Downright nasty, never happy !
- Nostra Dam
- Jun 18, 2020
- 9 min read
Updated: Aug 13, 2024
Alain Souchon, whose real name is Alain Kienast, is a French-Swiss singer-songwriter (he has dual nationality).
His musical career began in 1972 when he released three Singles under the Pathé-Marconi label. The 3 are failures.
In 1973, things suddenly accelerated for him when he presented his song "L’amour 1830" at the Antibes Rose d'Or competition. There he won the Special Prize for Critics as well as that of the Press.
But it was the year 1974 that will permanently change his fate when he meets a certain ... Laurent Voulzy. Future partner with a composer's talent far superior to his.
Their first collaboration is done on the album "Petite annonce which will become a few years later "J'ai dix ans". Then in 1976 on the album "Bidon".
The first successful Singles are released : "J'ai dix ans", "S'asseoir par terre and "Bidon".
In 1977, he signed the text for the huge "Rockollection" by his alter ego.
He also released the album "Jamais content" from which the now famous "Allo maman bobo" and "Y'a de la rumba dans l'air".
Then it was the album "Toto 30 ans, rien que du malheur" which came out in 1979 with the title track "Le bagad de Lann Bihoué".
Followed 1 year later in 1980 by a huge success with the title "Rame".
He will try his hand at the cinema with films like "Je vous aime", "Tout feu, tout flamme", "L'été meurtrier"... But these different experiences will not fill him and he will quickly give up the 7th art.
He returned to music in 1983 with the album "On avance" with mixed success, Laurent Voulzy having contributed little to its composition. A reverse counterbalanced by the writing very inspired by a text which will become cult for a song which will also become it namely the sublimissime ... "Belle Ile en Mer" !
1985 will turn out to be an exceptional year with the release of the album "C'est comme vous voulez" from which the Single of the same name will be extracted. From which will also be extracted one of the most accomplished of the magic duo, namely the superb title "La ballade de Jim".
We had to wait three years and the year 1988 to see a new album released which would be "Ultra Moderne solitude". Two flagship titles will be extracted from it : the title of the same name as the album and "Quand je serai KO". The album is a success.
Another break, this time 5 years before the album "C'est déjà ça" came out in 1993. Sumptuous album which contains one of the singer's reference titles and one of the best known, namely "Foule sentimentale".
An extremely talented author, he later produced other magnificent albums for him.
And other great lyrics for other people's Singles.
But that’s another story that we’ll talk about later.
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
70s Decade :
• Je suis un voyageur 1971
• Et demain sera un autre jour 1972
• L'amour 1830 1973
• J’ai 10 ans 1974
• Bidon 1976
• S'asseoir par terre 1976
• Y’a de la rumba dans l’air 1977
• Jamais content 1977
• Allo maman bobo 1978
• Poulailler's song 1978
• J'ai perdu tout ce que j'aimais 1978
• L'amour en fuite 1979
• Le bagad de Lann Bihoué 1979
80s Decade :
• On s'aime pas 1980
• Rame 1980
• Somerset Maugham 1981
• On avance 1983
• Saute en l'air 1983
• Banale song 1984
• C’est comme vous voulez 1985
• Portbail 1985
• Ballade de Jim 1986
• J'veux du cuir 1986
• Ultra moderne solitude 1988
• Quand j’serai KO 1989
• Dandy 1989
90s Decade :
• La beauté d'Ava Gardner 1990
• Les cadors 1990
• Foule sentimentale 1993
• L'amour à la machine 1994
• Les regrets 1994
• C'est déjà ça 1994
• Sous les jupes des filles 1995
• Rive gauche 1999
2000s Decade :
• Tailler la zone 2000
• Le baiser 2000
• Au ras des pâquerettes 2001
• La vie ne vaut rien 2002
• Et si en plus y'a personne 2005
• La vie Théodore 2006
• Putain ça penche 2006
• Parachute doré 2008
• Ecoutez d'où ma peine vient 2008
2010s Decade :
• Le jour et la nuit 2011
• Derrière les mots 2014
• Oiseau malin 2015
• La baie des fourmis 2015
• Ouvert la nuit 2016
• Ames fifties 2019
2020s Decade :
• Ici et là 2020
• Jaloux du soleil 2020
• Le marin 2021
Tracks :
1971 ... an absolutely surreal moment ... The first steps of one who will become one of the greatest French singers of the next thirty years ...
1972 ... like an aftertaste of Evangelist song. There's still work Alain, there's still work ...
1973 ... there are the violins, there is the intention, there is the inimitable voice...but that is still not enough to get Alain out of the crowd ...
1974 ... then this title arrives ! A completely offbeat song...for a completely offbeat artist. A very simple title but with formidable efficiency. A first notorious success that will appeal to many others ...
1976 ... the HUGE title which will finish propelling the young singer into the big leagues. Finished playing the roles of beginners, now he is one of the biggest hopes of the moment. A well-deserved start to recognition !
1976 ... a new dynamic is underway, the hits are now linked at an impressive speed. And let's go to last like that a few years !
1977 ... a year 1977 which started off in style with this amazing track with South American rhythms. The singer is becoming one of the biggest phenomena of the moment in France ...
1977 ... in the series 'title delirium', here is the Masterpiece of the year. A completely surreal title that only the 1970s allowed to make ... Ah, what a beautiful time !
1978 ... he delivers here one of the most beautiful ballads of the decade and of all French song. Nothing and no one can now stop his meteoric rise to the stars ...
1978 ... from one extreme to another. How to move from the Intimist register to the delusional protest register. Yes, yes, he can do it !
1978 ... and we go straight back into the luxury ballad. But whatever the field explored, each title that comes out now creates the event ...
