Studio musician: hits and compositions

Two songs I wrote that did well

Il suffit d’un ou deux excités Thierry Roland et Jean-Michel Larqué
Nuit d’amour Kova Réa

As pianist, keyboard player or arranger

Chacun fait (c’qui lui plaît) Chagrin d’amour excerpt
Au bout de la rue Maxime Le Forestier excerpt
Il tape sur des bambous Philippe Lavil excerpt
Sur des musiques noires Thierry Pastor excerpt
Les Divas du dancing (1986) Philippe Cataldo excerpt

With Sheila and the band at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, 1984 — Compass Point Studios, Nassau, 1984: with Sheila, Guy Delacroix, Didier Lozahic, Yves Martin and Manu Katché (albums “On dit” and “Je suis comme toi”).

My show business years

I started out in the recording studios of Lyon, then quickly “went up to Paris” to live my dream: being a studio musician.

Thanks to Rido Bayonne, I joined a tour with Maxime Le Forestier and Graeme Allwright. After the tour, Maxime let me sit in on the recording of his album at Studio Gang — and for a short rhythm part that neither he nor Krapou could play on the Clavinet, I found myself doing my first Paris session, with a Hammond organ improvisation thrown in. There I met Jean Schultheis, Krapou and Hadi Kalafate, the first to trust me and give me lots of work.

For the next two years I toured with Maxime and Schultheis, including a month at Bobino in Paris. I played on many commercials, toured with Marie-Paule Belle, then recorded Chagrin d’amour’s “Chacun fait c’qui lui plaît” — the session where my work with producer Yves Martin began, leading to many singles (everyone wanted “a synth hook as strong as the one on Chacun fait c’qui lui plaît”).

Albums with Alain Souchon (“On avance”) and Sheila (one in the Bahamas, one in Paris, and the Zénith in 1985) let me prove myself as an arranger, orchestrator and musical director, and invest in a 24-track studio. I then set up my own production and publishing company, Captain Click, producing Jean Schultheis, Footbrothers, Kova Réa and Jamais Bleu, while working with Dimitri from Paris on remixes for Björk, Toto, Marc Lavoine, Angélique Kidjo and Cheb Khaled.

I also worked with Danielle Messia, Patrick Bruel, Patrick Coutin, Starmania, Michel Delpech, Michel Legrand, Jean-Jacques Goldman, La Compagnie Créole and many others — and in advertising with William Sheller, Richard Gotainer and more. I even turned down Michel Jonasz’s band, because I was becoming a father and preferred the studio to touring!

In 1995 I left Paris and show business for Touraine, where I built a tourist resort and a golf course. Around 2005 I went back to music as a composer for the media with AXS Music, and I have since written the theme tunes of my training courses and relaxation music. Today, I am so taken up with the neurosensory and neurosystemic approaches that I rarely put my hands on a keyboard…

On tour with Maxime Le Forestier and Jean Schultheis, 1981 — 1981: on tour with Maxime Le Forestier and Jean Schultheis — 2 tours over 2 years and 2 albums.

Sheila at the Zénith, 1985 — 1985: musical director and piano for Sheila at the Zénith, Paris — and a live album, “Sheila au Zénith”.

With Kova Réa at the Captain Click Sound Clinic studio, 1990 — 1990: with Kova Réa in my studio, the “Captain Click Sound Clinic”, Paris.

Hits in my career

Chagrin d’amour – “Chacun fait c’qui lui plaît” (No. 1 – a mega hit!)
Maxime Le Forestier – “Au bout de la rue”, 2 albums and Bobino in Paris
Alain Souchon – the album “On avance”
Sheila – “Tango”, “Comme toi” and 3 albums (one recorded in Nassau) + the Zénith in Paris
Philippe Lavil – “Il tape sur des bambous” and “Elle préfère l’amour en mer” (both No. 1 in the Top 50)
Danielle Messia – producer of “Il voyage en solitaire”, “Dans 10 ans à 4 heures” and the album “Carnaval”
Philippe Cataldo – “Les Divas du dancing” (No. 1 in the Top 50)
Jean-Jacques Goldman – “Américain” (dance remix)
Lagaf’ – “Bo le lavabo” (dance version) and “La Zoubida” (both No. 1 in the Top 50)
La Compagnie Créole – “Au bal masqué” (No. 1), “Noël noël” and an album
Claude François – “Megamix” (No. 1 in the Top 50)
Dalida – “Let Me Dance” (remix)
Thierry Roland & Jean-Michel Larqué (Footbrothers) – “Il suffit d’un ou deux excités” (No. 1 in the clubs, No. 5 in the Top 50)
Mitch – “Castles and Quicksands” (No. 1 on the US Billboard High Energy Dance Charts)