Alain Bashung

Alain Bashung

Born: December 1, 1947
Died: March 14, 2009
in Paris, France
Alain Bashung (born Alain Claude Baschung; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded in his home country as the most important French rock musician after Serge Gainsbourg. He rose to prominence in the early 1980s with hit songs such as "Gaby oh Gaby" and "Vertige de l'amour", and later had a string of hit records from the 1990s onward, such as "Osez Joséphine", "Ma petite entreprise" and "La nuit je mens". He has had an influence on many later French artists, and is the most awarded artist in the Victoires de la Musique history with 12 victories obtained throughout his career.

Bashung's Play blessures (1982), Osez Joséphine (1991), and Fantaisie militaire (1998) have made multiple French lists of the greatest albums. L'Imprudence (2002) and Bleu pétrole (2008), the last two studio albums released during his lifetime, also garnered acclaim. Bashung died at 61 after a two-year fight with lung cancer.

Alain Baschung (he later dropped the "c" from his surname) was the son of a Breton mother working in a rubber factory and an Algerian father, whom he never knew. His mother remarried, and at the age of one, Bashung was sent to Wingersheim, near Strasbourg to live with his stepfather's parents. He spent his childhood in the countryside, in a rather conservative environment, alongside a grandmother who did not speak French. He discovered music during his childhood, notably Kurt Weill's Mahagonny, and began to practice with a Rosebud harmonica offered to him when he was five. He also practiced basketball and cycling and sang in the church choir of Wingersheim.

He came back to Paris in 1959, where he discovered the great chanson artists, and then rock artists such as Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly (whom he admired deeply), and Elvis Presley. While studying (before dropping out after he was awarded a BTS in accountancy from the École nationale de commerce in 1965), he formed a band called Les Dunces playing folk music and rockabilly.

He later formed a band with musicians met in Royan, and then began to tour in restaurants, hotels and U.S. military bases. He began his career with his first EP, "Pourquoi rêvez-vous des États-Unis?" in 1966, which he wrote and composed. At the same time, he joined the RCA label to become a music arranger. He wrote songs for French artists. In June 1967, at the Palais des Sports of Paris, he was the opening act (alongside Noël Deschamps and Ronnie Bird) of artists such as the Pretty Things, the Troggs or Cream.

In 1968, he released his first single, "Les Romantiques", which was largely ignored by the public and unsuccessful. Around that time, he dropped the "c" from his name and spent some time at the house of fellow singer Christophe.

From 1972 to 1974, he composed some of the music and cowrote three albums and three singles (including "Marilou") for French rock singer Dick Rivers. In 1973, he played Robespierre in the musical La Révolution française by Claude-Michel Schönberg. ...

Source: Article "Alain Bashung" from Wikipedia in english, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Alain Bashung...

