Étienne Daho
Encyclopedia
Étienne Daho (born January 14, 1956 in Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...

, Algeria) is a French singer, songwriter and record producer who has released a number of synth-driven and rock-surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981.

Career

He sings in a low, whispery voice somewhat akin to Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...

 or Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...

 and his music established him as a pop cult hero. He cites Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...

, The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...

, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

 and Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...

 as his musical influences. All his albums have been certified at least gold or platinum, including "Mythomane" in 1981, "La notte, la notte" in 1984, "Pop satori" in 1986, produced with a young William Orbit
William Orbit
William Orbit is an English musician, composer and record producer, perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna's album Ray of Light. He has also co-produced several unreleased Madonna songs originally recorded for other albums...

, "Pour nos vies martiennes" in 1988 and the double platinum "Paris ailleurs" in 1991, recorded in New York.

A best-selling recording artist in his own right in France, Daho is best known in Britain for his appearance on the number 11 Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...

 hit single "He's On The Phone", which is an English-language adaptation of his 1984 French-language big hit "Weekend à Rome". He also collaborated with Saint Etienne on the Reserection EP
Reserection EP
Reserection EP was a 1995 release by French pop star Étienne Daho, working alongside English dance-pop band Saint Etienne. It was only released in France and Japan....

, his album Eden, and his single hit Le Premier Jour.

Daho's collaborations and productions both on stage and in the studio with other artists have been extensive. He has worked with the likes of Brigitte Fontaine
Brigitte Fontaine
Brigitte Fontaine, born in 1939 in Morlaix in the Brittany region of France, is a singer of avant-garde music. During the course of her career she has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry and world rhythms...

, Arthur Baker
Arthur Baker (musician)
Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...

, Air, Working Week
Working Week (band)
Working Week were a British jazz-dance musical ensemble, active in the 1980s and 1990s.Working Week were formed in 1983 by guitarist Simon Booth and saxophonist Larry Stabbins, who were previously in post punk outfit Weekend...

, '80's new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 band Comateens
Comateens
The Comateens were originally a New Wave duo formed in 1978 in New York City by bassist/vocalist Nic North and guitarist Ramona Jan. Soon after, Lyn Byrd joined on vocals and synthesiser, and the duo became a trio...

, Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE is an English-born actress and singer who lives in France. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Burma.- Early life :...

, Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....

, Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy is a French singer, actress and astrologer. Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style. She is married to the singer and movie actor Jacques Dutronc.-Biography:...

, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...

, Vanessa Paradis
Vanessa Paradis
Vanessa Chantal Paradis is a French singer, model and actress. She became a child star at 14 with the worldwide success of her single "Joe le taxi"...

, Dani
Dani
Dani is a unisex given name typically truncated from the name Daniel or Danielle.Dani may refer to:-People:* Dani people, a people living in the isolated central highlands of West Papua* Danes -Given name:...

 and more. His music has also been remixed, among others, by Air, Fischerspooner
Fischerspooner
Fischerspooner is an electroclash duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in New York. The name is a portmanteau of the founders' last names, Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner...

, Amon Tobin
Amon Tobin
Amon Adonai Santos de Araújo Tobin , known as Amon Tobin, is a Brazilian musician, composer and producer of electronic music. He is described as a virtuoso sound designer and is considered to be one of the most influential electronic music artists in the world...

 and William Orbit
William Orbit
William Orbit is an English musician, composer and record producer, perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna's album Ray of Light. He has also co-produced several unreleased Madonna songs originally recorded for other albums...

.

Daho's 1996 album Eden displayed a diverse array of electronic-oriented songs that included downtempo ballads, drum 'n' bass-influenced tracks, and HiNRG dance. He duetted with Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...

 ("Les bords de Seine") and was accompanied by The Swingle Singers
The Swingle Singers
The Swingle Singers are a mostly a cappella vocal group formed in 1962 in Paris, France by Ward Swingle with Anne Germain, Jeanette Baucomont, Jean Cussac and others. Christiane Legrand, the sister of composer Michel Legrand, was the group's lead soprano through 1972. Until 2011 the group...

 on "Timide intimité". Backing vocals on several songs were provided by Lyn Byrd of the Comateens
Comateens
The Comateens were originally a New Wave duo formed in 1978 in New York City by bassist/vocalist Nic North and guitarist Ramona Jan. Soon after, Lyn Byrd joined on vocals and synthesiser, and the duo became a trio...

