Ange

Belfort, Philips and Reading

Ange formed in Belfort in 1969 (Wikidata gives 1970), from the merger of Christian Decamps's dance band Les Anges and Francis Decamps's group Evolution. Their first concert was at La Pepiniere in Belfort on January 30 or 31, 1970, said by French Wikipedia to have been a three-hour opera. The classic line-up of the early 1970s was Christian Decamps on vocals, Hammond organ and piano, Francis Decamps on organ, Mellotron and vocals, Daniel Haas on bass and acoustic guitar, Jean-Michel Brezovar on guitar, flute and vocals, and Gerard Jelsch on drums. Francis got the Mellotron-like sound from a modified Viscount organ through a Hammond reverb. They won an amateur contest at the Golf Drouot in 1971, signed to Philips, and released Caricatures in 1972, supporting Johnny Hallyday that summer.

Le Cimetiere des arlequins (1973) was their first success in France, and on August 26, 1973 they opened for Genesis at the Reading Festival in front of about 30,000 people, according to Wikipedia. They played 110 concerts in England between 1973 and 1976 without breaking the British market, partly because they sang in French. Au-dela du delire (1974) went gold in France and ranked 73rd in French Rolling Stone's list of the hundred greatest French rock albums, and Emile Jacotey (1975), Par les fils de Mandrin (1976) and the live double Tome VI (1977) followed.

After the brothers

Albums continued through the 1980s (Guet-apens, 1978; Vu d'un chien, 1980; Moteur!, 1981; Fou, 1984; Egna, 1986), and an original line-up farewell tour ended at the Zenith in Paris in December 1995. In 1999 Christian took back the name Ange with his son Tristan on keyboards, Hassan Hajdi on guitar and Thierry Sidhoum on bass, and made La Voiture a eau (1999) and later albums; Francis formed Gens de la Lune, and played with Christian again at the Bataclan in 2011. The documentary Un Ange passe (2002) covers the tension between the brothers, and the 40th anniversary at the Olympia on January 31, 2010 and the 50th at the Trianon in 2020 followed. Final Olympia concerts were on January 31 and February 1, 2025, with Christian, 78, ending his stage career and staying as lyricist and adviser; the album Cunegonde appeared on September 19, 2025.