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart
Title: Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart
Character: Jack l'éventreur (voice)
Released: February 5, 2014
Type: Movie
In Scotland 1874, Jack is born on the coldest day ever. Because of the extreme cold, his heart stops beating. The responsible midwife in Edinburgh finds a way to save him by replacing his heart with a clock. So he lives and remains under the midwife's protective care. But he must not get angry or excited because that endangers his life by causing his clock to stop working. Worse than that, when he grows up, he has to face the fact he cannot fall in love because that too could stop his delicate heart.
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Les Enfants de la Pop 80's
Title: Les Enfants de la Pop 80's
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: October 22, 2012
Type: Movie
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Bashung à l'Olympia
Title: Bashung à l'Olympia
Released: November 16, 2009
Type: Movie
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I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster
Title: I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster
Character: Alain Bashung
Released: March 26, 2008
Type: Movie
Told in four vignettes, this existential comedy relates the exploits of four aspiring criminals who hope to improve their lot, but find that they might not have what it takes for a life of crime.
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The Curious Boy
Title: The Curious Boy
Character: The police inspector
Released: April 28, 2004
Type: Movie
Clement, nine, curious about everything, wants to understand life. Camera in hand, he walks the streets of his small provincial town, following and studying "grown-ups".
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Bashung, Alain - La tournée des grands espaces
Title: Bashung, Alain - La tournée des grands espaces
Character: Self
Released: October 9, 2003
Type: Movie
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La bande du drugstore
Title: La bande du drugstore
Character: Le prof de philo
Released: April 17, 2002
Type: Movie
In the sixties, the Drugstore "minets" were the best dressed, believed only in themselves and imagined themselves reinventing everything. The drag, the clubs, the first joints, the vacations on the Normandy coast, but also love and show-offs. Philippe and Marc do the four hundred tricks. Charlotte and Nathalie do the same on their side. Against a backdrop of Otis Redding and the Animals, a sentimental education before the upheaval of May 1968. The fury of living in a France that is bored.
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L'origine du monde
Title: L'origine du monde
Character: Richard
Released: May 9, 2001
Type: Movie
A young policeman of Moroccan origin investigates the murder of an informer. His investigations soon lead him to question his own past.
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Felix and Lola
Title: Felix and Lola
Character: le chanteur
Released: March 7, 2001
Type: Movie
Félix, operator of dodgem cars in a fairground, becomes obsessed by one of his customers, a mysterious young woman named Lola. Félix soon discovers that Lola is running away from her former boyfriend, a singer who continues to taunt her. Lola asks Félix to prove his love for her by murdering a man he does not know...
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Confusion of Genders
Title: Confusion of Genders
Character: Etienne
Released: December 20, 2000
Type: Movie
Bisexual attorney Alain is bedding his female boss, his murderer client, the client's hairdresser girlfriend, and a precocious boy who knows what he wants and tries to convince Alain that he can 'have it all'.
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I Want It All
Title: I Want It All
Character: Marc
Released: November 17, 1999
Type: Movie
The collision between family life and career lies at the heart of this comedy hailing from France. A mother of two small children, Eva's life goes from stressful to insane when she is told that she is a project finalist for the design of a massive European hospital. She and her working husband Philippe try desperately to balance their commitments to their kids, careers, and themselves.
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My Father, My Mother, My Brothers and My Sisters
Title: My Father, My Mother, My Brothers and My Sisters
Character: Guy
Released: June 16, 1999
Type: Movie
Young single mother has two sons and a daughter by three different fathers who are completely unaware of having fathered them. Anne's mother conjures up a plot to make everyone involved to go on a beach holiday in Mexico at the same time so that her grandchildren could meet their fathers and their new families.
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Title: Vivement dimanche
Character: Self
Released: September 20, 1998
Type: TV
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Alain Bashung : Confessions publiques
Title: Alain Bashung : Confessions publiques
Character: Himself
Released: October 4, 1995
Type: Movie
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My Chinese Sister
Title: My Chinese Sister
Character: Robert Chantegris
Released: November 9, 1994
Type: Movie
In 1977, one year after Mao died, a French man ( played by Alain Bashung) comes back to China to work as a school teacher with his daughter. He quickly ignores the interdiction of getting in touch with Chinese people and finds himself drawn into mysterious meetings at the Red Pavilion. MY CHINESE SISTER is a movie about pretense and the mystification of reality.
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A Shadow of a Doubt
Title: A Shadow of a Doubt
Character: Father
Released: September 11, 1993
Type: Movie
Aline Issermann's "Shades of Doubt" ("L'Ombre du Doute"), a French film about a wrenching family crisis, is set forth with remarkable restraint. The subject is incest, but the story's potential for tawdriness is never exploited. Instead, Ms. Issermann presents a discreet, methodical account of how 12-year-old Alexandrine comes to bring and then recant charges against her father, Jean.
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Nothing But Lies
Title: Nothing But Lies
Character: Adrien
Released: December 11, 1991
Type: Movie
Frustrated with her life, a Parisian tells her philandering husband about her lover.
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Title: Les Nuls, l'émission
Character: Self - Musical Guest
Released: October 13, 1990
Type: TV
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Title: Nulle part ailleurs
Character: Self
Released: August 31, 1987
Type: TV
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Le Beauf
Title: Le Beauf
Character: Self
Released: January 7, 1987
Type: Movie
Gilbert, assigned to incinerate old banknotes at the Bank of France, lives with his wife, Gisèle, and his young son, Thomas. A few years earlier, he had formed a rock band with Serge and Gisèle's brother, Marc. The latter, abusing his naivety, make him believe that he has been robbed of a briefcase containing a million dollars and that, because of his fault, Marc is in danger of dying. The objective is to force Gilbert to put his incinerator out of order to facilitate the bank robbery. Gilbert refuses at first, then gives in. But he discovers that he has been cheated. To get revenge, he tells the police the date and time of the robbery.
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self (Rock Album of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: (Male Artist of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self (Male Artist & Song/Variety Album of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self (Male Artist & Song/Variety Album & Tour of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: (Music DVD of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: (Song/Variety Album of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: (Original Cinema/Television Soundtrack of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Car Cemetery
Title: Car Cemetery
Character: Emanou
Released: April 30, 1983
Type: Movie
The plot is set in a post apocalyptic Junkyard where people take refuge from authority and are able to practice their fantasies and fetishes without being stopped by the police. These people are led by Emanou who is a sort of Messiah, who promises music rather than salvation.
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Nestor Burma, détective de choc
Title: Nestor Burma, détective de choc
Character: Bo Craddock
Released: April 14, 1982
Type: Movie
Detective Nestor Burma begins an investigation into the corrupt drug-ridden punk rock music world.
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Title: Champs-Elysées
Character: Self
Released: January 16, 1982
Type: TV
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Title: Numéro un
Character: Self
Released: April 5, 1975
Type: TV
A French variety show.
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Title: Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Character: Self
Released: January 12, 1975
Type: TV
A talk show presented by Michel Drucker
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Title: Cadet Rousselle
Character: Self
Released: November 4, 1971
Type: TV
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Title: Discorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1959
Type: TV