Cerrone - Biography
Cerrone is a prolific French disco composer, drummer, film scorer and producer. He's best known for his space disco hit, "Supernature."
Jean-Marc Cerrone was born May 24th, 1952 in Vitry-sur-Seine, France. At twelve years old, he began playing drums, often along to Otis Redding recordings. A few years later, his tastes expanded to include Blood, Sweat & Tears, Carlos Santana and Jimi Hendrix. At seventeen, he was responsible for booking bands at Club Mediterranée. The following year, he was leading a Club Med orchestra. Cerrone's first recordings with with Patrick Sesti, Sylvian Claude, Serge Tonini, Andre Allet and Norbert Journo in the band, Kongas. They released two albums on Barclay, Afro Rock (1974 Barclay) and Africanism (1976 Barclay) before Cerrone went solo.
Collaborating with Alec Costandinos, Cerrone released his first album, Love in C Minor (1976 Malligator), on his own Malligator label. After disagreements, Cerrone and Costandinos parted ways. Cerrone next partnered with Raymond "Don Ray" Donnez. The result was Cerrone's Cerrone’s Paradise (1977 Malligator). Cerrone 3 - Supernature (1977 Malligator) was his first massive success. The title track was picked up as the theme for The Kenny Everett Video Show. The album eventually sold over eight million records. Encouraged by this success, Cerrone entered a highly prolific period. He formed a new group, Revelación, who released an album, House of the Rising Sun (1977 Crocos). He also revived Kongas, who released Anikana-O (1978 Barclay). In addition to scoring the sexploitation film Brigade mondaine (1978 Malligator), he released a fourth solo album, Cerrone IV - The Golden Touch (1978 Malligator).
With Cerrone V - Angelina (1979 Malligator), the musician made his first attempts at singing and the results were less successful than previous releases. The same year he scored the sequel for Brigade mondaine, La secte de Marrakech (1979 Malligator). Revelación released a second album, Don't Give a Damn (1979 Malligator) and a live recording from the previous year of Cerrone was released as In Concert (1979 Malligator).
By the release of Cerrone VI (1980 Malligator), Cerrone's albums were no longer released in the US although he remained somewhat popular in Canada. Cerrone VII - You Are The One (1980 Malligator) marked another departure in that it was his first album without nude women gracing the cover. He also scored the third installment of Brigade mondaine, Vaudou aux Caraïbes (1980 Malligator). Back Track [Cerrone VIII] (1982 CBS), Cerrone IX - Your Love Survived (1982 Malligator) and Where Are You Now? (1983 Malligator) all followed in rapid succesion. A performance at L'Espace Balard in Paris, 1983, was released as En Concert (1983 Malligator).
The Collector (1985 Carrere) was an unmitigated flop. Undaunted, Cerrone nonetheless adapted it into a musical. It was performed as the Trocadéro in Paris in 1988. The soundtrack was released as The Collector [The Musical] (1988 NAC Company). Way In (1989 NAC Company) and the score to Dancing Machine (1990 CBS) followed as Cerrone moved into the 1990s.
In 1992, another of his shows, Dreamtime, played at The Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway. The released of Dreams (1992 NAC Company), X-Xex (1993 CD-Maximum), a concept album about an erotic diary, and Human Nature (1994 Sounds of Barclay), a “buddhist trance album,” continued Cerrone's string of thematic releases, even as his output slowed. Hysteria (2002 Sounds of Barclay) saw Cerrone return somewhat to his roots. It was his first album with a nude woman on the cover in years and provided him with his biggest hit in as many. Two years later, a biography, Et pourquoi pas la lune? was published.
In the 2000s, Cerrone has largely forsaken recorded media and embraced the digital age. In 2005, he released a recording of Orange Mécanique - the Score (2005) a digital file composed for Clockwork Orange. Dance Party - Live at Versailles and Celebrate! Live at the Olympia, Paris '07 (2008 Malligator) followed — the latter was the first album to initially be distributed via cell phone. Love Ritual - Glamorous Lounge Selection (2008 Malligator) and Symphony - Variations of Supernature (2010) are his two most recent releases to date. Cerrone has also served as a judge on the French version of The X Factor.