Biography

Michel Fugain was born on May 12th 1942 in Grenoble in the French Alps. Aged 21, he gave up his medical school for his real passion, the cinema.

His friendship with a young actor, Michel Sardou, soon caused his career to take an entirely different turn. Fugain wrote four songs for Sardou’s audition for the famous French record label, Barclay, after which he began to write regularly for other artists such as Hugues Aufray, Hervé Vilard, Dalida, and later, Marie Laforêt, whose producer signed him to record his first disc.

A four track EP which included "Un pas devant l’autre", it was released in 66. But following the success of "Prends ta guitare", it was in fact with "Je n’aurais pas le temps" that Fugain had his first real hit in 67, as a result of which he was asked to compose the official song of the Grenoble Winter Olympics in 1968.

Michel Fugain returned to the limelight in 1970 with the musical comedy "Un enfant dans la ville", followed by the album and then the film.

In 1972, at the height of the post-68, "baba-cool" (French Hippie) period, he started the Big Bazar troupe, comprised of eleven singer-dancer-musicians and a back-up personnel of fifteen. Until the end of 76, they toured all over France and several of their huge hits – "la Fête", ‘Fais comme un oiseau", "Tout va changer" and "les Acadiens" – are now French standards.

In the second half of the seventies, the advent of Punk and "no future", created a new musical landscape and changed mentalities. Big Bazar now appeared out of touch and outdated, a feeling shared by the majority of the troupe, who decided to disband.

In 77, with several ex-Big Bazar members, Michel Fugain embarked on another large-scale project, "Juin dans la rue", a street festival in Le Havre in Normandy. A total of 800 artists performed to 50.000 people and a live album was recorded which included the now famous track, "Chiffon rouge". He prolonged this experience for two more years with "Compagnie Michel Fugain".