Trans-X is a Canadian

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

band formed in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. They are known for their hit song "

Living on Video "Living on Video" is a song by Canadian synth-pop band Trans-X written and published in 1982, but not released as a single until May 1983 by Polydor Records, and then remixed for re-release in 1985. Trans-X also originally recorded a French-lang ...

", which was a worldwide hit single.

History

Trans-X was started by Canadian musician Pascal Languirand, son of Jacques Languirand. — accessed on August 18, 2011: Un départ difficile He was previously known for his albums in the

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

, cosmic and

space music Space music, also called spacemusic or space ambient, is a subgenre of ambient music and is described as "tranquil, hypnotic and moving". It is derived from new-age music and is associated with lounge music, easy listening, and elevator music ...

genres. The name of the band comes from the 1977

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

song " Trans-Europe Express", which Languirand thought "was catchy and reflected well the direction I wanted to take with Trans-X". In 1982 he recruited Montreal keyboardist and programmer Steve Wyatt as the second half of the Trans-X duo. Together they recorded a demo that got Trans-X a recording contract for a single, "Vivre sur Vidéo". Steve Wyatt played some synthesizer and did some programming on "Vivre sur Vidéo". He also composed "Digital World" and played all the instruments on the track, which was on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of the single. "Digital World" can also be found on the maxi-single and on the band's debut album. Wyatt left Trans-X sometime in late 1983. When "Living on Video" (the English version of "Vivre sur Vidéo") was released in May 1983, it was an instant hit in Canada and the single later sold two million copies and reached British and European Top ten charts on its 1985 release. Later in 1983, Trans-X released another song "Message on the Radio" which did not make it into the charts, and Trans-X ended the year with another single, "3D-Dance". All these songs featured on the band's 1983 debut album, ''

'', known in Canada as ''Message on the Radio''. For the studio recording of the album, Anne Brosseau was hired to do backing vocals. However, she decided not to perform with Trans-X. For this reason, Montrealer Laurie Ann Gill, who performed backing vocals for synthpop group Nudimension, was recruited for promotional pictures, TV performances and touring, which she did until 1985. In 1986, the band released their second album, which had the same title and artwork as their debut album. Different versions were released in Canada and America and the album also contained three tracks from the 1983 album, although they were remixed or re-recorded. In 1988, Languirand decided to retire Trans-X after their third album ''On My Own'' failed to chart outside of Canada. After the album was released Languirand went silent for a few years and decided to continue his solo career with

new age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

and

instead of

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

. Also, during this time, he and songwriter/collaborator Joe Caccamise wrote and produced for other artists and worked on new Trans-X material. In 1994, Languirand returned as Trans-X, performing live with Nadia Sohaei. Later Languirand recorded a remake of his main hit under the title "Living on Video 2003" and released ''The Drag-Matic Album'', produced by Michel Huygen of Neuronium. One more new version of this hit, "Living on Video 2k6" was released on 6 May 2006. As of 2010, Languirand lived in Mexico. In early 2012, he was seen performing live with Truc Quynh, better known as "TQ", a relatively well-known

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...

singer with whom Languirand had collaborated since at least 2004. However, on the 2010 single "I Want To Be With You Tonight", the ''L. O. V. 2011'' album and on the 2012 ''Hi-NRG'' album that was released in Mexico, Languirand was vocally accompanied by Corina Lawrence, whom he worked together with from 2008 to 2015. In 2013, Languirand sang "My Fascination" with Truc Quynh; the song became part of TQ's later album ''Out of the Shadows'' which was released in late 2014. Although Languirand was involved in singing that song, it was more of a spin-off than a pure Trans-X project. Over the years, Languirand became more and more interconnected with other artists, especially after 1988, by not solely working for Trans-X, but being able to do other projects. Sometimes, he lent his voice to others, sometimes he worked for others as a producer, etc. In 2012, Luis Broc joined the band as drummer and in 2014 he was joined by Ramón Serratos in SFX, synthesis and as a DJ of the band in live performances. Both are of Mexican origin. During 2016, the band made a series of tours in South America, reaffirming the taste for the

Hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...

genre in diverse audiences, in the initiative of "Discolocos", a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

(co-written, directed and produced by David Dávila Herrera) that reflects the world of the followers of the genre since the 1980s. The film features Trans-X, who also created and sang the soundtrack (''Discolocos, Vol. 1'', released 2018), which has roots in classic themes from the 1980s in his tribute to the Hi-NRG and Italo disco genres, collaborating with the voices of

Willie Chambers Willie Chambers (born March 3, 1938) is an American singer, guitarist, and former member of The Chambers Brothers, a rock band in the 1960s with hits " Time Has Come Today", "I Can't Turn You Loose", and " Love, Peace and Happiness". He continues ...

, Jessica Williams, Claudja Barry,

Tobias Bernstrup Tobias Bernstrup (born 17 July 1970 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish contemporary artist working with videos, interactive works, live performances and electronic music. He received an MFA from Royal College University of Fine Arts Stockholm ...

Stephan Groth Stephan Groth (born 10 August 1971) is a Danish-Norwegian singer. He is the man behind Apoptygma Berzerk, an electronic body music act that plays in styles such as synthpop and futurepop. Groth was born in Odense but relocated with his family ...

, Cynthia Manley, Eskil Simonsson, Conrad Kaneshiro, Christina Criscione and J. D. Hall. On 9 February 2021, Trans-X launched the album "Dreams Are Made of Fantasies" under the label Cleopatra Records. This album was produced by Ramón Serratos in Mérida, Yucatán Mexico. On 11 November 2021, Trans-X released the album "Psy Energy" under the label Skypark Records, also produced by Ramon Serratos.

Band members

* Pascal Languirand – lead vocals,

keytar A keytar (a portmanteau of ''keyboard'' and ''guitar'') is a keyboard instrument similar to a synthesizer or MIDI controller that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is held. Overview Though the ...

(1982–present)

Current touring musicians

* Luis Broc – electronic drums (2012–Present) * Ramón Serratos – DJ, synthesizers (2014–Present) * Luana Viana de Souza – vocals, guitars (2020–present)

Former members and touring musicians

* Steve Wyatt – synthesizers, programming (1982–1983) * Anne Brosseau – backing vocals (1983) * Laurie Ann Gill – backing vocals (1983–1985) * Eulalia Batlle Vives – vocals, choreography (1994–2004) * Nadia Sohaei – backing vocals, synthesizers (1994–2004) * Corina Lawrence – backing vocals (2008–2012) * Julia Manrique – vocals (2016) * Lily Contreras –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(2018–2020) * Aletz Franco –

electronic drum Electronic drums are a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the Drum synthesiser, synthesized or Sampler ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

(2018–2020)

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (also known as ''Message on the Radio'') (1983) * ''Living on Video'' (1986) * ''On My Own'' (1988) * ''Trans-X'Xcess'' (1995) * ''010101'' (2001) * ''The Drag-Matic Album'' (2003) * ''L.O.V. 2011'' (2011) * ''Hi-NRG'' (2012) * ''Anthology'' (2014) *''Discolocos, Vol. 1 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' (2018) *''Dreams Are Made of Fantasies'' (2020) *''Psy Energy'' (2021) *''Teyolia'' (2022)

Singles

Musical collaborations

Solo albums by Pascal Languirand

* ''Minos'' (1978) (LP only) * ''De Harmonia Universalia'' (1980) (LP only) * ''Vivre Ici Maintenant'' (1981) (LP only) * ''Gregorian Waves'' (1991) * ''Ishtar'' (1993) * ''Renaissance'' (2002) * ''LSD'' (as Cybernium; collaboration with Michel Huygen) (2003) * ''Incanta'' (2005)

References

External links

Official website

Official Trans-X Myspace

Official Pascal Languirand Myspace page

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trans X Canadian hi-NRG groups Canadian synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Musical groups reestablished in 1998 Musical groups from Montreal 1983 establishments in Quebec