1979 ... each year now brings its share of very large caliber titles. For the year 1979, we start with this title which will serve as soundtrack for the film of the same name
1979 ... the best of the inspiration of the magic Souchon/Voulzy tandem to end the 1970s in the best possible way. He signs here one of his most emblematic titles, a title in the form of a surrealist tribute to Brittany. Who could have dared except him ...
1980 ... after the light carefree 70s version, here comes the time for more serious and more worked titles. Each era has its own style ...
1980 ... the quality of the melodies changes more or less. It is always of a very high standard. The lyrics, on the other hand, evolve slowly but surely ...
1981 ... the ballad style is still omnipresent. A rather quiet early 80's where risk taking is minimal ...
1983 ... after a slight air gap in 1982, here it is back in 1983 in a certain form. Notable fact : the tempo is accelerating. Rather auspicious for the continuation of the events ...
1983 ... something has changed, it's obvious. A certain gravity is slowly but surely interfering in the pieces ...
1984 ... but where did the Souchon go completely evaporated ... Now everything is calibrated, millimeter-shaped to be of maximum efficiency
1985 ... beginnings of Dance hits. Finished the acrobat Souchon, here comes the time of the commercial but very effective Souchon. There is a time for everything !
1985 ... a WONDER of softness and finesse that literally floats in the air. Completely outside the standards of the time but whatever, we want more !
1986 ... surely one of the most beautiful productions of the magic duo. They deliver here a major title which will undoubtedly remain as one of the most inspired and most successful of the 80s. MAS-TER-FUL !
1986 ... we find here a completely unbridled Souchon. Contrary to his usual style ... But what happens to him ?
1988 ... at the height of its art ! Another title with incredible lyricism and which takes us to emotional regions of the highest order. MAS-TER-FUL !
1989 ... wink song completely offbeat. Only Souchon can afford this kind of delirium in the 80s. And it works !
1989 ... not necessarily his most inspired song but good work, once again. It's mister 0 waste, that's clear !
1990 ... a new decade change that takes place smoothly ... All thanks to the beauty of Ava Gardner ...
1990 ... a magnificent Ultimate Slow as a welcome gift to the 90s. We couldn't dream of a better start !
1993 ... which will undoubtedly remain one of its Masterpieces. One more, you will tell me. A title of incredible depth and which takes a look of an incredible darkness, but so true, on its time. MO-NU-MEN-TAL !
1994 ... decades go by without the artist going out of fashion in anything. A real feat and especially the brand of the Very Great !
1994 ... and still this dominant Voulzynienne music which performs miracles almost on every track. A duo of a truly amazing efficiency !
1994 ... a BIG and BEAUTIFUL year 1994 with 3 particularly successful titles. Nothing and no one can stop him ...
1995 ... in reggae mode. A most original musical break that shows the artist's versatility
1999 ... then more until 1999. The end of the decade in retreat for better recharging one's batteries and returning to top form the following decade ...
2000...and here he is beginning his 4th decade of career. It is clear that he certainly does not intend to do only some figuration, that's clear...
2000...especially when you see what he is still capable of producing. In a style completely outside the standards of the time, he nevertheless manages to surprise us once again with the quality of the title...
2001...certainly all his new titles will not manage to mark the spirits like the previous title but the qualitative level remains largely sufficient for us to be interested...
2002...a truly unique style that will forever remain his hallmark. Years pass, decades pass, he remains the same for our greatest pleasure...
2005...he knows how to do ultra simplistic things but he also knows how to offer things with more than certain originality. And above all, take the opportunity to send a clear message to all fanatics...
2006...and without stopping this alternation of quirky titles, apart from any obligation to stick to the latest musical developments of the moment. We won't remake him again as they say...
2006...and here he suddenly decides to stick to the latest musical trends. With him, everything can change from one title to another, as much on the tempo side as on the style side...
2008...he loves to convey messages in his songs and no matter what we may think of him. The main thing for him is to use his art as a notorious mode of communication...
2008...it also doesn't matter the result in the Charts. What he wants is to continue doing what he wants and when he wants. And so far, it has worked particularly well for him...
2011 ... every decade we tell ourselves that it may be the last and each time he comes back. A desire to believe in it always and again that commands respect, inevitably...
2014...everyone had been hoping for it and waiting for it for years, even decades. This year 2014 will finally be the year of the great reunion of the 2 gifted who will decide to push the song together for our greatest happiness...
2015...especially since they're not going to do just one track, but a whole album. We weren't expecting so much, but they decided to make a big splash. Alright little guys !
2015... the 2 artists put their best foot forward and the result is necessarily up to par. Who could have imagined in the 70s that we would find them in this year 2015 accomplices like never before. Not many people, that's for sure...
2016... here he is back in the film soundtrack. Admittedly, this one will not remain as the most famous soundtrack, but it is far from deserving, that's clear...
2019... he will have gone through the 2010 decade in his own way as always. Nothing, nor anyone, is able to dictate his choices, both musical and textual, and that is a luxury he absolutely does not intend to do without in the years to come...
2020...and here he is in this new decade of 2020. So, what will surprise us during this decade, good question. We wait to see more...
2020... the production of titles is not slowing down in any case. Admittedly, we are no longer on the same rhythms as in the days of its splendour, but it remains consistent, to say the least, that's clear...
2021...after sharing the poster with his lifelong accomplice, here he decides to share the poster with his sons. Definitely, he will amaze us until the end...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :
Alain Souchon is close to 80 years old with the spryness of Mick jagger. His is the only French performer who possesses an innate cool factor added to his impeccable sense of style. I am in love with his songs.