POLL: Chateau Marrmont US/Canada tour

[FanDeAliFee]

I will soon send the following PM to all our AAm leaders.

Hello AAm leaders,

It has been ages since I wrote you as a group. I would bring your attention to a very special opportunity to possibly impact the career of Alizée significantly. You may decide to do nothing about it, but I believe it would be a grave error not to think and talk about it first.

I refer of course to the tour (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=199451&postcount=460) of the US and Canada which Chateau Marmont. Alizée's Institubes associates and UEdS collaborators, will make next month, March 2011.

I have created a discussion thread with a poll about this issue. I hope you will vote and comment there, along with our general membership.

Long ago, I asserted that the foreign language issue is the biggest barrier which Alizée must overcome to find success in the United States. To this end, I advocated building fan groups within extant francophone and francophile groups in the US. I began by offering a plan (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=161543&postcount=29) ten months ago.

As far as I know, nothing like what I had suggested was attempted. But what if it had been undertaken and now there were dozens of Alizée fans in New York City who knew and liked one another, on the eve of a CM gig there?

It is no surprise to me that among the cities CM will tour, if only for a day. is New York City. Wouldn't it have been great if an extant Alizée cadre there might now be planning a "meetup" at the CM show which they advertise to the three thousand meetup group members in NYC? These hypothetical Alizée partisans could have shown up en masse at the CM show, each wearing an Alizée teeshirt!

In NYC, CM will be playing at an important venue, Webster Hall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster_Hall) in downtown Manhattan's East Village. Admission for their Friday 11 March 8PM show is $12, and is detailed here (http://www.websterhall.com/events/show_event_sub.php?id=1380&size=small&cdate=2011-03-11):

But now, even without an Alizée "strike force" in place, surely anyone in metro New York can still attend the show and be joined by many others in the BosWash corridor. who can take Friday off to attend, returning home on Saturday.

At the least. surely Ben, the overall leader of AAm, should attend the show - and even go beyond to extend CM the hometown hospitality he is in a great position to offer them. How many times will a band which just made an album with Alizée - whose very story is set in New York City - actually visit the city for a gig?

Yes, I know CM will not be selling UEdS, nor anything else to do with Alizée. But they and she are not joined at the hip the way Debbie Harry and Blondie were a quarter century ago. It was no affront to CM for Alizée to perform in Corsica and Israel last year with neither CM nor UEdS songs. Neither is CM's US tour any insult to Alizée today.

But, as far as I know, this is the first US tour by ANY group from Institubes - and consists of Alizée's INTIMATE collaborators at that! It is the closest thing to a live US performance by Alizée to date. If it flops, it could also be the last of its kind.

Needless to say, what might be attempted at the New York City show can also be attempted in the other tour cities on a smaller scale.

1. Should AAm care that CM will tour the US and Canada next month?

I say yes!

2. Should AAm try to do all it can to help the tour succeed?

I say yes again!

3. Is AAm competent enough to help?

This is the big question in my mind. To be frank, I found the boast in last year's Open Letter to Alizée rather arrogant. because it presumed our efficacy. Later, Scruffy's willingness to spend many thousands of his own dollars on a radio ad campaign at least proved the sincere and generous commitment of ONE of us,

CM is touring for their own reasons - music is how they earn their bread after all. But by accident, the visit also challenges our ability to help an Institubes act on our home turf. Will we swing at this pitch, and if so, can we hit it?

If AAm wants to get behind the CM tour, it must act very soon. There should be a tweet from our LONG-dormant Twitter account. It would hardly hurt to also e-mail all AAm registrants, just as we did for the Xmas shopping season. If people who live in tour cities can lodge fellow AAm visitors from out of town overnight for free, more of the latter could attend the shows. Think about what we would do if Alizée herself were visiting. This can be our chance to debug such schemes by carrying them out.

P.S. The following would make a great visit gift for presentation to CM in NYC! It is unbreakable, almost zero volume and personalized. Best of all, Institubes might indeed hang it on its office walls, rather than throw it into a warehouse!

Grand Central Subway Sign (http://www.nycwebstore.com/detail.aspx?PRODUCT_ID=PC-9206)

[User22]

I still don't see the point to this after reading it twice. Supporting another Institubes group doesn't support Alizee. And Alizee's relationship with Institubes is dwindling anyway.

If Alizee wants to come to the US then she will. She shouldn't be worried about flopping in the US because all those Youtube Junkies that watch her videos would support her and she'd most likely make headlines just like she did back in 2000 in France.

So yeah, I don't see this as a good opportunity to support Alizee.

[Scruffydog777]

I think the plan has merit, but it would have to have about dozen Alizee fans there to be affective. Three or four wouldn't make much of an impression and the dozen or so who did go would need to be seated near the front to get noticed.

What good will it do, I'm not sure. The tour is only about 12 days long with the show in NYC being on the third day so it's not like they could say after seeing a bunch of Alizee fans there "Hey let's get Alizee on the phone and get her over here." There just wouldn't be enough time for that and I'm sure that's not FandeAlifee's intention. I think he just wants their tour to do very well. So well that hopefully they'll schedule another tour here in the near future and if we get them to realize there's a bunch of Alizee fans here, well hopefully next time they'll make sure they bring her along.

