Voyage was a French

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

and pop

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

, consisting of André "Slim" Pezin (

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 ...

/vocals), Marc Chantereau (

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 ...

/vocals), Pierre-Alain Dahan (

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 ...

/vocals) and Sauveur Mallia ( bass), together with British

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Sylvia Mason-James, who sang on the group's first two albums, ''

Voyage Voyage(s) or The Voyage may refer to: Literature *''Voyage : A Novel of 1896'', Sterling Hayden * ''Voyage'' (novel), a 1996 science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter *''The Voyage'', Murray Bail * "The Voyage" (short story), a 1921 story by ...

'' (1977) and '' Fly Away'' (1978). For their next two albums, Pierre-Alain Dahan became the lead vocalist on ''Voyage 3'' (1980) and on ''One Step Higher'' (1982), and the group's sound changed from disco to pop.

Overview

Before Voyage, Pezin, Chantereau, Dahan and Mallia worked together in a band called V.I.P. Connection in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

with two disco songs: "Please Love Me Again" and "West Coast Drive", songs known by fans and collectors of early disco music. They also worked as session musicians or in live performance in France, with artists such as: Manu Dibango,

Cerrone Marc Cerrone Daryl Easlea, "Supernature Boy", ''Record Collector'', #502, February 2020, pp.60-63 (, ; born 24 May 1952) is a French disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of concert shows. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980 ...

, Alec R. Costandinos & the Synchophonic Orchestra,

Michel Sardou Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 January 1947) is a French singer and occasional actor. He is known not only for his love songs ("La maladie d'amour", "Je vais t'aimer"), but also for songs dealing with various social and political issues, su ...

for Slim Pezin;

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

, Jean Musy,

Bernard Lavilliers Bernard Oulion (; born 7 October 1946 in Saint-Étienne), known professionally as Bernard Lavilliers (), is a French singer-songwriter and actor. Discography Albums Studio albums * ''Premiers pas...'' (1968) * ''Les poètes'' (1972) * ''Le St� ...

for Sauveur Mallia;

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a French-born Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer, whose career in France dominated the years after the Second World War until his death. He released s ...

Michel Delpech Jean-Michel Delpech (French pronunciation: �ɑ̃ miʃɛl dɛlpɛʃ 26 January 19462 January 2016), known as Michel Delpech, was a French singer-songwriter and actor. Family Jean-Michel Bertrand Delpech was born the 26th january of 1946 in ...

Guy Béart Guy Béhart-Hasson (; 16 July 1930 – 16 September 2015), known as Guy Béart, was a French singer and songwriter. Life and career Béart was born Guy Béhart-Hasson (originally spelled Béhar-Hassan) in Cairo, Egypt, to a Sephardic Jewish fa ...

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

for Marc Chantereau;

Nino Ferrer Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari (), known as Nino Ferrer (15 August 1934 – 13 August 1998), was an Italian-born French singer-songwriter and author. Biography and career Nino Ferrer was born on 15 August 1934 in Genoa, Italy, but lived the ...

Jean-Claude Petit Jean-Claude Petit (born 14 November 1943) is a French composer and arranger, born in Vaires-sur-Marne. After accompanying jazzmen in his childhood, Petit went to the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied harmony and counterpoint. He did the st ...

and

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the firs ...

. From the late 1960s until the mid 1970s, they were in demand in France, Europe and worldwide, in all styles of music: jazz with Grappelli, French

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

with Ferré, world music and jazz with Dibango, rock with Hallyday, and French pop with Sardou and Delpech. Their lone ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entry was "Souvenirs," which hit No. 41 in 1979. They had more success on the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

, where two of their

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s, ''Voyage'' (

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

) and ''Fly Away'' (

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

), hit

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

. In the UK, the group had three chart

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. A double

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

, "From East To West"/"Scotch Machine" (the latter song retitled "Scots Machine" because the term "Scotch" is no longer used in Scotland) reached No. 13 in 1978, while later that year "Souvenirs" made No. 56. Also popular was the song "Lady America". Their last impact on the charts came in 1979 when "Let's Fly Away" peaked at number thirty-eight. In their home country, France, they were successful in the nightclubs of Paris, and featured on radio and television promoting their songs, but they ranked only three singles, "From East To West" peaked at #20 on May 26, 1978, then "Souvenirs" peaked at No. 53 on January 12, 1979, and "Tahiti - Tahiti" peaked at No. 43 on May 5, 1979. However, the four musicians couldn't replicate their successful French record sales in the United States. The songs "I Don't Want To Fall In Love Again" in 1980 and "Let's Get Started" in 1982 failed to chart. As disco waned, they turned to making albums with a more mainstream pop sound. After Voyage, the group members worked separately with a number of singers, including

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...

Alain Chamfort Alain Chamfort (born Alain Joseph Yves Le Govic; 2 March 1949) is a French singer of Breton origin. Life and career Chamfort was a promising pianist in his youth, and the piano became his instrument of choice. His first band The Dreamers h ...

Mylène Farmer Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is ...

Guesch Patti Guesch Patti (born 16 March 1946), born Patricia Porrasse, is a French singer. Biography Early life Patti was born in Paris, France. She chose her artist name, ''Guesch'', from the nickname she had as a child. ''Patti'' is a nickname for Pat ...

Jean-Louis Murat Jean-Louis Murat (born 28 January 1952) is the pseudonym of the French singer/songwriter Jean-Louis Bergheaud. He spent much of his childhood with his grandparents in Murat-le-Quaire from which he got his pseudonym. Biography Jean-Louis Berghea ...

. Pezin worked on the French movie soundtrack

Betty Blue ''Betty Blue'' (french: 37°2 le matin, lit=37.2°C in the morning) is a 1986 French erotic psychological drama film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, based on the 1985 novel ''37°2 le matin'' by Philippe Djian. The film stars Béatrice Dalle ...

in 1986 and produced a French hit "Caressé Mwen" sung by Marijosé Alie in 1987. Sauveur Mallia worked on several movies soundtracks like ''Moonstruck'' with

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

in 1987, ''Breakfast of Champions'' with

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

in 1999, and was involved in other projects with Chantereau and Dahan.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

*''The Best of Voyage'' (1989,

Unidisc Music Unidisc Music is a Canadian independent record label. The label is known for releasing rare music, that was made between the mid-1960s and late 1980s. Genres include rock, electronic, funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, reggae, Latin, disco and a cappel ...

) *''The Best of Voyage: "Souvenirs"'' (1991, Sirocco/Hot Productions)

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voyage Eurodisco groups French dance music groups French disco groups