La Compagnie Créole is a popular French pop band from

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

and the

French West Indies The French West Indies or French Antilles (french: Antilles françaises, ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy fwansez) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, ...

, founded in the 1970's. They originally started singing in Creole but quickly adopted French as their main language. They are known mostly for the feel-good and happy-go-lucky quality reverberating in all of their songs: popular themes and imagery include colorful rainbows, sunshine, music and harmless animals as a positive morale booster all set to

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

rhythms. Many of their records have been produced by Daniel Vangarde.

Biography

Founded in 1975, the group released their first album, "Ba mwen en ti bo" in 1976, with the album "Blogodo" following in 1982. In 1983, two of their most popular songs, "Vive le Douanier Rousseau !" and "C'est bon pour le moral" were released, with 400 000 et 500 000 records sold, respectively. From 1984 to 1987, the group released additional popular songs, including "Le Bal masqué", "Ça fait rire les oiseaux" and "Ma première biguine-partie." The group received top billing in the fourth and fifth seasons of "Âge tendre, la tournée des idoles" a tour composed of musical acts originating from the 1960's and the 1970's. On May 27, 2011, a celebration in their honour was held in Paris. In the summer of 2020, they released a parody of their song "Le bal masqué" under the title of "Sortons masqués" (Let's go out wearing masks) to encourage wearing masks during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The group has produced over 23 albums, and claims to have sold over 60 million records.

Members

* Clémence Bringtown – born 17 December 1948,

Le Robert Le Robert (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Wobè) is a town and the third-largest commune in the French overseas department of Martinique. It is located in the northeastern (Atlantic) side of the island of Martinique. It contains the Sainte Ros ...

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

(

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

) * Arthur Apatou – born 6 June 1951,

Pointe a Pitre Pointe technique ( ) is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns ''pointe work'', in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes. A dancer is said to be ''en pointe'' () wh ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

(

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

) * José Sébéloue – born 17 September 1948,

Ouanary Ouanary (; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Wannari) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Ouanary lies at the mouth of the river Oiapoque. Ouanary is the least populated commune ...

(Guitar,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, vocals) *

Julien Tarquin Julien may refer to: People * Julien (given name) * Julien (surname) Music * ''Julien'' (opera), a 1913 poème lyrique by Gustave Charpentier * ''Julien'' (album), by Dalida, 1973 * "Julien" (song), by Carly Rae Jepsen, 2019 Places Un ...

– born 16 September 1948,

Marigot, Martinique Le Marigot (; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Mawigo) is a village and commune in the French overseas department of Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas de ...

( Bass, vocals) *

Jean-Marc Vivenza Jean-Marc is a French masculine given name. It may refer to: * Jean-Marc Adjovi-Bocco (born 1963), Beninese former football player * Jean-Marc Ayrault (born 1950), French politician * Jean-Marc Barr (born 1960), French-American film actor and dir ...

– born 26 December 1957, Marigot, Saint-Martin (

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, intonarumori, percussion) *

Guy Bevert Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincor ...

– born 18 February 1949,

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; gcf, label=Guadeloupean Creole, Bastè, ) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefecture'' (capital city) of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located ...

(

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion, vocals)

Discography

Studio albums

*''Ba mwen en ti bo'' (1976) *''Blogodo'' (1982) *''Vive le douanier Rousseau'' (1983) *''Le Bal masqué'' (1984) *''Bons baisers de Fort de France'' (1984) *''Ça fait rire les oiseaux'' (1986) *''Sans chemise sans pantalon'' (1986) *''Soca Party sur la plage'' (1986) *''La Bonne Aventure'' (1989) *''Bon anniversaire maman'' (1990) *''Megamix'' (1990)

Tribute album

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

titled ''Les machines à danser'' (dancing machines) was released in June 2010; the album includes covers by Québécois artists such as

Ariane Moffatt Ariane Moffatt (born 26 April 1979) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Known for working across multiple musical genres, Moffatt's music combines elements of electronica, jazz, folk, and pop. A francophone, she is bilingual and has recorded track ...

Dubmatique Dubmatique is a French Canadian hip hop group formed in the 1990s in Montreal, Quebec. Groupmates Dj Choice, OTMC, and Jérôme-Philippe are the first French-language hip-hop group from Canada to have a number one hit single on the francophone po ...

and

Afrodizz Afrodizz is an eight-member afrobeat/afrofunk band from Montreal. Their music is a modern mix of afrobeat, jazz and funk, that has been described as having nuances of The Herbaliser and Tony Allen.McLeod, Erin, "Reach to teach >> Montrealer And ...

.Pellerin, Marie-France, "La Compagnie Créole au goût du jour", ''7 Jours'', Jun 7, 2010.
Last retrieved June 17, 2010.

References

External links

Official site
French Guianan music {{Caribbean-band-stub