JACQUES HIGELIN

JACQUES HIGELIN
PART 2

Champagne et caviar
On December 10th 1979, Higelin brought out one of his major works of his career, "Champagne pour tout le monde" and "Caviar pour les autres", two albums released simultaneously and which invaded the media that winter. Higelin began recording them in New Orleans. A fan of swing, jazz and boogie, Louisiana was a musical paradise for him. Inspite of this, he didn't manage to record exactly what he wanted. Back in France, he called up his old friend, the recording engineer, Laurent Thibault. The duo injected a joyous disorder into the material. The atmosphere of both albums is highly theatrical, like the new diabolical stage persona Higelin was forging at that time. The sales of both discs represent a summit in the singer's career. One after the other "Tête en l'air", "Hold tight", and above all "Champagne", were top of the charts. Everywhere he performed, audiences applauded the theatrical lyricism - which his critics felt was pretentious.
In December 79, he gave an unforgettable concert at the Pavillon Baltard in the Paris suburbs. A year later, he played to full houses at the Mogador theatre and recorded an album. Released in May 81, it was a triple golden disc. Even if Jacques Higelin was sometimes guilty of over-extravagant creative whims, his need for forever new musical experiences remained intact.
To celebrate François Mitterrand's election victory in May 1981, Higelin gave a concert with the band, Téléphone, in the middle of Paris, in Place de la République. In 1982, the hectic rhythm of tours and shows continued. His new show, "Jacques Joseph Victor dort", half theatre half concert, played for eight weeks at the Cirque d'Hiver. There followed a long and triumphant tour in the provinces, with a memorable show in Paris on June 21st during the Fête de la Musique. Thousands of people followed him, perched on top of a lorry, through the streets of the capital. During the summer of 82, Jacques Higelin and his seven musicians played to 10.000 fans packed into the Roman theatre in Orange.
Deceptively lazy, Higelin has in fact never stopped producing new work. In his "Higelin 82" album, released in September that year, he signed some sublimely written ballads. In "La ballade de chez Tao" he sings about his adopted home, Corsica. But it is above all in "La putain vierge" or "Beauté crachée" that his poetic talents are the mostly forcefully expressed. He hired a new bassist for the album, Eric Serra, the composer-to-be of the film scores of Luc Besson's films, particularly "Le Grand Bleu".

Wedding nights
In 1983 Higelin played for four months at the Casino de Paris, from September onwards. Nightly, in front of dumbstruck but enchanted houses, he remarried his partner, Kuelan. The show, although extraordinary was audience-friendly, as usual. A series of projects followed the next year. He recorded Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" with the Israeli National Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta. At the Palais de Trocadero in Paris, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, he put on a new show, "Corde raide et piano volant", a mixture of jazz and circus during which a tightrope walker traversed the esplanade. He also performed with jazzman Luther Allison in Paris and with Quebec singer Diane Dufresne in Montreal, in a show just as mad and poetic as his productions. He finished the year on a quieter note, touring Africa, from Zaire to Senegal. He met a host of musicians there, and shared the bill with local stars such as Stanislas Tohon in Bénin.
On October 21st 1985 the Aï album came out, including chart topping tracks like "Jack in the box" and "La Croisade des enfants".
Produced by the Quebecker Michel Pagliaro, the disc reflected Higelin's anxiety about contempory times and the often unpleasant lot of contemporaries. He recorded the album in France and Analusia with musician as varied as Eric Serra on bass, Didier Malherbe (ex-Gong) on saxophone, Jean-Louis Mahjun on violin and Mahut on percussion. With the same group, he played the 16.000 seat Bercy stadium in Paris with, as guest artists, two African singers as yet little known in Europe, the Senegalese Youssou N'Dour and the Guinean Mory Kanté. But, for the first time, Higelin went a bit too far. The set, depicting the square in front of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, was megalomaniac. The show was a critical and commercial flop.
Badly battered by the Bercy debacle, Higelin left on a tour of modest provincial venues to refind his roots and rebuild a fresh rapport with his fans. He appeared in films, wrote and composed alone at home, and overhauled his working methods.
In 1987, he published "Lettres d'amour d'un soldat de vingt ans", his love letters while he was doing his military service twenty-five years earlier.
At peace with himself, serene anew, Jacques Higelin brought out the "Tombé du ciel" album in December 1988. Written by entirely by Higelin, the disc was produced by Jacno. It was a huge hit, particularly the track, "Tombé du ciel", but Higelin's favourite remains "Le Parc Montsouris", a song about the park in Southern Paris next to which he lives. In November began a series of shows at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Northern Paris. The sets and the lighting were over sophisticated and detracted somewhat from Higelin's spontaneity. Nevertheless, it was a big success. After forty-five nights at the Villette, left on a long tour, finishing at the Printemps de Bourges festival in April 89. In almost six months, he had played to 700.000 people, a number all the more impressive considering Higelin insisted more then ever on playing small venues. During this tour, teamed up with life-long friend Brigitte Fontaine. The duo gave several memorable concerts, both artists performing with the same enthusiasm as at their début.
On December 31st 1989, Higelin organised a new year's eve party at the Zenith auditorium in Paris. From 21h30 until dawn, he led his audience through a wild night in the company of a host of friends : Paul Personne, Raoul Petite, Didier Lockwood, Eric Serra and members of the Arcaos circus.

CHAMPAGNE POUR TOUT LE MONDE, (1979)
320 KBPS
1. Champagne
2. Cayenne C'Est Fini
3. Tete En L'Air
4. Dans Mon Aeroplane Blinde
5. Ah La La Quelle Vie Qu'Cette Vie
6. L'Attentat A La Pudeur
7. Hold Tight (Sea Food)
8. Captain Bloody Samurai
9. Vague A L'Ame

CAVIAR POUR LES AUTRES... (1979)
320 KBPS
1. Mama Nouvelle Orléans
2. Trois Tonnes De T.N.T.
3. Ci-Gît Une Star
4. Avec La Rage En D'Dans
5. Je Ne Peux Plus Dire Je T'Aime
6. Beau, Beau Ou Laid
7. Entre Deux Gares
8. Le Fil à La Patte Du CaméLéon
9. Rappelle-Moi
10. On A Rainy Sunday Afternoon

HIGELIN 82 (1982)
320 KBPS
1. Encore Une Journee D'foutue
2. Jack Au Banjo
3. Nascimo
4. Boogie Rouille
5. Manque De Classe
6. Lobotomie / Autonomie
7. La Ballade De Chez Tao
8. La Putain Vierge
9. Beaute Crachee

AÏ (1985)
320 KBPS
1. Jack In The Box
2. Slim Back Boogie
3. Fiche Anthropome
4. Cult Movie
5. Captain Dodecaphonique Dada
6. Exces De Zele
7. Coups De Lune
8. Broadway
9. Mamy
10. Adios
11. La Croisade Des Enfants
12. Je Ne Sais Pas
13. Ai
14. Laura Lorelei
15. Serre Moi
16. Victoria

TOMBE DU CIEL (1988)
320 KBPS
1. Follow The Line
2. La Fuite Dans Les Idees
3. Bras De Fer
4. Parc Montsouris
5. Higelin Tombe Du Ciel
6. Poil Dans La Main
7. Chanson
8. Tom Bonbadilom
9. Ballade Pour Roger
10. Le Drapeau De La Colere
11. Symphonie Des Droits De L'homme

password: MOODSWINGSmusic