, Sarah Cracknell
Sarah Cracknell
Sarah Cracknell is an English pop singer who fronts the band Saint Etienne and is known for her light, smooth singing voice. She is the daughter of Stanley Kubrick's first assistant director Derek Cracknell.-Career:...

 (who co-wrote "Les passagers"), and Elli Medeiros
Elli Medeiros
Elli Medeiros is a singer and actress .- The Stinky Toys :Medeiros moved to Paris, France, at the age of 14, dropped out of high school a couple of years later and joined the punk band The Stinky Toys....

.

Eden was subsequently re-released for the anglophone market with great reviews with the song "A New World", which was an English language version of "Au Commencement". Daho performed in a sold out I.C.A. He also sang at the Marquee in 1989.

After a double platinum greatest hits compilation Best of Singles in 1998, the number one Corps & armes in 2000 saw Daho eschewing electronics in favour of a more orchestral sound fuelled by traditional instruments: piano, acoustic guitar, horns, directed by Wil Malone. One of the tracks included an English-language duet with Vanessa Daou
Vanessa Daou
Vanessa Daou is an American singer, songwriter, poet, visual artist and dancer. Most notably a musician, her work is known among electronica, nu jazz and trip hop circles for her trademark spoken word and aspirated singing style as well as its erotic and literary subtexts.-Formative years:Daou was...

 ("Make Believe"). It includes also "Le brasier", "La baie" and "Ouverture".

Daho shifted gears once again for his dark and moody 2004 album Réévolution, which featured a guitar-heavy rock sound. He released the single hit "If" with Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...

 as well as the Phil Spector influenced "Retour a toi" and "Les liens d'Eros" with Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....

, reading her great uncle Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch was an Austrian writer and journalist, who gained renown for his romantic stories of Galician life. The term masochism is derived from his name....

 Venus in furs
Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs is a novella by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the best known of his works. The novel was part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series...

.

In 2005, Daho released a live album Sortir Ce Soir, which featured many of his greatest hits performed in concert. He is working on a project with David Roback
David Roback
David Roback is a guitarist and songwriter best known as a member of the duo Mazzy Star.Roback grew up in Los Angeles and attended Palisades High School, graduating in 1975. He was a classmate and neighbor of John Hoffs, the brother of Susanna Hoffs, who would eventually become the lead singer of...

 from Mazzy star
Mazzy Star
Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Monica, California, in 1989 from the group Opal, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback and bassist Kendra Smith...

 and a new album for 2007.

In 2007, his new album, L'Invitation, which was created with Edith Fambuena, was released to good press reviews. In 2008, a compilation of covers was released, called Tombés pour Daho (after Daho's single, Tombé pour la France). The recording artists include Benjamin Biolay, Doriand, Elli Medeiros, Daniel Darc, and Arnold Turboust. In the same year, on March 8, Daho received a Victoire de la Musique award in the category Album Pop / Rock of the Year.

For record sleeves and music videos Daho collaborates with Pierre et Gilles
Pierre et Gilles
Pierre et Gilles, Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard, are French artists and romantic partners. They produce highly stylized photographs, building their own sets and costumes as well as retouching the photographs...

, Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...

, Nick Knight
Nick Knight
Nicholas Verity Knight is a former England cricketer. Knight's middle name was in honour of the 1930s English Test bowler Hedley Verity who was killed in World War II and is a distant family relation...

, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
-Life and career:Jean-Pierre Jeunet was born in Roanne, Loire, France. He bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short films while studying animation at Cinémation Studios. He befriended Marc Caro, a designer and comic book artist who became his longtime collaborator and...

, M/M (Paris), Åbäke, Inez van Lamsweerde and Guy Peellaert
Guy Peellaert
Guy Peellaert was a Belgian artist, painter, illustrator, comic artist and photographer, most famous for the book Rock Dreams, and his album covers for rock artists like David Bowie and The Rolling Stones ...

 among others.

