him new notorious success.

A new album "Vive la Gaule" was released in 1987 but the mayonnaise no longer took hold and the album was a half-failure. Putting a stop to the meteoric rise of this kind, quirky, and undeniable talent.

Barré-shifted which will have profoundly marked the 80s by its colorful eccentricism and oh so revealing of those Roaring Twenties.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

70s Decade :

Je rêve que je vais 1976
Le taquin et la grognon 1977
Polochon blues 1977
Banga quick 1978
Tout foufou 1979

80s Decade :

Primitif 1980
Le sampa 1981
Poil au tableau 1981
Chipie 1981
Le mambo du décalco 1982
Youpi c’est l’été 1983
Elle est partie avec Robert 1983
Trois vieux papis 1983
Le youki 1984
Cafeine 1986
La gaudriole 1987
Les baffes 1988
Falbala 1988
Femmes à lunettes 1988
Ô vous 1989

90s Decade :

Marylin ou Marylou 1990
13 envies 2 toi 1992
En vous mouvant 1992
La java rock 1994
Good bye marmitte 1994
Des oiseaux Rock'n'Roll 1996
Babou dit dadibou 1997
Une petite perle 1997
Le pays où j'ai pied 1997
La planète des animaux 1998

2000s Decade :

Je donne mon corps à la danse 2004
Les mots font du chahut 2004
Bagatelle time 2008
La faute aux filles 2008
Le bandit de vos nuits 2008

2010s Decade :

Ma méthode Champenoise 2010
Saperlipopette 2018
J'veux pas aller au paradis 2018
Les moutons 2018

Tracks :

1976...at the origin of the beginning. Who would imagine at this stage that this young totally unknown 28-year-old singer will become one of the references on the French music scene in the years to come...

1977 ... the first official steps. Everything is already there : the style, the sound, that slight touch of madness that will make all its difference ...

1977...from the first titles we know that we are dealing with a singer who will not look like any other. Unique model as they say...

1978 ... a first genius idea that will produce one of the most famous pubs of the 1970s. And launch a career that will be one of the most original of the 1980s ...

1979 ... the singer confirms all the good we could think of him. His unique style is just waiting to be expressed and the sequel will vividly prove it

1980 ... the title of the revelation. A title whose sound is unlike any other. It's fresh, light and airy and completely offbeat, but in a good way. The notoriety of the singer suddenly takes a big boost !

1981 ... a title which confirms the undeniable talent of the artist and especially his creative side (which undeniably stands out from the average artist of his generation). A title included in the soundtrack of the film "Le Maître d'école" with Coluche. Film which will be a hit in cinemas and will ensure the single is promoted from hell !

1981 ... a childish universe that suits him particularly well. Ideal playground for all these delusions. To wonder how old he is in his head ... lollll

1981 ... an exceptional year in which his unbridled inspiration worked wonders. In particular on this title. But the best is yet to come ...

1982 ... its jewel ! A track with an unbridled rhythm, enhanced with perfectly adjusted South American accents which sublimate the melody. Probably one of the biggest dance hits of the decade. HU-GE !

1983 ... well, side delirium, it does not get better...but it is also his goodwill. He will undeniably stay as the most evaporated artist of the decade. Only the 80s allowed these joyous excesses. Impossible to do that again these days ... Pffffff !

1983 ... a magnificent title all in softness and finesse, at the antipodes of its exotic delusions. He also knows how to do it. One of the most beautiful writing versatility of the decade !

1983 ... 3 old grandpas in his image...that is to say totally aware. On the other hand, the melody is not aware, it is the first choice as always !

1984 ... a constantly boiling visual and melodic inspiration. But where is he going to get all this ? On another planet, there is no other explanation ...

1986 ... the years go by and the guy is still so excited. A daring that does not deflate a bit. But the character's exuberance begins to shift away from this much less carefree second part of the 1980s ...

1987 ... the gaudriole of words ! The neurons too ... We are close to the direct psychiatric asylum ! But where will he get it all ?

1988 ... always so rhythmic, always so punchy, always so aware. We will not remake him again the guy, that's for sure !

1988 ... another nice interlude of sweetness with this particularly inspired title which takes us to regions of Gotainer unexplored until then ...

1988 ... yet another title of certain quality to end the 1980s in style. A blessed decade that saw the explosion of this alien whose extraordinary creative side really marked his time ...

1989...come on, the decade isn't quite over. It remains to be seen whether the following decade will be so favorable to him...

1990 ... welcome to the 90s with this title with strong 70s accents. A decade that will prove more difficult to negotiate than expected ...

1992 ... oh there, something has changed, it's obvious. Gotainer Season 2 has just started ...

1992 ... it's well done, it's Gotainer, that's clear. But something is missing ... The innocence of the 80s ...?

1994...it was above all the musical inspiration that went down a notch and seriously began to make him lose more and more ground on the competition...

1994...it's hard to see in which musical direction he wants to go exactly. The contradictory signals are multiplying and blurring the tracks more and more...

1996 ... a nice renewal of inspiration which shows that he still has some under the pedal. When you have talent, it's for life ...

1997...he now alternates the good and the less good and finds himself more and more out of step with the latest musical trends of the moment, which doesn't help...

1997...his style fit perfectly with the carelessness and creativity of the 80s. A recklessness and creativity that are already a little less part of this 90s decade, hence the discrepancy...

1997...after that doesn't seem to bother him that much. But he will still have to ask himself the right questions about what to do in the years to come...

1998 ... come on, a Gotainer at his best in this animal madness ... The ideal end ...

2004...we thought he had definitely thrown in the towel but it was very hard to know him because here he is back 6 years later...

2004...even if the best years are behind him, he considers that he still has things to offer and especially things to sing...

2008 ... a return all the same for the less risky because the gap was more and more flagrant with the competition during the decade 90 but it is even more during this decade 2000 ...

2008... after everyone pursues his career as he sees fit. As long as he continues to enjoy what he does why change anything...

2008... what is certain is that he is still there while a good number of colleagues who started at the same time as him have already disappeared a long time ago...

2010...you still have to remember that he started his career more than 30 years ago, which is not nothing. An exceptional longevity for one of the most gifted artists of his generation...

2018...we will lose sight of him again for almost 8 years but here he is again ! A desire to believe in it to the end which undoubtedly commands respect...

2018...and still this one-of-a-kind style and especially song lyrics that constantly border on politically incorrect...

2018...but that's also what made him a truly unique model. After we like it or we don't like it but he will not have left anyone insensitive, that's for sure...