Les Rita Mitsouko
| Les Rita Mitsouko | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Progressive rock , ( avant-garde ) pop |
| founding | 1980 |
| resolution | 2008 |
| Website | http://www.ritamitsouko.com |
| Founding members | |
| Catherine Ringer | |
| Frédéric Chichin († November 28, 2007) | |
| Last occupation | |
Singing, bass, composition |
Catherine Ringer |
Les Rita Mitsouko was a French progressive rock - and avant - pop duo, which in 1980 by Catherine Ringer and Frédéric Chichin was founded. It lasted until Chichin's death in November 2007.
The duo permanently retained the image of a couple who don't take themselves too seriously. It explored various musical trends, such as punk , hip-hop and jazz , with changing priorities . All styles of music were processed and innovatively combined in their compositions.
Short biographies and previous projects
Catherine Ringer was born in the Paris suburb of Suresnes . She grew up with her brother in a creative environment and discovered her interest in music at an early age. She left the Collège Honoré de Balzac at the age of 15 and fulfilled her wish to turn her talent and artistic passion for acting, comedy, dance and singing into a profession. Before she met Frédéric Chichin, Catherine gained artistic experience as an actress, dancer and musician.
Frédéric (Fred) Chichin was born in Clichy . At 14 he played drums and guitar after learning the music of Jimi Hendrix and discovering his passion for cinema and theater. In Vierzon he gained further musical experience in Nicolas Frize's Experimental Music Research Center . Before meeting Catherine Ringer, he played in various bands, some of which he founded himself.
The paths of Catherine Ringer and Fred Chichin crossed for the first time in the spring of 1979 at a music revue in the Paris district of Montreuil. The two quickly became a couple both musically and privately. At this time Fred Chichin was playing guitar for the group Le fond de l'air est rock in the theater and music project Flashes rouges by Marc'O , Catherine Ringer had a role in it as a victim. Some time later they decided to start a rock group. They rented in the XIX. Arrondissement in Paris and used it as their first recording studio, surrounded by guitars, basses, synthesizers and cassette recorders. At the beginning they appeared together with Jean Néplin under the name SPRATZ in the Parisian punk bar Gibus , with Catherine Ringer on bass, Rickky Darling and Fred Chichin as guitarists and Fred Chichin's brother Hugues on drums. They repeated these appearances between 1980 and 1982 at Gibus and released them in 1981 under the name Jean Néplin & individual state on the album Happening .
The playwright Armando Llamas, famous for Catherine, wrote the musical spectacle Aux limites de la mer with Catherine Dasté . a. with Marcia Moretto , Catherine and Fred at the end of 1980 in Sartrouville. Performances in Rome and Turin with Serge Maggiano, Nicolas Allwright and Jean-Pierre Chaty followed at the beginning of 1981. Catherine and Fred wrote the music, Armando the lyrics. The arrangements were made by Daniel Berlioux, Armando and Catherine, the choreography by Marcia. The further collaboration with Marcia Moretto was no longer fully realized. She died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 32. The song Marcia Baila is also dedicated to her.
Les Rita Mitsouko
1980-1990
After their first encounters, Catherine Ringer and Fred Chichin soon began attempting compositions together in a mix of styles and styles. a. from jazz, rock and the music from South America, Egypt and India. They were influenced by artists such as David Bowie , Iggy Pop , Roxy Music and, last but not least, the Sparks . They decided on the name Rita Mitsouko . The name Rita refers to Latin American music or is supposed to pay tribute to the great Hollywood diva Rita Hayworth , Mitsouko (Japanese for mystical) is a perfume by the Guerlain company , but should also reflect the influence of the Sparks' second album, Kimono my House stand. Catherine Ringer and Fred Chichin worked as equal partners. Catherine Ringer wrote the lyrics, but like Fred also played synthesizers, bass, trumpet and other instruments. In return, Fred Chichin was involved in the composition of the first songs.
Les Rita Mitsouko officially appeared for the first time from November 4 to 8, 1980 in the Parisian punk bar Gibus . They played on different stages, including a. in the Rose Bonbon and in the Parisian scene club Pali-Kao . They played a repertoire of cover versions of David Bowie , Velvet Underground, etc. a. as well as increasingly her own compositions. At that time, their appearance even seemed eccentric in this eccentric environment, their weird costumes, which changed from appearance to appearance, and their songs and lyrics caused a sensation. The duo quickly made a name for themselves in the French music scene. In order to further perfect their music, Les Rita Mitsouko played as often as possible, preferably in small French pubs, but also in various clubs from Amsterdam to Italy over the next few months.
