Pierre Bachelet

Pierre Bachelet (25 May 1944 – 15 February 2005) was a French singer-songwriter with a gentle romantic voice.

Bachelet died of lung cancer in 2005.

Career

Bachelet spent part of his childhood in Calais and developed a lifelong appreciation of the North of France, which inspired his hit song "Les corons" (1982).

In the 70's he had some international success under the name The Peppers with the synthesizer song The Pepperbox, and under the name Resonance, with the hit O.K. Chicago.

His other hit songs include "Elle est d'ailleurs" (1980),^[1] "Écris-moi" (1982), "Marionnettiste" (1985), "En l'an 2001" (1985) and "Vingt ans" (1987). He also composed music for movies, for example Emmanuelle (1974),^[1] Les Bronzés font du ski (1975)^[1] and the British-made Sex with the Stars (1980). Robert Fripp won an out-of-court settlement over the use of music in Emmanuelle based on King Crimson's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic".^[2] His songs from the film Emmanuelle called Emmanuelle In The Mirror and Theme From Emmanuelle have been sampled in the Lily Allen single Littlest Things, released in December 2006.

He would return to score further Emmanuelle films, such as Emmanuelle V and Emmanuelle 7. He also did the score for Story of O, another huge success for him and the French film Un crime au paradis.

His signature tune, "Les corons", released in 1982, is notably used as the supporter's anthem for the Lens football club.

Bachelet bore a physical and voice resemblance to Jacques Brel, and had a similar onstage demeanor. Bachelet held Brel's work in high respect, and his last release while alive was a cover of Brel songs.

In 2000, Bachelet was nominated for a Cesar Award for his musical score in The Children of the Marshland.

Awards

Cesar Award

See also

• A Crime in Paradise (2001)

References

External links

• Official Site (in French)
• Pierre Bachelet at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography at Radio France Internationale (in English)