Space Art is a French

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

duo consisting of Dominique Perrier on keyboards and late French drummer Roger "Bunny" Rizzitelli. The band had its main commercial success between 1977 and 1981.

History

Formation

In 1974, Dominique Perrier had been working as an

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

with Christophe, for whom Roger "Bunny" Rizzitelli had been drumming. Christophe brought an ARP Odyssey synthesizer, which was used mainly as a

metronome A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον (''métron'', "measure") and νομός (nomós, "custom", "melody") is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats pe ...

, into the studio. Christophe then lent the synthesizer to Perrier for two years, during which time the band was born. According to Perrier, he originally preferred to name the band Moon but, after a trip to a funfair, Rizzitelli suggested an alternative; one of the fair attractions had been named after

Spessart Spessart is a '' Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level. Ety ...

, the German mountain range. This then morphed into Space Art, which sounded better to them both.

Career

They released three albums between 1977 and 1980, selling three million units worldwide and achieving number one status in France. All three albums were recorded at in Paris. Their music is often described as cosmic

synth pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

. The duo are considered pioneers of the

French electronic music French electronic music is a panorama of French music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. Notable early French artists and composers in electronic music include Maurice Martenot, the inv ...

genre. In 1981, they supported

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompani ...

during his ''Concerts in China'' tour, thereby becoming among the first Western musicians to perform in China during

Chinese economic reform The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed " Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of C ...

; Perrier later played keyboards on various Jarre albums, for the band and also for

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, th ...

. Following the death of Roger Rizzitelli, his son Tommy joined the group as the drummer. A tribute record was released in 2012 by Perrier and his new band, remaking some Space Art tracks.

Discography

Singles: *"Onyx": 1977, IF Records *"Speedway": 1978, Carrère *"Nous savons tout": 1978, Carrère *"Symphonix": 1981, Carrère Albums: * ''Space Art'' (''Onyx''): 1977, IF Records #CA631-67173 * ''Trip In The Center Head'': 1979, IF Records #CA631-67213 * ''Play Back'' (''3''): 1980, Waves Records #CA651-67575 * ''On Ne Dira Rien - Best Of All Times'': 2016, Because Music (

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

) Re-releases: * ''Space Art'' (''Onyx''): 1998,

Spalax ''Spalax'' is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae, subfamily '' Spalacinae'' (blind mole-rats). It is one of two extant genera in the subfamily Spalacinae, alongside ''Nannospalax''.' Species in this genus are found in eastern Europe ...

* ''Trip In The Center Head'': 1997, Spalax * ''Space Art'' (''Onyx''): 2009, C.Zen Prod New albums: * ''Space Art Tribute - Pype Line'': 2012 * ''Entrevues'': 2020, Deserted Island Music

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Space Art (band) Electronic music duos French electronic music groups French musical duos Male musical duos Masked musicians