Allez Allez was a successful but short lived Belgian

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

band founded in 1981 and disbanded in 1985. They subsequently reformed with a line-up change for several concerts in 2017.

History

On the verge of an international breakthrough in 1981, funky Belgian new wave band Marine lost their singer Marc Marine while in London to record a

Peel session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. Quickly replaced by

Sarah Osborne Sarah Osborne (also variously spelled Osbourne, Osburne, or Osborn; née Warren, formerly Prince, (c. 1643 – May 10, 1692) was a colonist in the Massachusetts Bay colony and one of the first women to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem w ...

of Repetition, they recorded the planned Peel session and changed their name to Allez Allez. The group had local hits with "She's Stirring Up", "Allez Allez" and "African Queen", the latter a tribute to

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

. Their mini-album "African Queen" achieved gold status and earned them an appearance at the Torhout-Werchter festival in 1982. The band then signed with major label Virgin and released the polished pop album "Promises" in November 1982, though Osborne subsequently left the group and married

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Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), an ...

. American singer Jackie Irwin replaced Osborne, but mainstream success still eluded the band. Under the name Marka their bass player later became a well-known singer in French music circles. He is also the father of the acclaimed singers

Angèle Angèle is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Angèle (singer) (born Angèle Van Laeken, 1995), Belgian singer * Angèle Dola Akofa Aguigah (born 1955), Togolese archaeologist * Angèle Arsenault (1943–2014), Canadian-Acadi ...

and

Roméo Elvis Roméo Johnny Elvis Kiki Van Laeken (; born 13 December 1992), better known by his stage name Roméo Elvis (), is a Belgian rapper and hip hop artist. His career began with the release of two EPs in 2013 and 2014, titled ''Bruxelles c'est dev ...

. Christian Debusscher and Nico Fransolet became some of the members of '' Les Snuls'', and both have subsequently worked as directors. Members of the band decided to reunite to do some gigs in 2017, including their first appearance at the ''

Les Francofolies de Spa ''Les Francofolies de Spa'' is an annual music festival in Spa, Belgium. It is usually held in the month of July of every year and aims at promoting francophone music. Those attending the festival in 2008 exceeded 200,000. Best young artists * ...

'' festival in July. This was followed by several other dates. As two key members - Fransolet and Osborne - declined to be involved, the group chose to work with two female singers: Kyoko Bartsoen (who had sung with

Hooverphonic Hooverphonic is a Belgian band that formed in October 1995. Though originally categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a singular genre, but rather encompass altern ...

) and Marie. Paul Curtiz also joined them on guitar. At the same time, bassist Marka wrote a book of memoirs about his time in the band, "Allez Allez", published by Lamiroy.Allez Allez, Lamiroy
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Discography

Albums

* ''African Queen'' (1981 - EMI/Scalp) * ''Promises'' (1982 - Virgin) * ''African Queen + Promises'' (1997 - Virgin CD) * ''Best of Allez Allez'' (2008 - Eskimo CD) * ''Promises + African Queen'' (2013 - Les Disques du Crepuscule CD)

Singles

* She's Stirring Up (1981, Scalp) * Allez Allez/African Queen (1981, Scalp) * Valley of the Kings/Wrap Your Legs (1982, Virgin) * Flesh and Blood/The Time You Cost Me (1982, Virgin) * Don't Bother Me/Strange People (1984, Vogue) * Boom Boom/The Brain (1984, Sounds of the Future)

References

Belgian pop music groups {{authority control