Lou Deprijck
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Francis Jean "Lou" Deprijck (; 11 January 1946 – 19 September 2023) was a Belgian singer and record producer. He was a major figure in the Belgian pop scene of the 1970s and 1980s, with more than 20 million copies of his compositions sold worldwide, making him one of the best selling Belgian artists. Deprijck is best known for having co-written with Yves Lacomblez and produced the 1977
Plastic Bertrand Roger François Jouret (born 24 February 1954), better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgium, Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "". Biography Early life ...
single "
Ça plane pour moi "Ça plane pour moi" () is a 1977 song by Belgian musician Plastic Bertrand. The music is also used in the 1977 song "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" by Elton Motello. The song has been covered by many artists, though the original recording was the most suc ...
".


Music career


Early work and Two Man Sound

His first group Pop' Liberty 6 had a complete flop in 1967 with "Je suis pop et tout à fait dingue". However he later found success with
Two Man Sound Two Man Sound was a Belgian pop trio of the 1970s. Their style combined the disco music typical of the era with samba and bossa nova. Their signature hits were 1975 "Charlie Brown" and a Latin track called " Disco Samba", released in 1977. "Charl ...
, a Latin-pop outfit formed with Sylvain Vanholme of the
Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...
and Yvan Lacomblez. Two Man Sound sold over a million copies of their 1975 single "Charlie Brown", while the album ''Disco Samba'', with its hugely successful
title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...
, sold around 1.4 million copies in Latin America.
Deprijck also had a major 1978 solo success in France and Belgium with
ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...
/
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
song "Kingston, Kingston", under the moniker Lou & The Hollywood Bananas.


Plastic Bertrand and Viktor Lazlo

In the English-speaking world, Deprijck's best known hit was "
Ça plane pour moi "Ça plane pour moi" () is a 1977 song by Belgian musician Plastic Bertrand. The music is also used in the 1977 song "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" by Elton Motello. The song has been covered by many artists, though the original recording was the most suc ...
", which he co-wrote and produced for
Plastic Bertrand Roger François Jouret (born 24 February 1954), better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgium, Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "". Biography Early life ...
. Deprijck always maintained that he performed the vocals on the original recording of "Ça plane pour moi", and the question remains controversial. In 2006 the Brussels court of appeal, upholding the decision of a lower court, found that Bertrand was the sole interpreter of the song."Plastic Bertrand est, juridiquement, le seul artiste-interprète"
''
La Dernière Heure ''La Dernière Heure'' () and ''Les Sports'' (), currently sold under the name ''La DH Les Sports+'', is a French-language daily newspaper published in Brussels, Belgium. The paper is known for news and sports. History and profile ''La Dernià ...
'', 26 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
In 2010 an expert opinion produced for another case suggested the 1977 vocalist had a
picard Picard may refer to: Places * Picard, Quebec, Canada * Picard, California, United States * Picard (crater), a lunar impact crater in Mare Crisium People and fictional characters * Picard (name), a list of people and fictional characters with th ...
accent, like Deprijck's. This did not, however, alter the 2006 ruling, and media statements by Deprijk to the effect that his claim to be the singer had been "recognised by the justice system""Plastic Bertrand n'a pas chanté son tube"
''
Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'', 26 July 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
were ill-founded. (All of the proceedings between 2006 and 2010 arose from disputes between the record company AMC, which owned the catalogue of Plastic Bertrand's Belgian label RKM, and Deprijck, whom it believed to be making inappropriate use of the material. Deprijck never took the question of who sang what to court himself.) In an interview prompted by the 2010 episode, Bertrand appeared to admit that he was not the vocalist, but in a follow-up interview the next day he denied this, saying he was being ironic and had been trapped, and threatening legal action. This echoed a similar incident in the 1990s when Bertrand seemed to tell journalist
Gilles Verlant Gilles Verlant (11 June 1957 – 20 September 2013) was a Belgium, Belgian journalist, best known as a music critic and Rock music, rock expert. He was also Serge Gainsbourg's friend and wrote his definitive biography. He died from falling down a ...
that he was not the singer before quickly retracting. Since 2010, Bertrand has consistently said that he is the performer on the original recording, and this remains the position in law. In the 1980s, Deprijck was also the creative force behind the success of
Viktor Lazlo Sonia Dronnier (born 7 October 1960), known by her stage name Viktor Lazlo, is a French writer, singer, and comedian. Born in France, she studied in Belgium, where she is primarily known. Her biggest hit was "Breathless" in 1987. That year sh ...
, born Sonia Dronier, whom he met at Le Mirano nightclub in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
. She initially did backing vocals for Lou & the Hollywood Bananas before taking the name Viktor Lazlo from a character in the 1942 film ''
Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
'' at Deprijck's suggestion. He produced the self-titled album ''
Viktor Lazlo Sonia Dronnier (born 7 October 1960), known by her stage name Viktor Lazlo, is a French writer, singer, and comedian. Born in France, she studied in Belgium, where she is primarily known. Her biggest hit was "Breathless" in 1987. That year sh ...
'' in 1987 for her, as well as the album ''
Hot & Soul ''Hot & Soul'' is the third studio album by French-Belgian singer Viktor Lazlo. A French version of the album was recorded and released in France, entitled ''Club Desert''. The first single off the album, ''City Never Sleeps'', was written by Ro ...
'' in 1989. In 1984, calling himself Lou Van Houten, Deprijck released the album ''Collures'' with Boris Bergman as Les Epatants.


Personal life

Deprijck was born in
Lessines Lessines (; ; ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. As of the 2014 census, The municipality's total population was 18,637. The total area is which gi ...
on 11 January 1946. He moved to Brussels in 1964 to work for the
Régie des Télegraphes et Téléphones The Proximus Group is a provider of digital services and communication solutions operating in Belgium and international markets. In Belgium, the company offers its main products and services under the brands Proximus, Scarlet, and Mobile Vikin ...
, at the time the telephone company of Belgium, and then moved to Thailand 25 years later. Deprijck resided largely near
Pattaya Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the second-largest city in Chonburi province and the List of municipalities in Thailand, eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, and h ...
, Thailand. The story of his life in Thailand was shown in the VTM TV channel documentary ''Vlamingen in Pattaya (Flemings in Pattaya)'' as part of the Belgian news program ''Telefacts''. Life in Pattaya inspired him to rewrite the text of his most famous song "Kingston, Kingston" into "Pattaya, Pattaya", which soon became the unofficial hymn of Pattaya. Lou Deprijck died on 19 September 2023, shortly after being admitted to a Brussels hospital. He was 77.


See also

*
List of best-selling Belgian artists A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


References


External links

*
Two Man Sound


* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deprijck, Lou 1946 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Belgian composers 20th-century Belgian singers 20th-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian singers 21st-century Belgian male singers Belgian record producers People from Lessines English-language singers from Belgium French-language singers of Belgium Belgian songwriters