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Laurent Voulzy

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Laurent Voulzy
Background information
Birth nameLucien Voulzy
Born (1948-12-18) 18 December 1948 (age 75)
Paris, France
GenresAlternative rock, French pop, pop rock, experimental, chanson, soft rock
OccupationSinger-songwriter
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1969–present
Websitelaurentvoulzy.com <FR>

Lucien Voulzy (French pronunciation: [lysjɛ̃ vulzi], born 18 December 1948), better known as Laurent Voulzy ([loʁɑ̃ vulzi]), is a French singer-songwriter, composer and musician.

Life and career

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Voulzy was born in Paris, France. He originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénus before joining Pascal Danel as guitarist from 1969 to 1974. However, he is best known for his collaborative songwriting efforts with singer-songwriter Alain Souchon and his solo singing career, which spanned several successful singles and albums.

Voulzy had an international hit with the song "Rockollection".[1] The French lyrics were interspersed with some lines from classic rock hits after the chorus.
His major hits also include the singles "Paradoxal Système" (which reached the French Top 10), "Le Soleil Donne"[2] – sung in French, English, Portuguese, and Spanish[3] and the double "Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie-Galante"/"Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde"[4] ("Nights without Kim Wilde"; a song[5] inspired[6] by the chart-topping English singer).[7] Other songs entered the French charts ("Bopper en larmes", "Le coeur Grenadine", "Désir, désir", etc.).[8]
Voulzy also enjoys success in Belgium, Switzerland and Québec; and although being a French artist, his songs often contain multiple languages (including lyrics in English,[9] Spanish,[10] Portuguese,[11] German, etc.).

In 2005, he co-produced and co-composed Nolwenn Leroy's second album Histoires Naturelles.

Voulzy had a huge hit with his album La Septième Vague which reached number one in 2006. Featured on the album is a cover of the Everly Brothers hit "All I Have to Do Is Dream", recorded as a duet with Irish singer Andrea Corr. The song was released as a single and was also included on The Corrs' greatest hits album Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection.

He recorded in 2007 a duet with the French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel on his hit album Guitar Connection 2. The song hit the French charts at No. 7 in 2008. For his 2011 album, Lys and Love, Voulzy recorded a duet on the song "Ma seule amour" with English singer Roger Daltrey of The Who.[12] In 2007, He toured France.

Discography

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Studio albums

[edit]
Year Album Record
label
Peak positions
FR
[13]
BEL
(Fl)

BEL
(Wa)

[14]
SWI
[15]
1979 Le Cœur grenadine RCA
1983 Bopper en larmes
1992 Caché derrière Ariola 9[16]
2001 Avril RCA 3 4 50
2006 La Septième Vague 1 1 7
2008 Recollection 2 1 20
2011 Lys & Love Columbia 2 1 30
2014 Alain Souchon & Laurent Voulzy
(joint album with Alain Souchon)
Parlophone 1 117 1 8
2017 Belem Columbia 5 4 31
2020 Florilège 43 20 95

Live albums

[edit]
Year Album Record
label
Peak positions
FR
[13]
BEL
(Wa)

SWI
1994 Voulzy Tour Ariola 5[16]
2004 Le Gothique flamboyant pop dancing tour RCA 10 12
2013 Lys & Love Tour (live) Columbia 18 28
2019 Mont Saint-Michel (live) 24
[17]
24 89

Compilations

[edit]
Year Album Record
label
Peak positions
FR
[13]
BEL
(Wa)

SWI
2002 Les Essentiels 1977–1988 RCA 6[16]
2003 Saisons, Le double best of 1977–2003 2[16] 8 46
2012 Belle île en mer 1977–1988 Columbia 167  –  –

Singles

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  • 1977: "Rockollection"
  • 1978: "Bubble Star"
  • 1979: "Le Cœur grenadine"
  • 1979: "Karin Redinger"
  • 1979: "Cocktail chez Mademoiselle"
  • 1980: "Surfing Jack"
  • 1981: "Idéal simplifié"
  • 1983: "Bopper en larmes"
  • 1983: "Liebe"
Year Title Peak positions Sales
FR
[13]
BEL
(Wa)

SWI
1984 "Désir désir"
(duo with Véronique Jannot)
29
1985 "Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie Galante" /
"Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" (featuring Kim Wilde)
20
1987 "My Song of You" 31
1989 "Le soleil donne" 21
1992 "Paradoxal Système" 10
1993 "Le pouvoir des fleurs"  –
"Caché derrière"  –
"Le rêve du pêcheur" 37
1995 "Rockollection (Live 95)" 37 39
2001 "Une héroïne"  –  –
2002 "La fille d'Avril" 26 8
(Ultratip)
"Amélie Colbert" 36  –
2003 "Là où je vais"  –  –
2006 "Derniers baisers" 8 17 96
2008 "My Song of You"
(instrumental duo with Jean-Pierre Danel)
 –  –  –
"Jelly Bean"  – 3
(Ultratip)
 –
2009 "Le vent qui va"  –  –  –
2011 "Jeanne" 14 4  –
2012 "C'était déjà toi"  – 6
(Ultratip)
 –
"En regardant vers le pays de France"
(featuring Nolwenn Leroy, backing vocals)
 – 15
(Ultratip)
 –
2014 "Derrière les mots"
(duet with Alain Souchon)
35 22  –
"La baie des fourmis"
(duet with Alain Souchon)
197  –  –
2017 "Spirit of Samba"
(featuring Chyler Leigh, Nina Miranda and Luisa Maita)
99
[19]
 –  –

References

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  1. ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Rockollection Part I". lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Le soleil donne". lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Laurent Voulzy- le soleil donne (1988)". YouTube. January 2007.
  4. ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Belle-île-en mer, Marie Galante". lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde".
  6. ^ L. Voulzy and K. Wilde singing together "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" in a French TV show in 1986
  7. ^ "Laurent Voulzy les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde". YouTube. 10 November 2006.
  8. ^ The Best of Laurent Voulzy - Archive INA
  9. ^ Live performance of "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" - "Voulzy Tour" at Le Zénith de Paris, 1993
  10. ^ Live performance of "Le Soleil Donne" - "Voulzy Tour" at Le Zénith de Paris, 1993
  11. ^ "Meu Samba Pra Você", from the album Bopper en larmes, 1983
  12. ^ "Un duo avec Roger Daltrey (The Who) sur le prochain Voulzy". 15 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d "Laurent Voulzy discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  14. ^ "Discographie Laurent Voulzy". Ultratop. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Discographie Laurent Voulzy". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  16. ^ a b c d "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste".
  17. ^ "Top Albums (Week 50, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Euro-crossover" (PDF). Music & Media. 29 April 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 37, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 19 September 2017.[permanent dead link]
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