In 1981 they recorded their debut EP Don't Forget the Nite with four songs (including Minuit dansant ), which, however, was not commercially successful. As a result, they would almost have been dropped by Virgin Records if the artist director Philippe Constantin had not been convinced of their potential. On the occasion of the Rock d'ici festival , the duo performed at the Olympia on July 1, 1982, and played in various European cities during 1983. At the beginning of 1984 they recorded their debut album Les Rita Mitsouko in Conny Plank's Cologne studio . Catherine Ringer and Fred Chichin had already recorded the songs in their home studio in Paris. a. Jalousie , Le Futur N ° 4 , La fille venue du froid and Marcia Baila . When the audience became aware of the album, the reviews were high. With the performance of Restez avec moi , Catherine and Fred showed themselves to be extremely telegenic in various TV broadcasts, and sales rose rapidly. Jalousie was played a lot by radio stations and was covered by Jean-Louis Aubert ( Téléphone ), and Don't forget the nite was also covered by Étienne Daho .
Catherine and Fred were introduced to French President François Mitterrand at a concert in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs on October 2, 1984 on the occasion of the Semaine des Jeunes Créateurs . This was followed by two concerts at the Théatre du Forum on October 9 and 10, and a tour of France with a concert at the Casino Paris and the Palais des congrès de Paris at the end of 1984.
Marcia Baila , the second single from the debut album Rita Mitsouko , which was dedicated to Marcia Moretto , was to become a surprise summer hit in 1985 and the European breakthrough for the creative duo. The video clip of the same name caused a stir with the costumes of Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler . It was played regularly at the Museum of Modern Art . The creative and eccentric album, with style elements from punk, rock, synth-pop and jazz, quickly found listeners in English-speaking Europe. With this bizarre mixture, combined with acoustic guitar and the penetrating voice of Catherine Ringer, they became an avant-garde cult band beyond France. The artist's outfit changed from show to show. The group received positive reactions across Europe and appeared in the opening act for Smiths and Kid Creole & the Coconuts . Les Rita Mitsouko consistently refused to use their songs for advertising. An extensive tour of clubs in France was followed by appearances in Japan and a few evenings at the Ritz in New York City in late 1985 .
The 1986 album The No Comprendo was also produced by Tony Visconti ( David Bowie / T. Rex ), who was enthusiastic about the shrill duo: "These French have what it takes to dig their English colleagues out of the water". Their second album was released in November 1986, and with the singles Andy and C'est comme ca, the duo also hit the charts in the USA. There they also met their idols from the Sparks . The no less unusual brothers wrote the hit Singing in the Shower for Rita Mitsouko (album Marc et Robert , 1988). Director Tim Pope ( The Cure ) was hired for the video clip shot in London . Russell Mael sang two more songs with Catherine: Live in Las Vegas and Hip Kit . Planned collaborations for the album Marc & Robert with Boy George and Michael Hutchence fail. It is unclear whether the album was named after Les Rita Mitsouko's idols Robert Smith and Marc Almond .
Most of her music videos were produced by Jean-Baptiste Mondino . Jean-Luc Godard shot the music documentary Soigne ta droite when recording The No Comprendo in 1986. After a tour of the USA and stops in Bombay (Mumbai) and Moscow, the duo retired in 1988. For many fans and music critics, this ended the band's most innovative phase.
1990-2007
In 1990 the remix album "Re" was released, for which William Orbit , Jesse Johnson , Tony Visconti and Fat Freddy produced new versions of the most famous songs by Les Rita Mitsouko. The record had the motto: "This is not a compilation". The album was not only released as LP, music cassette and CD, but also in a limited edition as a 5 maxi single book. In 1993 the studio album Système D was released , the result of a concept developed over years, with a guest appearance by Iggy Pop . In 1991 they contributed the title track to the movie The Lovers of Pont Neuf by Leos Carax . The video clip for Y'a d'la haine was voted Video of the Year 1994 by MTV Europe. The live album Acoustiques followed in 1996, the recording of a night in the Paris Opus Café.
