Nouvelle page 1

by Etienne L.B. (Nov 8, 2003)

The band at the beginning.
A long adventure will follow...

Indochine now. The founder,
Nicolas Sirkis, is in the center.

"J'ai demandé à la lune"

HISTORY OF THE BAND

INDOCHINE is a French music band founded in 1981 by Nicolas Sirkis and the musician Dominique Nicolas. Both of them have been joined by Stephane Sirkis (Nicolas's brother) and Dimitri Bodianski.

1981 was the greatest year of the band. In September, for their first concert, INDOCHINE set the "Rose Bonbon", a very famous Parisian club, on fire . After this first concert of only 30 minutes, the band signed a contract with a music company: the band INDOCHINE was officially born!

In 1982, the quartette made their first album named "L’Aventurier". It was a very little album -there were only 6 songs - but it was bought by 250 000 persons. It was a big success and the single "L’Aventurier" became the number one hit of the summer 1983. Then, the band continued with a lot of success, and in 1984 INDOCHINE made their second album named "Le Péril Jaune", which was bought by more than 225 000 persons !

The third album "Indochine 3", in 1985, met a bigger success than the others. More than 750 000 albums were sold all over Europe.

Five years after the beginning of the adventure of "Indochine" in 1986, the band recorded a concert in the Zenith in Paris, which was attended by 350 000 persons.

In 1987, INDOCHINE came back to the studios and composed their fourth album named "7000 Danses", which met an enormous success (more than 320 000 copies!!).

In the summer 1993, their 6th album, "Un Jour dans notre Vie", was a disappointment: success was very limited. Then a 7th album passed unnoticed, Dominique Nicolas left INDOCHINE in 1995. Immediately, Nicolas Sirkis looked for a new guitarist and he met Alexandre Azaria (the former guitarist of the band "Cri de la Mouche").

Just after, INDOCHINE obtained a new contract with BMG for three new albums.

In 1997, their 7th album "Indo Wax", which was very good, wasn’t noticed by the media, but the numerous fans allowed the survival of the band .

In 1988, INDOCHINE filled four Zenith in Paris, gave concerts in front of 5 000 persons in Montreal and triumphed in front of 45 000 fans!!

In 1989, Dimitri Bodianski left the band , and the three others made their 5th album", Le Baiser", which sold 200 000 copies.

In 1998, INDOCHINE prepared a new album and in 1999 the recording began. But in February, Stephane Sirkis died of a serious sickness. With a lot of courage, Nicolas Sirkis continued the "Indochine" adventure and realized "Dancetaria". The disk was released in September with a very little success, but INDOCHINE made a lot of concerts all over France (at the "Olympia"). All of these concerts were full more than two months before!!

The 9th album, "Nuits Intimes", met a lukewarm success, like the previous ones.

To finish, the last album "Paradize" in 2002 met a great success. This beautiful album marked the renaissance of the band Indochine.

I've read your article about Indochine and I've liked it because it explains the career of one of the two great bands of French rock... Most people just know Indochine for "J'ai demandé à la lune". But they were known before with the great song "L'aventurier". I think it is good to say Indochine isn't a premade band as the other present bands. Good work, boy !

After reading this article, we think that you have told the life of Nicola Sirkis and his group: Indochine. You haven't given your opinion on that. We are experts about Indochine and we have seen that you missed one album: Wax. You must talk about Unita and Les Versions longues, even if the best-of are, with others, the best. Your article isn't in chronological order. You don't mention the 3.6.3, the last live of Indochine, and the DVD of Indolive and Les divisions de la Joie, where there are good tracks. You haven't talked about the reputation of Nicola.

I liked the article. I didn't miss the "Best of" and "Live" albums, though they must be important to other people. I have been listening to Indochine since their beginning but their albums are hardly available here in Holland and I am still missing four studio albums. Good work!

L'Aventurier Jaune 1983			Le Péril Jaune 1984
Indochine 3 1985			7000 Danses
Le Baiser 1989			Un Jour dans notre Vie 1993
Indo Wax 1997			Dancetaria 1999
Nuits Intimes 2001			Paradize 2002
The last album "Paradise" met a great success and it marked the renaissance of the band INDOCHINE, which was prevented by the media without any reason. Now the band INDOCHINE has been recognized. In spite of a lot of disappointments, they continued to exist. And now, it is one of the greatest pop-rock music band !!