WILLIAM SHELLER

WILLIAM SHELLER

William Sheller is one of France's most technically and musically accomplished songwriters, capable of leading symphonic orchestras as well as handling the stage alone with a microphone and a piano or writing elaborate classical pieces. In the pop music domain, and since the beginning of his official career in 1968, he's had a bunch of hit singles, from Les Irrésistibles' "My Year Is a Day" to "Rock'n'Dollars," "Symphoman," or the famous "Un Homme Heureux," all displaying strong songwriting and melodic skills and fragile, gentle vocal parts.

Born in Paris in 1946, Sheller was the son of an American father and a French mother, and spent his childhood in the U.S.A. Raised to the sounds of jazz music and to the teaching of classical music, his parents encouraged him to follow a promising musician career at the early age of 16. But Sheller only met his true master when he heard the Beatles for the first time, an experience that would imprint his entire career. Sheller sought his inspiration in this passion without ever copying their works in any way. In 1968, he formed a first band, the Worst, and hit his first success that same year with "My Year Is a Day," a song he had written for the band Les Irrésistibles. After the release of a couple of commercially deceptive singles, he got back to the studio as an arranger for Dalida and Barbara. On the side, he kept writing film music and classical pieces, showing a tendency to mix classical elements with pop music elements in a very personal way. Encouraged by Barbara, who was a strong believer in his talents, he recorded a debut LP in 1975, Rock'n'Dollars, that would be his breakthrough record. Reassured by this success, he went on releasing four other records (Dans un Vieux Rock'n'Roll, Symphoman, Nicolas, and J'Suis Pas Bien), but only hit the stage in 1981, in Bobino, and in the Olympia one year later, leading to the release of a first live album. He kept on juggling with his various skills and inspirations throughout the '80s, performing on-stage with the Halvenalf Quatuor in 1983 and recording 1989's Ailleurs record. In 1991, a recording of a piano/vocals series of career-spanning live shows was released under the title Sheller en Solitaire. The record featured Sheller's most successful and popular song to date, "Un Homme Heureux," an utterly beautiful track, but one that unfortunately channeled a distorted, less challenging image of Sheller's works. An ambiguous situation that was to be illustrated by 1994's Albion's cold public welcome, in spite of general critical praise. In 2000's album Les Machines Absurdes, Sheller synthesized most of his various musical obsessions, only to come back in 2004 with a home-recorded, critically acclaimed piano/vocal intimate LP, Epures. In 2005, a career-celebrating concert was released on DVD, and Sheller kept on working on Ostinato, a classical piece to be interpreted by the Ostinato Orchestra.

ROCK'N DOLLARS (1975)
320 KBPS
1. Rock'n' Dollars
2. La maison de Mara
3. La fille de Montréal
4. Une fille comme ça
5. Laisse-moi tout seul
6. Oncle Arthur et moi
7. Photos-souvenirs
8. Comme je m'ennuie de toi
9. Les machine à sous
10. Hit parade Lady
11. Savez-vous ?
Bonus tracks
12. Chanson lente
13. Message urgent

DANS UN VIEUX ROCK'N'ROLL (1976)
320 KBPS
1. Dans un Vieux Rock'n'Roll
2. Téléphone pas trop tôt
3. La bière y était bonne
4. Une Chanson qui te ressemblerait
5. Ca ne sert à rien
6. 1.2.3.4.
7. Joker, poker
8. Genève
9. Le carnet à spirale
10. C'est l'hiver demain
11. A qui je m'abandonne

SYMPHOMAN (1977)
320 KBPS
1. Gimmick boy (Ne reste pas là Suzie Q)
2. A franchement parler
3. Hey, Docteur Disco
4. Catherine
5. Fandango
6. La Flash Assurance Limitée
7. Symphoman
8. La musique autour de moi
9. A l'après minuit
10. Elle dit soleil, elle dit ...

NICOLAS (1980)
320 KBPS
1. Une étonnante Européenne (à Mychèle Abraham)
2. Promenade française (instrumental)
3. J'ose pas
4. Petit comme un caillou
5. Oh, j'cours tout seul
6. Billy nettoie son saxophone
7. Un peu boogie-woogie sur les bords
8. Nicolas
9. Le petit Schubert est malade
10. Quand j'étais à vos genoux
11. Fier et fou de vous

J'SUIS PAS BIEN (1981)
320 KBPS
1. Pourquoi t'es plus new wave ?
2. J'suis pas bien
3. Les Orgueilleuses
4. J'attends dans la foule
5. La fille aînée du dernier des Cherokees
6. Une chanson noble et sentimentale
7. Les mots qui viennent tout bas
8. Genoveve
9. Ma hantise ordinaire
10. Un endroit pour vivre
11. La Bavaroise
Bonus tracks
12. J'me gènerais pas pour dire que j't'aime encore
13. Les petites filles modèes
14. Rosanna banana
15. La toccatarte

SIMPLEMENT (1984)
320 KBPS
1. Simplement
2. Maman est folle
3. Les filles de l'aurore
4. Mon Dieu que je l'aime
5. Le capitaine
6. L'amour noir
Bonus tracks
7. Mon Dieu que j'l'aime (nouvelle version studio)
8. I keep movin on

UNIVERS (1987)
320 KBPS
1. Darjeeling
2. Basket-ball
3. Encore une heure, encore une fois
4. Les Miroirs dans la boue
5. Chamber music
6. Le nouveau Monde
7. Cuir de Russie
8. Guernesey
9. L'empire de Toholl :
I-Ouverture et rhapsodie
II-1er chant de Toholl
III-L’impératorium
IV-Hymne de Toholl
V-2eme chant de Toholl

AILLEURS (1989)
320 KBPS
1. Le témoin magnifique
I-Prélude à tempo d'un jogger
II-Cadenza del Sol
III-Chant du témoin
2. Un archet sur mes veines
3. Excalibur
4. La Tête Brulée
5. Sergeï
6. Octuor
7. La Sumidagawa
8. Partita
9. Ailleurs
Bonus track
10. Un archet sur mes veines (alternate version)

ALBION (1994)
320 KBPS
1. Good bye good bye
2. Maintenant tout le temps
3. Les enfants sauvages
4. Silfax
5. I spy
6. La navale
7. Excalibur
8. Comme on n'oublie pas
9. On vit tous la même histoire
10. Relâche
Bonus track
11. Ridge Farm en Albion

MACHINES ABSURDES (2000)
320 KBPS
1. Parade (Le bel adieu)
2. Indies (Les millions de singes)
3. To you
4. Moondown
5. Sunfool
6. Athis
7. Misses Wan
8. Enygma song
9. Les machines absurdes
10. Chamberwood
Bonus track
11. Centre ville / Fantomas

EPURES (2004)
320 KBPS
1. Mon Hôtel
2. Chanson D'Automne
3. Toutes Les Choses Qu'On Lui Donne
4. Clandestine
5. Aidan Song
6. Elvira
7. Revenir Bientôt
8. Loulou
9. Pour La Main Gauche
10. J'En Avais Envie Aussi
11. Machines Absurdes
12. Cantilène

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