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Biography
other usesRefimprove|date=December 2010Infobox musical artist | name = Ange (Engl. "angel")| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = France | genre = Progressive rock | years_active = 1969–1995; 1999–present| label =| associated_acts =| website = http://www.angemusic.com/ Angemusic, the official website of the band| current_members =| past_members =| notable_instruments = Ange is a France|French progressive rock band formed in September 1969 by the Décamps brothers, Francis Décamps|Francis (keyboards) and Christian Décamps|Christian (vocals, accordion, acoustic guitar and keyboards).
History
Ange was initially influenced by Genesis (band)|Genesis and King Crimson , and its music was quite theatrical and poetic. Its first success in France was the cover of a Jacques Brel song, Ces Gens-Là (song)|Ces gens-là , on its second album Le Cimetière des Arlequins . The band provided its first concert on January 30, 1970 at the cultural center "La Pépinière", in Belfort , France . It performed 110 concerts in England from 1973 to 1976, opening for Genesis (band)|Genesis at the Reading Festival in England , on August 26, 1973, fronting some 30.000 listeners.
One of the reasons for which the band was unable to break through into the British market was because they sang in French. Ange eventually released an English-speaking version of its fifth album Par les fils de Mandrin ( By the sons of Mandrin ), which sold poorly and is hard to find, although this version has since been made available on CD. Unfortunately, after three albums, the quality of creation had started to decrease, and Par les fils de Mandrin was probably not a good choice to try to break into the British market. Au delà du délire , third album, could be the band's best effort and is recommended as the one to listen to as a starter, for newcomers to the Ange progressive phenomenon.
Following Par les fils de Mandrin and the excellent live double album Tome VI , the band issued a mellotron one, Guet-apens , and then had a change of direction into a more rock-oriented colour, although various progressive reformations occurred over the years, e.g. for the 1992 album Les larmes du Dalaï-Lama . Sponsored by the French radio RTL (French radio)|RTL , Ange relentlessly toured till the end of 1977, welcoming an average of 5,000 to 6,000 listeners per show. During its first years (generally regarded as the best ones), the other three members of the band were Jean-Michel Brézovar on guitar and flute, Gérard Jelsch on drums, and Daniel Hass on bass (and acoustic guitar). In 1995, Ange played its announced farewell tour.
Christian Décamps released a few albums as "Christian Décamps et Fils" ("Christian Décamps and Son"), before taking over the name "Ange" in 1999, and is backed by his band for his solo albums. The new lineup has issued several albums from La voiture à eau in 1999, performed on 2006 edition of NEARfest and is still on the road in 2011.
Francis Décamps and Jean-Michel Brézovar have also released solo albums.
Keyboards
The keyboard sounds of the '70s-era band, while reminiscent of a mellotron , were in fact generated from a Viscount Organ (music)|organ through a modded Hammond organ|Hammond reverb. However, an actual mellotron was played on the album Guet-Apens in 1978.
Discography
Christian and Francis Décamps era
Caricatures (Ange album)|Caricatures (1972)
Le Cimetière des arlequins (1973)
Au-delà du délire (1974)
Émile Jacotey|Emile Jacotey (1975)
Par les fils de Mandrin (1976)
Tome VI : Live 1977 (1977)
En concert : Live 1970-1971 (1977)
Guet-apens (1978)
''Vu d'un chien (1980)
Moteur! (1981)
La Gare de Troyes (1983)
Fou (1984)
Egna (1986)
''Tout feu tout flamme... C'est pour de rire (1987)
A propos de... (1982)
Sève qui peut (1987)
Vagabondages (Compilation) (1989)
Les larmes du Dalaï Lama (1992)
Mémo (Compilation) (1994)
''Un p'tit tour et puis s'en vont : Live 1995 (1995)
Tome 87 (Live) (2002)
Ange en concert : Par les fils de Mandrin (Millésimé 77) (2004)
Ange, le livre des légendes subtitled ''L'anthologie définitive sur le groupe mythique du rock français by Thierry Busson, Xavier Chatagnon and Bruno Versmisse, 292 pages, Éclipse éditions, 1995. ISBN 2-911494-00-8
See also
Timeline of progressive rock
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.angemusic.com/ Angemusic, the official website of the band (in French)
http://www.updlm.com/ Un pied dans la marge, the official fanclub of the band (in French)
DEFAULTSORT:Ange Category:French progressive rock groups Category:Musical groups established in 1970 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1995 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1999
