Allez Allez is a Belgian

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band founded in 1981. They disbanded in 1985 but subsequently reformed with a line-up change for several concerts in 2017.

History

On the verge of an international breakthrough in 1981, funky Belgian new wave band Marine lost their singer Marc Marine while in London to record a

Peel session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

. Quickly replaced by Sarah Osborne of Repetition, they recorded the planned Peel session and changed their name to Allez Allez. The group had local hits with "She's Stirring Up", "Allez Allez" and "African Queen", the latter a tribute to

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

. Their mini-album ''African Queen'' achieved gold status and earned them an appearance at the Torhout-Werchter festival in 1982. The band then signed with major label Virgin and released the polished pop album ''Promises'' in November 1982, though Osborne subsequently left the group and married

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. American singer Jackie Irwin replaced Osborne, but mainstream success still eluded the band. Under the name Marka, their bass player later became a well-known singer in French music circles. He is also the father of the acclaimed singers

Angèle Angèle is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Angèle (singer) (born Angèle Van Laeken, 1995), Belgian singer *Angele Anang, Thai drag queen *Angèle Dola Akofa Aguigah (born 1955), Togolese archaeologist *Angèle Arsenault ...

and

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. Christian Debusscher and Nico Fransolet became members of Les Snuls, and both have subsequently worked as directors. Members of the band decided to reunite to do some gigs in 2017, including their first appearance at the

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festival in July. This was followed by several other dates. As two key members - Fransolet and Osborne - declined to be involved, the group chose to work with two female singers, Kyoko Bartsoen (who had sung with

Hooverphonic Hooverphonic is a Belgian electronic band that was formed in October 1995. Though originally categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where it could no longer be described as a belonging to a single genre, ...

) and Marie, and Paul Curtiz who also joined them on guitar. At the same time, bassist Marka wrote a book of memoirs about his time in the band, ''Allez Allez'', published by Lamiroy.Allez Allez, Lamiroy
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Discography

Albums

* ''African Queen'' (1981 - EMI/Scalp) * ''Promises'' (1982 - Virgin) * ''African Queen + Promises'' (1997 - Virgin CD) * ''Best of Allez Allez'' (2008 - Eskimo CD) * ''Promises + African Queen'' (2013 - Les Disques du Crepuscule CD)

Singles

* "She's Stirring Up" (1981), Scalp * "Allez Allez/African Queen" (1981), Scalp * "Valley of the Kings/Wrap Your Legs" (1982), Virgin * "Flesh and Blood/The Time You Cost Me" (1982), Virgin * "Don't Bother Me/Strange People" (1984), Vogue * "Boom Boom/The Brain" (1984), Sounds of the Future

References

Belgian pop music groups English-language musical groups from Belgium Musical groups from Brussels Musical groups established in 1981 {{authority control