In the year 2000 a new studio album was released, which showed no reference to modern electronic sounds , but with borrowings from disco, 1980s pop and French chansons again defied categorization. Jean Néplin, the Parisian punk rock veteran and friend of the duo, also sang for the first time on Cool Frénésie with Catherine ( Dis-moi des mots ). The songs Alors c'est quoi and Jam were written together with Youth by Killing Joke . The album was followed by an extensive tour of France that extended to Switzerland, Belgium and Canada. The book Les Rita Mitsouko, c'est (toujours) comme ça was published by Jean William Thoury .
After the DVD release of the short appearance at the concert of Johnny Hallyday under the Eiffel Tower, another studio album was released in September 2002 with La Femme Trombone , which in turn combined all the strengths of the duo without repeating the past. A great honor for the duo in 2003 was the offer to record a live album with the renowned Orchester Lamoureux. The orchestra, founded in 1881, is part of the French cultural heritage because of its collaboration with artists such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel . En Concert Avec L'Orchestre Lamoureux was released in March 2004 as the result of this unusual collaboration. The musicians were so pleased with their collaboration that on April 14th and 15th, 2004, two more concerts followed on the stage of the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris.
In September 2006 Les Rita Mitsouko took part in the Festival Fêtes de nuit de Versailles in the play Les Noces de l'Enfant Roi by Alfredo Arias. On April 23, 2007 the album Variéty was released , in collaboration with Mark Plati, producer a. a. by David Bowie, Brazilian Girls and Louise Attaque . There are three versions of this album, in addition to the regular release with a white cover, a limited edition with a red curtain behind the title motif and an English version with a yellow cover. Includes a duet between Catherine and Serj Tankian , the singer of System of a Down . As of March 5, 2007, the single Communiqueur d'Amour has been available on online music services .
The "Variéty" tour in the summer of 2007 had to be canceled because of cancer by Fred Chichin. Frédéric Chichin died on November 28, 2007 at the age of 53. In 2008 the live album Catherine Ringer chante Les Rita Mitsouko and more à la Cigale (limited edition with DVD) was released. Then Catherine dissolved Les Rita Mitsouko .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 FR
|
 BE W
|
 CH
|
|||
| 1986 | The No Comprendo |
FR189 (1 week) FR |
- | - |
Chart entry in FR only in 2019
|
| 1996 | Acoustiques |
FR18 (22 weeks) FR |
- | - |
Live album, concert on M6 (TV) on October 27, 1996
|
| 2000 | Cool Frénésie |
FR3 (35 weeks) FR |
- |
CH70 (5 weeks) CH |
|
| 2001 | Bestov Les Rita Mitsouko | - |
BE W34 (2 weeks) BE W |
- | |
| 2002 | La femme trombone |
FR5 (18 weeks) FR |
- |
CH39 (5 weeks) CH |
|
| 2004 | En concert |
FR64 (10 weeks) FR |
- | - | |
| 2007 | Variéty |
FR3 (81 weeks) FR |
BE W16 (44 weeks) BE W |
CH36 (6 weeks) CH |
Because Music
|
| Variéty (English Version) |
FR163 (7 weeks) FR |
- | - | ||
| 2019 | Best of | - |
BE W49 (13 weeks) BE W |
- | |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More albums
- 1984: Rita Mitsouko
- 1988: Marc et Robert
- 1990: RE (remix album)
- 1993: Systems D
- 1996: En concert prive (FR:
gold) - 2008: Catherine Ringer chante Les Rita Mitsouko and more à la Cigale (Because / SixSarl)
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
FR
|
BE W
|
|||
| 1985 | Marcia baila Rita Mitsouko |
FR2 (29 weeks) FR |
- | |
| 1986 | Andy The No Comprendo |
FR19 (15 weeks) FR |
- | |
| 1987 | C'est comme ça The No Comprendo |
FR10 (20 weeks) FR |
- | |
| 1989 | Singing In The Shower Marc et Robert |
FR37 (13 weeks) FR |
- |
with Sparks
|
| 1993 | Y'a d'la haine Système D. |
FR33 (8 weeks) FR |
- | |
| 2000 | Cool Frénésie Cool Frénésie |
FR98 (1 week) FR |
- | |
| 2007 | Ding Ding Dong (Ringing At Your Bell) Variéty |
- |
