Les Wampas
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| Origin | Paris, France |
| Years active | 1983-present |
| Genres | Punk rock, Pop-punk, "Yéyé-punk" |
| Labels | BMG, Atmosphériques |
| Members | Didier Wampas (vocals) Jean-Mi Lejoux (bass, ex-Les Satellites) Jo Dahan (guitar, ex-Mano Negra) Niko Wampas (drums) Phil Almosnino (guitar) |
| Past members | include Marc Police (guitar) Ben Sam (bass) |
| Website(s) | www.wampas.com |
Les Wampas is a French punk band, formed in 1983.
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[edit] Didier Wampas
The group is chiefly famous for its frontman, real name Didier Chapedelaine, chief lyricist and singer. He deliberately sings off-key and often high-pitched, so has a recognisable voice. His on-stage energy, and crowd-surfing, are major features of the band's live shows, and, since the release of the album Kiss (2000), he comes into the crowd after each performance to hug members of the audience and give them a kiss on each cheek.
[edit] Biggest successes
[edit] Les Wampas vous aiment
The band's third album, Les Wampas vous aiment (Les Wampas love you), released in 1990, contained the popular single "Petite fille", whose video was played on French TV channel M6, and crowd favorites like "Ce soir c'est Noël" and "Quelle joie le rock'n'roll"; following this album's release, they were signed by the major label BMG. However, a shadow was cast across the band for many years when guitarist Marc Police committed suicide in December 1991.
[edit] "Manu Chao" and Never trust a guy...
Having been back on the 'independent circuit' since their contract with BMG ended in 1998, Les Wampas released the single "Manu Chao" in 2003. It, along with the album's full title, Never trust a guy who after having been a punk, is now playing electro, made fun of Manu Chao, who was a member of the successful punk band Mano Negra in the early 1990s (like Wampas guitarist Jo Dahan), but who now, according to Didier Wampas, "had accepted the system. You're inside of it, you profit from it, you're not going to criticize it 'on the side', or else you might not get back in." [1][2]
With a riff similar to The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated", it was the band's most popular single to date, reaching number 20 in France in June 2003 [1]; Les Wampas played at the Eurockéennes and Vieilles Charrues festivals in that year, and a rockumentary about them, For the rock, was made in 2004.
[edit] "Chirac en prison"
Even more controversial was this single, released in January 2006, which contains the lyrics:
Elle ne pense qu'à ça, elle n'en dort plus la nuit [...]
La seule chose qui lui ferait plaisir
Ce serait de voir Chirac en prison.
"She thinks only of this, she doesn't sleep anymore at night [...]
The only thing that would give her pleasure
Would be to see Chirac in prison."
However, Didier Wampas said, "It isn't really a song against Chirac [...] I just wanted to see how far freedom of expression can go"[3]. "Chirac en prison" was mainly banned upon its release by French TV and radio; some TV advertisements for the single were even populated with bleeps and on-screen rectangles, to disguise the fact that the song was about the president. It was played by radio stations Ouï FM and Le Mouv', however, and achieved much more publicity when Les Guignols de l'info (right), a satirical puppet show on Canal+ television, made a video for the song. [4]
[edit] Famous phrases/Glossary
- Les Wampas ont inventé le rock'n'roll - "Les Wampas invented rock 'n' roll" (this is not a confirmed fact...)
- Tout au fond ("deep down" or "from the heart") and tout à fond ("utmost"/"the ultimate") - these are phrases the band often say: the first words we hear on the album Les Wampas vous aiment are "le rock, c'est [rock is] tout à fond!"; the name of their 1997 live album is Toutafonlive; and Didier shouts "Tout au fond" at the end of the song L'aquarium tactile (2003).
- Chicoutimi - Les Wampas played a memorable show in Chicoutimi, Quebec, and named their 1998 album after the town.[2].
[edit] Trivia
- The video to the band's Comme un ange (qui pleure) (1992) was directed by Michel Gondry.
- Simple et tendre (1993) was recorded at London's Roundhouse and Abbey Road studios and featured the London Session Orchestra. Les Wampas vous aiment and Never trust a guy... both had English producers, Andy Lydon and Clive Martin respectively, and Trop précieux was recorded in Austin, Texas.
- Les Wampas have toured in most western European countries, as well as Quebec, Japan, India, and La Réunion. However, they have seemingly never played in English-speaking Canada or Great Britain, and only once in the USA (in Austin, April 1995).
Commercial success has mainly been in France, perhaps because Les Wampas mainly sing in French; although it should be pointed out that Noir Désir, massively popular in France in the 1990s, sung many English-language songs without 'breaking through' in English-speaking countries.
[edit] Discography
- Tutti frutti (1986)
- Chauds, sales et humides (1988) (live album, but with previously-unreleased songs)
- Les Wampas vous aiment (1990)
- Simple et tendre (1993)
- Trop précieux (1996)
- Toutafonlive (1997) (live album)
- Chicoutimi (1998)
- Kiss (2000)
- Never trust a guy who after having been a punk, is now playing electro (2003)
- Never trust a live! (2004) (live album, DVD also released)
- Rock'n'Roll Part 9 (2006)
[edit] References
- ^ Musicactu.com - interview with Didier Wampas
- ^ Fr.wikipedia.org - "Manu Chao" (song)
- ^ Article in Le Monde, 14 January 2006
- ^ Fr.wikipedia.org - "Chirac en prison"
