BUZY (now)

FRENCH BIOGRAPHY, by JAY ALANSKY
BUZY, c’est d’abord un sourire. Un sourire d’enfant,un sourire plein de dents de petite fille ! Une petite fille avec pour seul ami un renard et un amour immense pour sa grand-mère, à qui elle empruntera son nom d’artiste. Un beau sourire à l’épreuve du temps et des coups que la vie distribue pourtant régulièrement à ceux qui cherchent …encore, toujours, PLUS et… MIEUX ! Buzy, c’est bien sûr aussi une voix ; unique, inimitable ; et des chansons que tout le monde connaît, mais qui furent trop souvent sacrifiées à l’autel de ces années 8O qu’on se devait de détester il n’y pas si longtemps, et qu’on redécouvre aujourd’hui. DYSLEXIQUE, ENGRENAGE, ADRÉNALINE, ADRIAN, I LOVE YOU LULU, BODY PHYSICAL, BABY BOUM, SHEPARD, et plus récemment JE SUIS UN ARBRE, autant de manifestes à l’insoumission, au désir d’être soi, à la souffrance d’être différent, à l’amour impossible.
Car Buzy est une hypersensible. Rebelle, fragile, androgyne, pleine de contradictions et de violence rentrée, elle avance depuis vingt cinq années, poupée humaine, sale petit troll comme elle se qualifie elle même dans son autobiographie ENGRENAGES. Alors le grand succès, les millions de disques elle vivra cela très mal. Entre liberté et célébrité, il faut souvent se décider. Mais pour elle, obsédée de sons et de production, seule la musique et sortir les démons de l’intérieur de soi compteront. Elle joue avec les mots. Turbulences, lignes brisées, rêves éveillés, elle mélange anglais, français. Elle scande ses textes dans ce parlé/chanté bien à elle, sur fond de Beatbox et de guitares saturées électro clash avant la lettre !
Serge Gainsbourg ne s’y trompera pas en adoptant cette petite soeur du punk, en lui offrant son amitié et quelques magnifiques portraits. A peine lui en veux t-on alors un peu de ne pas avoir choisi entre Rock’n’roll et chanson, de faire le grand écart entre Patti Smith, Marianne Faithfull et une France qui a vingt ans de retard, comme toujours ! Normal donc que cette quête d’absolu, de vérité et de réponses passe par l’Asie (elle s’y rend chaque fois qu’elle le peut) et l’astrologie (qu’elle étudie et pratique aujourd’hui professionnellement). Sauvageonne jamais domptée, pas la langue dans sa poche, ni calculatrice pour un rond et finalement trop écorchée et désireuse d’arracher au temps qui passe un peu d’éternité.
Elles sont quelques unes aujourd’hui à pouvoir se réclamer d’elle et de sa démarche. Adrienne Pauly, Mademoiselle K, entre autres, que Marie-Claire Buzy préfigurait il y a vingt-cinq ans dans un paysage musical français quasi désertique. Alors il est temps aujourd’hui de réécouter et réévaluer ces chansons bien souvent enregistrées « à l’arrache » comme on dit en 2007, avec le coeur qui saigne et des illusions plein les mots. Tout ce qui manque à notre époque !?
ENGLISH BIOGRAPHY
Her smoky voice is often compared to Marianne Faithfull's. Which makes her giggle. As a teenager, Buzy grew up listening to the Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Bowie, The Who... That's where she takes her inspiration from. Rebels. Glam rockers. Free spirits. That's what she loves, and that's what she is - as suggested in the opening track J'ADORE ET JE HAIS (I LOVE AND I HATE). She's always been true to that ideal, to that sense of personal freedom. Whatever the price was.
BORDERLOVE is Buzy's 7th studio album. It's a jet-black and flashy pink record, probably her best so far. It oscillates from high-octane choruses (STRATEGIE DE LA SOLITUDE, DECADENTS) to deep and troubled soft-rock ballads (JE SUIS UN ARBRE, RESONANCES). COMME DES PAPILLONS, one of those down-tempo tracks is a beautiful duet with her old pal Daniel Darc (ex - Taxi-Girl lead singer and lyricist, who recently achieved a brilliant come-back). EXTRATERRESTRE, another moving ballad, was composed by Jay Alansky - the man behind the hippest than hip electro band A Reminiscent Drive.