Translations and covers

  • Daho re-recorded the song "Au Commencement" in English as "A New World" for the anglophone market.
  • He released dance mixes by remixers such as William Orbit
    William Orbit
    William Orbit is an English musician, composer and record producer, perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna's album Ray of Light. He has also co-produced several unreleased Madonna songs originally recorded for other albums...

     of some of his '80s singles, such as "Épaule Tattoo", in the '90s.
  • Spanish singer Luz Casal
    Luz Casal
    Luz Casal, born November 11, 1958 at Boimorto, is a Spanish pop singer. She grew up in neighbouring Asturias, took singing, piano and ballet classes, and moved to Madrid to pursue a career as a musician....

     recorded a cover version of "Duel au soleil" in Spanish called "Un Nuevo Dia Brillara" that became a hit song.
  • Saint Etienne
    Saint Etienne (band)
    Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...

    's single He's on the Phone is heavily based on Daho's "Week-end à Rome", and features his speech from the original recording. Daho also collaborated with the band on several other songs.
  • A fan of Pink Floyd, Daho has recorded versions of "Arnold Layne" and "Cirrus Minor."
  • Nouvelle Vague
    Nouvelle Vague (band)
    Nouvelle Vague is a French musical collective led by musicians Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Their name is a play on words, meaning "new wave" in French, and "bossa nova" in Portuguese...

     recorded a cover version of "Week-end à Rome" with Vanessa Paradis
    Vanessa Paradis
    Vanessa Chantal Paradis is a French singer, model and actress. She became a child star at 14 with the worldwide success of her single "Joe le taxi"...

    .

Albums

  • Mythomane (1981) – Virgin-
  • La notte, la notte (1984) – Virgin-
  • Tombé pour la France (mini album) (1985) – Virgin-
  • Pop satori (1986) – Virgin-
  • Pour nos vies martiennes (1988) – Virgin-
  • Live ED (1989) – Virgin-
  • Paris ailleurs (1991) – Virgin-
  • DahOlympia (1993) – Virgin-
  • Réserection
    Reserection EP
    Reserection EP was a 1995 release by French pop star Étienne Daho, working alongside English dance-pop band Saint Etienne. It was only released in France and Japan....

     (EP with St. Etienne
    Saint Etienne (band)
    Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...

    ) (1995) – Virgin-
  • Eden (1996) – Virgin-
  • Singles (1998) – Virgin-
  • Corps & armes (2000) – Virgin-
  • Daho Live (2001) – Virgin-
  • Dans la peau de Daho (long box) (2002) – Virgin-
  • Réévolution (2003) – Virgin-
  • Sortir ce soir (best of live) (2005) -Capitol-
  • Pop satori Deluxe (boxset) (2006) -Capitol-
  • L'invitation (2007) -Capitol-
  • Daho Pleyel Paris (Live) ( 2009) -Capitol-

Vidéos

  • 1986 : Une Nuit Satori à l'Olympia – VHS- Virgin-
  • 1991 : Paris Ailleurs – VHS- Virgin-
  • 1993 : Daholympia – VHS – Virgin-
  • 1998 : Intégrale des Clips – VHS/DVD- Virgin-
  • 2001 : Daho Live – VHS/DVD- Virgin-
  • 2005 : Sortir Ce Soir – DVD – Capitol- Dvd de platine
  • 2008 : An Evening with Daho – DVD – Capitol –
  • 2009 : Daho Pleyel Paris – DVD – Capitol –

Books

  • Frédérique Veysset, Daho dans tous ses états, Les Humanoïdes associés, 1989
  • Eric Chemouny et Pierre Fageolle, Étienne Daho, Presses de la Cité, 2001
  • David Sanson, Étienne Daho de A à Z, Express Prelude & Fugue, 2002
  • Antoine Giacomoni, Daho par Giacomoni, The mirror sessions parties photographies, Horizons illimités, 2004
  • Carole Vernier “ Sensibilité et passion” Éd. Rouchon, 2006
  • Aurélie Christa, “ Du passé compliqué au présent simple”, Éd. Thélès, 2007
  • Benoit Cachin “ Portraits et entretiens” Éd. Tournon, 2007
  • Christophe Conte “ Une histoire d'Etienne Daho” Éd. Flammarion/ Pop culture, 2008

External links

Official Site http://www.myspace.com/etiennedaho
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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