Petit Cheval was a

New Romantic The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...

rock group from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Their name is

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for "little horse". The group was founded in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

in 1982 by singer/songwriter Jon Selby and soon after recorded a demo, which landed them a deal with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in 1984. Their 1985 debut album was a great success in South Africa, but the increased publicity also led to internal disputes, and bassist Johan Griesel left the group shortly after the album's release. Adding bassist Chris Bekker, they released an EP in 1986; however, internal tensions led to a split in 1987.

Craig Else Craig Else (born October 12, 1964 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer, vocalist, and music producer. Career 1970s and 1980s In 1978 after years of music lessons given by his Grandmother, Craig d ...

is a sound engineer in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and plays in

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beat ...

. Johan Griesel went on to become a

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

; Danny de Wet later formed the band The Electric Petals the name was then later changed to Wonderboom, and Harold Shenk went on to do production work on the South African music scene. Francois du Plessis is now an avant-garde artist working in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Jon Selby continues to do work as a songwriter, and currently resides in Israel with his wife and three children. The group's biggest hits on South African radio included Once in a Lifetime and It Was the Wind, a duet with

Lesley Rae Dowling Lesley Rae Dowling is a South African singer-songwriter. Music Lesley Rae Dowling was discovered in Stellenbosch in 1980 by artist manager Paddy Lee Thorpe. She released her first single (''The Spaniard / Grips of Emotion'') and album (''Lesley ...

. ( The duet she recorded with Petit Cheval was not *It was the Wind* its called *Love is Knocking*)

Members

* Jon Selby - guitar, vocals, songwriter *Sheldon Thomas - keyboards *

- guitar *Johan Griesel - bass *Danny de Wet - drums *Francois du Plessis - drums (early member) *Harold Shenk - keyboards (early member) *Chris Bekker - bass (1986-1987)

Discography

*''The Voice of Reason'' (

, 1985) *''The Perfect Gift'' EP (Warner Bros. Records, 1986) *''Young Lions'' (compilation) ( Tusk Records, 1994) *''Once in a Lifetime'' (RetroFresh, 2006)

References

;Footnotes ;Further reading
Petit Cheval
at Fresh Music. Retrieved 17 November 2007.

at Rock.co.za. Retrieved 17 November 2007.

External links

Jon Selby's Site

Craig Else's Site
{{Authority control South African rock music groups