Buzy's career began in 1981, when her very first single DYSLEXIQUE sky-rocketed to the top of the charts. With a tomboy attitude, crazy lyrics and a tapdancer training, no wonder the young singer-songwriter was some kind of a maverick on the french music scene. In the following decade, Buzy did pretty more than just surviving her first hit, with a collection of self-penned singles that all made their way into the sales or the airplay charts : ENGRENAGE (1982), ADRENALINE (1983), ADRIAN (1984), I LOVE YOU LULU (1985), GAINSBARRE (1986), BODY PHYSICAL (1987 - also released in Japan & Germany), BABY BOUM (1988), KEEP COOL (1989) and SHEPARD (1990). Amongst those tracks, GAINSBARRE was the very first hommage written to Serge Gainsbourg. When he first listened to that song, the late pop mogul melt into tears. Lots of girls sang his songs - but only Buzy offered him one. Thankful, Gainsbourg took fascinating pictures of Buzy for the record's sleeve - now a collector !
During those roaring 80's, Buzy was called a "local Pat Benatar", a "parisienne Kim Wilde", or "the french Nena". Her big-budget videos were shown in theaters, nationwide (ADRIAN, shot by Hilton McConnico). Her ever-changing looks and haircuts reflected the moodswings of the decade. Her agent was the smart, flamboyant, cartoonesque trash-dandy Bertrand Le Page, who built Mylene Farmer's myth and fame. But Buzy managed to stay apart of any system. At the end of the day, she was only seen in the media because of her music, always refusing to sell out her presence on every talk-show. She was never seen at premieres ot glossy parties, and stayed apart from the french pop "families". She also turned down different opportunities to have a go at acting, just to stay focused on what she likes the most : songwriting.
In the 90's, Buzy felt sick with fame, and decided to keep a low profile, and enjoy quality time in her parisian loft. She released two albums (RÊVE ÉVEILLÉ, 1993 - DÉLITS, 1998), wrote lyrics for other singers, and played a few concerts (La Cigale, La fête de l'Huma, les Francofolies...), but she spent most of her time working as a personal coach and counseler - astrology being one of her favorite tools in that matter. She also took time to read and travel a lot, discovering Viêt-Nam, Philippines, Thailand...
After she was offered a publishing deal to write a book about her life (ENGRENAGES, 2004), Buzy felt it was time for her to make some new music. She called back the french guitar hero Alice Botté, who already played with her in the 80's, and together, they produced BORDERLOVE. Amongst the other musicians, the world-famous drummer Manu Katche plays on CONTEMPORAINE. He was already heard on Buzy's hit Adrian, way back in time. He was just a beginner then, and Buzy predicted him world-wide fame. Which happened along the likes of Sting and Peter Gabriel.
Now, Buzy is tremendously happy with BORDERLOVE's critical acclaim. The french media gladly welcome her back, after such a long silence. The album reached n°11 on the french iTunes albums Top, she has the best reviews of her whole career, performs in classy TV shows and played a wonderful show in a hip Paris club (La Boule Noire), where french star Bernard Lavilliers, a big fan of the album, joined her on stage for a duet. She even had a video shot by Nicolas Hidiroglou, the super-trendy Citizen K photographer. Her only wish, now, is to go on promoting BORDERLOVE, and offer her music to fresh ears. With your help.
Un forum de fans : BUZYFORUM
WATCH A PREVIEW OF BUZY's TV SPECIAL, BROADCASTED ON M6 CHANNEL -- CLICK HERE
NEWS & INTERVIEWS -- CLICK HERE
BUZY a participé à l'ouvrage collectif "Chroniques de luxe" (oct. 2007), en se penchant sur l'album "Crèvecoeur" de son ami Daniel Darc. CHRONIQUES DE LUXE (disponible sur : fnac.com )
:::::discographie:::::
2007 (best of) L'IMPORTANT (available on iTunes.fr , amazon.fr , fnac.com )
2007 (dvd) CLIPS STORY (available on amazon.fr , fnac.com )
2005 (album ..7) BORDERLOVE (available on iTunes.fr , buzy.net , amazon.fr , priceminister.com )
1998 (album ..6) DÉLITS (available on iTunes.fr , musicstack.com , priceminister.com - produced by Dimitri Tikovoï)
1993 (album ..5) RÊVE ÉVEILLÉ (available on amazon.fr , amazon.com , priceminister.com )
1989 (album ..4) REBEL (available on priceminister.com )
1988 (single) BABY BOUM (available on iTunes.fr , musicstack.com )
1987 (single) BODY PHYSICAL (available on iTunes.fr )
1985 (album ..3) I LOVE YOU LULU (available on iTunes.fr - cover pics by Serge Gainsbourg)
1983 (album ..2) ADRIAN (available on iTunes.fr )
1983 (single) ADRÉNALINE (available on iTunes.fr )
1981 (album ..1) INSOMNIES (available on iTunes.fr , amazon.fr , priceminister.com - cover pics by Mondino)
1981 (single) DYSLEXIQUE (available on iTunes.fr )
You can find BUZY's CDs and vinyles on musicstack.com,
priceminister.com, amazon.fr, fnac.com, cdandlp.com, ect.