BE W28 (18 weeks) BE W |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More singles
- 1982: Minuit dansant
- 1982: Don't Forget the Nite
- 1984: Restez avec moi
- 1986: Un soir, un chien
- 1987: Les histoires d'amour
- 1988: Qu'est-ce que t'es belle (duo by Catherine Ringer and Marc Lavoine )
- 1988: Mandolino City
- 1988: Tongue Dance
- 1988: Le petit train
- 1990: Hip Kit
- 1990: Don't Forget the Nite
- 1993: Les amants
- 1993: Femme d'affaires
- 1996: Riche (duet with Doc Gynéco )
Collaborations
- 1979: Flashes rouges by Marc'O (Catherine and Fred get to know each other)
- 1980: Aux limites de la mer (a musical theater, played from 1980 to 1982)
- 1981: Jean Néplin & individual state (Fred & Catherine, on the album Happening )
- 1981: Taxi Girl ( Avenue Du Crime on the album Seppuku )
- 1988: Qu'est-Ce Que T'es Belle (duet with Marc Lavoine )
- 1988: Révolution ( Axel Bauer , on the album Sentinelles )
- 1990: Tatie Danielle ( BOF , music by Gabriel Yared )
- 1995: Doux Daddy ( BOF , album Les Trois Frères )
- 1995: Peut-Etre Ce Soir ( Coba , album Roots )
- 1997: Sinon, oui ( BOF , album Les Trois Frères , music by Archie Shepp )
- 1997: Les Joyeux Bouchers ( Jazz à St Germain with the Renegade Brass Band )
- 1997: Eso Es El Amor ( BOF . Album Un Grand Cri D'Amour )
- 1998: Rendez-Vous ( Coba , album Conscious Posi )
- 1998: Sa Raison d'être (on the Anti-AIDS album Ensemble )
- 1998: Paranoïa ( Doc Gynéco , album Les Liaisons Dangereuses )
- 2001: Marcia Baila (on the album A Tribute to Ricky Martin )
- 2001: Le Vent ( BOF , album Reines d'un Jour )
- 2002: Tawes ( Djura , album Uni-vers-elles )
- 2003: Concha Bonita (December 25, 2003, a musical comedy, on VHS & DVD)
- 2004: La Bohême (in a duet with Corneille , CD & DVD)
- 2004: Sem Cansar (C'est Comme Ça) ( Inicial , on the album Gigante! )
- 2005: Le Petit Train (Choo-Choo Train) (on the album Sounds of the Steam Age: Vintage Train )
- 2005: Maudie ( Thomas Fersen , album Le Pavillon Des Fous )
- 2006: Concha Bonita (musical, Italian version on CD)
- 2006: Play Les Noces de l'Enfant Roi by Alfredo Arias Festival Fêtes de nuit de Versailles
Video albums
- 2008: Catherine Ringer chante Les Rita Mitsouko and more à la Cigale (Because / SixSarl)
Filmography
- 1985: Champs-Élysées (TV, episode June 15, 1985)
- 1987: Music documentary Soigne ta droite - Une place sur la terre comme au ciel ( Keep Up Your Right ) by Jean-Luc Godard for the recordings of The No Comprendo
- 1987: L'Amoureuse - Music / Text Les histoires d'A
- 1991: Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf ( The Lovers of Pont Neuf , theme song Les amants )
- 1991: Ma vie est un enfer ( My Life Is Hell )
- 1995: L'Âge des possibles - Music / Text Andy
- 1996: L '@ mour est à réinventer, dix histoires d'amours au temps du sida ( Love Reinvented ) - Music / Text C'est comme ça in the section Dans la décapotable
- 1996: Les Voleurs ( The Child of the Night / Thieves ) - Music / Text Tonite
- 1998: Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train ( Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train ) - Music / Text Don't Forget the Nite
- 1998: Sale battars ( Dirtie Basterdz )
- 2000: Johnny Hallyday - Live à la Tour Eiffel (guest appearance)
- 2002: Peau d'ange ( Once Upon an Angel ) - Music / Text Les amants
Awards
- 1987: Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros
- 1987: Best album for The no comprendo at the Victoires de la Musique , best music video for C'est comme ça
- 1990: Bus d'Acier de la décennie for their complete works
- 1993: Video of the Year from MTV Europe for Y'a d'la haine
- 2001: Prix Roger-Seiller du groupe français ( prix de Printemps de la SACEM )
literature
- Jean William Thoury: Les Rita Mitsouko, c'est (toujours) comme ça , 2000
Web links
- Official website of "Les Rita Mitsouko" and Catherine Ringer & Fred Chichin (French / English)
- Les Rita Mitsouko on Myspace (English / French)
- Les Rita Mitsouko at laut.de.
- "Les Rita Mitsouko" on " Last.fm "
- "Les Rita Mitsouko" biography by Radio France Internationale (RFI )