Les Charlots - Success As Les Charlots

Success As Les Charlots

The five boys left Antoine and renamed themselves "Les Charlots" in 1966. They became instantly extremely popular for their humoristic / parodic songs like "Ce Monde Existe", "Si tu ne veux pas payer d'impôts", "Merci Patron", "On n'est Pas là Pour se Faire Engueuler", "Ballade à Luis Rego, prisonnier politique", "Paulette la Reine des Paupiettes", "Berrystock", "Sois Erotique" (a parody of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime Moi Non Plus"), "Je Suis Trop Beau" (a parody of Jacques Dutronc), "Berry Blues", "Albert le Contractuel",, "Cet été c'était toi", "Ouvre la Fenêtre", "Pétronille Tu Sens la Menthe", "Elle Avait du Poil au Ventre", "Hey Max" (a parody of Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe"), "Elle a Gagné le Yoyo en Bois du Japon (avec la Ficelle du Même Métal)", "Le Trou de Mon Quai", "La Biguine au Biniou", "Le Chou Farci", "Histoire Merveilleuse", "Chagrin d'labour", "C'est trop, c'est trop", "Ah Viens!", "Derrière Chez Moi" and "L'Apérobic".

Most of the songs were written by Rinaldi, more occasionally by Sarrus or Rego. Rinaldi was the main singer and the four others sang backing vocals.

After they left Antoine, they toured a lot from 1966 to 1970, first as the opening act of prestigious artists like Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Claude François and even The Rolling Stones.

Jean Sarrus remembers that when Les Charlots toured as the opening act of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger and co. were always so late that Les Charlots - as a provocation or as a joke - used to play Satisfaction for the audience. One day, Mick Jagger told them : "If you promise never to play (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction again, I promise you I'll never sing Paulette, the Queen of the Paupiettes"...

In the late '60s, they began to appear in comedy sketches on television, most notably in an episode of satirical television cartoon Les Shadoks, with Jean Yanne.

In 1968, Rolling Stone magazine named them the best ever French rock musicians.

In 1969, they recorded a cover album with songs by French legend Boris Vian. They made their debut as actors in an episode of French sitcom Les Saintes Chéries, playing musicians.

They became the first and only French rock / comedy group of the time. In the late '60s, early '70s, Les Charlots appeared in the first "Scopitones", the ancestors of music videos.