Les Charlots

Les Charlots was a group of French musicians, singers, comedians and film actors, who were very popular in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. The group was active first from 1965 to 1966 as "Les Problèmes", the backup band for French singer Antoine. They renamed themselves Les Charlots and remained active from 1966 to 1992, then again briefly from 2008 to 2011 (as a duo). Les Charlots means "the clowns", "the idiots" rather than being a direct reference to Charlie Chaplin, who was generally called Charlot in France.

Their light-hearted comedy style was influenced by the style of popular Italian group Brutos and by the anarchist humor of the Marx Brothers.

The five members were Gérard Rinaldi (vocals / saxophone), Jean Sarrus (bass / backing vocals), Gérard Filipelli, a.k.a. "Phil" (guitar / backing vocals), Luis Rego (rhythm guitar / piano / backing vocals) and Jean-Guy Fechner (drums / backing vocals).

Gérard Filipelli was nicknamed "Phil" as there were two "Gérard" in the group.

Each member was easily recognizable : Gérard Rinaldi was the straight good-looking one, with the crooner voice, Jean Sarrus was the small one with the moustache and funny mimics, Gérard Filipelli was the tall blonde dreamer who often found himself accidentally bare-assed in their films, Luis Rego was the sarcastic Portuguese one and Jean-Guy Fechner was the tall one a big bushy beard.

Read more about Les Charlots:  Band Members, Other Members, Creation of Les Problèmes, Success As Les Charlots, Film Career, Departures of Rego and Fechner, Les Charlots As A Trio / Rinaldi's Departure, The Richard Bonnot Era : The Beginning of The End, Reunions and Reformation As A Duo, After Les Charlots, Lineups, Discography, Filmography

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