Martin Circus was a French band formed in the late 1960s, whose musical style developed over time from

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

through

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

to disco and

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Late ...

in the 1970s and 1980s.

Career

The band formed in 1968, at a time when the popular music scene in France was dominated by singers and bands performing versions of American and British songs, and established

yé-yé ''Yé-yé'' () (''yeyé'' in Spanish) was a style of pop music that emerged in Western-Southern Europe in the early 1960s. The French term "''yé-yé''" was derived from the English "yeah! yeah!", popularized by British beat music bands such as ...

and ''

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic ...

''-style singers. Martin Circus was one of the first French bands set up with the aim of writing and performing rock music with

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in ...

lyrics. Encouraged by English musician Mick Jones, who had played in

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

's backing group, the band was established by Gérard Pisani (b. 1941, saxophone) – who had also been in Hallyday's band – and Jean-Pierre "Bob" Brault (b. 1945, bass, vocals), soon joined by Patrick Dietsch (vocals, guitar), Paul-Jean Borowsky (vocals, keyboards), and Jean-Francois Leroi (drums). Their first single "Tout tremblant de fièvre", written by Dietsch and Pisani and released by

Disques Vogue Disques Vogue was a jazz record company founded in France by Léon Cabat and Charles Delaunay in 1947, the year after the American Vogue label ceased. They originally specialized in jazz, featuring American performers such as Sidney Bechet, ...

, was successful in 1969, and they recorded an LP, ''En Direct du Rock 'n Roll Circus''. Martin Circus, ''Encyclopedisque''
Retrieved 24 September 2019 Martin Circus, ''Melody''
Retrieved 24 September 2019
Retrieved 24 September 2019 By 1971, Dietsch, Borowsky and Leroi had left the band, to be replaced by Alain Pewsner (b. 1948, guitar),

Gérard Blanc Gérard Blanc (8 December 1947 – 24 January 2009) was a French singer, guitarist and actor. Life and career He began to sing in the 1970s with the band Martin Circus. Then in the 1980s, he participated in the production of Princess Stephanie ...

(1947–2009, vocals, guitar), Sylvain Pauchard (b. 1950, keyboards), and René Guérin (b. 1949, drums). Pewsner and Guérin had been members of the Alan Jack Civilization, and Blanc and Pauchard joined from the band Balthazar. They released a lavishly-produced

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, ''Acte II'', in 1971, featuring the hit single "Je m'éclate au Sénégal", written by Brault and Pisani. The band toured widely, performed at many festivals, and appeared in the 1971 movie '' Les Bidasses en folie''. Pisani left the band in 1972, following which they appeared in the 1973

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

show '' La Révolution Française''. They released the album ''Acte III'' in 1974. Martin Circus Discography, ''Discogs.com''
Retrieved 24 September 2019 By now, a four-piece pop group comprising Blanc, Pewsner, Pauchard and Guérin, Martin Circus released the album ''No. 1 USA Hits of the 60's'', on which they recorded French language versions of American pop hits. They had their biggest hit single in 1975 with "Ma-ry-lène", a version of

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

of "

Barbara Ann "Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert that was first recorded by the Regents as "Barbara-Ann". Their version was released in 1961 and reached number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The more famous version was recorded by the ...

". The albums ''Tu Joues Ton Cœur'' and ''Rock'n'Roll Circus'' followed in 1976, and the band continued to perform live. In 1978, they appeared in, and provided the soundtrack for, the movie ''Les Bidasses en vadrouille'', one of a long-running series of ''Bidasses'' comic movies. The soundtrack album was released as ''Martin 'Disco' Circus'', and featured a 14-minute track, "Disco Circus", written by Blanc and Pewsner and arranged by Gilles Tinayre, who also played keyboards. Several versions of the track were issued internationally, including a version edited by

François Kevorkian François Kevorkian (born 10 January 1954), also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage ...

, and it has been widely sampled and appeared on several compilations of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

. The album was issued in the US by

Prelude Records Prelude Records was a New York-based independent record label that was active from 1976 to 1986. At one time, François Kevorkian held an A&R position at Prelude. The label's owner was Marvin Schlachter. History Prelude was first launched in 1 ...

as ''Disco Circus'', with a revised track order. Biography by Andy Kellman, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 24 September 2019 Guérin left Martin Circus as their use of drum machines developed, and the remaining trio of Pewsner, Pauchard and Blanc released the album ''Shine Baby Shine'' in 1979. The band then shifted towards a new wave focus with the album ''De sang froid'', which featured the return of original songwriter and saxophonist Gérard Pisani. However, it was not successful, and the band split up in the mid-1980s. In 2001, an early line-up of Brault, Pisani, Borowsky, Dietsch, Blanc, and Guérin came together to record the album ''Origines'', comprising a mixture of new and re-recorded material. Blanc died in 2009. Another reunion under the Martin Circus name, this time of Pewsner and Pauchard with singer Tom Bock and drummer Félix Sabal-Lecco, took place in 2016.

Discography

* ''En Direct du Rock 'n Roll Circus'' (1969) * ''Acte II'' (1971) * ''Acte III'' (1974) * ''No. 1 USA Hits of the 60's'' (1975) * ''Tu Joues Ton Cœur'' (1976) * ''Rock'n'Roll Circus'' (1976) * ''Martin 'Disco' Circus'' (1978, aka ''Disco Circus'') * ''Shine Baby Shine'' (1979) * ''De sang froid'' (1982) * ''Origines'' (2001)

References

{{Authority control French rock music groups French pop music groups French disco groups French dance music groups