Lou Deprijck

Lou Deprijck[1] (French pronunciation: ​[lu dəpʁɛk]) is a Belgian singer and music producer born in 1946 in Lessines, Wallonia. He was a major figure in the Belgian pop scene of the 1970s and 1980s, with more than 20 million copies of his compositions sold worldwide. He is best known for the Plastic Bertrand song Ça plane pour moi.

Early work and Two Man Sound

His first group Liberty 6 had a complete flop in 1969 with Je suis pop.[2] However he later found success with Two Man Sound,[3] a Latin-pop outfit formed with Sylvain Vanholme of the Wallace Collection. Two Man Sound sold over a million copies of their 1975 single Charlie Brown while the album Disco Samba had sales of around 1.4 million copies in Latin America.[4]

Deprijck also had a major 1978 solo success in France and Belgium with ska/reggae-song Kingston, Kingston, under the moniker Lou & The Hollywood Bananas.[5]

Plastic Bertrand and Viktor Lazlo

In the English speaking world Deprijck's best known hit was Ça plane pour moi which he recorded and sang for Plastic Bertrand[6] who remains generally credited for the song (and was upheld legally in 2006 as being entitled to be called its artist).[7] In fact Deprijk was also the 'voice' of Plastic Bertand's first three albums.[8] A Belgian appeal court in 2006 ruled that Bertrand was the "legal performer" of the classic track.[9] But the ruling was overturned in 2010.[10]

Deprijck was also the creative force behind the success of Viktor Lazlo,[11] born Sonia Dronier, whom he met at Le Mirano nightclub in Brussels.[12] She initially did backing vocals for Lou & the Hollywood Bananas before taking the name Viktor Lazlo from a character in Casablanca at Deprijk's suggestion. He produced the self-titled album Viktor Lazlo in 1987 for her, as well as the album Hot & Soul in 1989.

In 1984, calling himself Lou Van Houtem, Deprijck released the album Collures with Boris Bergman under the pseudonym Les Epatants.[13]

In Thailand

Deprijck currently resides largely near Pattaya (Thailand).[14] The story of his life in Thailand was shown in the vtm documentary Vlamingen in Pattaya (Flemings in Pattaya)[15] as part of the Belgian news program Telefacts. Life in Pattaya inspired him to rewrite the text of his most famous song Kingston, Kingston into Pattaya, Pattaya, which soon became the unofficial hymn of Pattaya.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The surname is sometimes spelled Depryck or de Pryck, as ⟨y⟩ is a common substitution for the Dutch letter ⟨ij⟩
  2. ↑ Houbi site
  3. ↑ Two Man Sound on Houbi
  4. ↑ Le Vif/L'Express, 13th Aug 2010 edition
  5. ↑ Lou & The Hollywood Bananas
  6. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Biography: Plastic Bertrand". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  7. ↑ Court Case re Ca Plane Pour Moi reported in Vif L'Express
  8. ↑ Major article on Deprijck in Le Vif/L'Express, 13th Aug 2010 edition
  9. ↑ France 24 Report
  10. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/global/1203073/plastic-bertrand-admits-miming-1970s-pop-classic
  11. ↑ Le Vif/L'Express, 13th Aug 2010 edition
  12. ↑ Lazlo on Houbi
  13. ↑ Album cover of Collures
  14. ↑ Le Vif article
  15. ↑ Program Notes for Vlamingen in Pattaya
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