There's too few of us and we're too spread out to try and think we could do much in the way of having an affect on CM's tour. It will have to do well on it's own merit. I think it would be too much to ask several people from this forum to show up for a few concerts in different cities. Not many if any people here have the travel capabilities I do, but even I who am scheduled to work the night of the NY show would probably have to give up 10 hours pay to attend. So the best I think we could do is make a good showing in New York and give them the impression that there is a noticable Alizee fan base here that if they come back is worth trying to tap into.

One thing we can do in the mean time is go to CM's myspace page and make a comment asking why Alizee isn't going to be with them on this tour. That's something I will do later on today.

http://www.myspace.com/chateaumarmont

[User22]

I'm glad someone else see's it the way I do. And why go to their concerts when we can save up money for when Alizee DOES come to the US or even has a tour in France or Mexico in 2013 after the rumored pop album release in 2012...

But yeah...

[babyblue558]

I'm glad someone else see's it the way I do. And why go to their concerts when we can save up money for when Alizee DOES come to the US or even has a tour in France or Mexico in 2013 after the rumored pop album release in 2012...

But yeah...

Agree with Aaron. As far as I see it, Alizée's partnership with Institubes is most likely over (no biggie, she'll find somewhere else I'm certain) but after the extremely poor sales of UEDS it would be a bad commercial decision for Institubes to do another collaboration with Alizée. Nevertheless, even if she DID stay with Institubes for another album, there are far better things Alizée fans who are prepared to take time or spend money to help her career could do than promoting / attending a concert of another Institubes artist.

[User22]

Agree with Aaron. As far as I see it, Alizée's partnership with Institubes is most likely over (no biggie, she'll find somewhere else I'm certain) but after the extremely poor sales of UEDS it would be a bad commercial decision for Institubes to do another collaboration with Alizée. Nevertheless, even if she DID stay with Institubes for another album, there are far better things Alizée fans who are prepared to take time or spend money to help her career could do than promoting / attending a concert of another Institubes artist.

Thanks for putting my thoughts into words, cause that is what I was thinking but didn't know what to say.

And yeah, FanDeAlifee, there is a super massive probability that Alizee's next album won't be with Institubes. I could almost guarantee she won't side with Institubes again, let alone Institubes wanting to side with her lol.

[lefty12357]

If you want to support the idea of French music groups coming to the USA and having success, then attending CM's shows might be a good thing. The more success French artists have, the more encouraging it may be to Alizée to one day come here. But it is CM's show and not Alizée's, so I think a person should respect that. However it wouldn't hurt to draw some attention to her as long as it doesn't disrupt CM's gig.

[Ben]

If you want to support the idea of French music groups coming to the USA and having success, then attending CM's shows might be a good thing. The more success French artists have, the more encouraging it may be to Alizée to one day come here. But it is CM's show and not Alizée's, so I think a person should respect that. However it wouldn't hurt to draw some attention to her as long as it doesn't disrupt CM's gig.
Agreed. Not gonna go guns blazing, but I'm curious to see Chateau Marrmont and it should be fun. So I'll be there. And if the subject of Alizee comes up, bonus.

Speaking more generally, my feeling now is that any promotional efforts aren't going to do much until Alizee herself starts taking an active role, and I'm not sure she has any desire to. Mexico was practically handed on a silver platter, and even that only resulted in a few concerts. Sorry if this offends anyone, feel free to disagree, but it's why I'm sitting on the sidelines until we see more activity from Alizee herself.

[Scruffydog777]

Agreed. Not gonna go guns blazing, but I'm curious to see Chateau Marrmont and it should be fun. So I'll be there. And if the subject of Alizee comes up, bonus.

Speaking more generally, my feeling now is that any promotional efforts aren't going to do much until Alizee herself starts taking an active role, and I'm not sure she has any desire to. Mexico was practically handed on a silver platter, and even that only resulted in a few concerts. Sorry if this offends anyone, feel free to disagree, but it's why I'm sitting on the sidelines until we see more activity from Alizee herself.

I agree with Ben here as far as promotional efforts and I've been probably the most hard core case of promoting her. We need some help from Alizée. We can't do it on our own.

[Iwillmeether]

Alizée strike force

You've got my attention.

I'd go but it's kinda hard for a 17 year-old to fly several states over for a couple days.

[lefty12357]

I'm going to jump on the "agree with Ben" bandwagon too. I was also at one time enthusiastic about promoting Alizée in America, but at some point I realized the ball was now in her court. Our letter was delivered to her and we know she got it. She knows where we stand and that we offered whatever help we could provide. It is really up to her to make the next move, if she chooses to do so.

[Rev]

Simple. Just carry a banner at the concert saying " You forgot someone" with A's silhouette on it. ;)

[Fèvier]

Damn. 19+ to go. :(
There go my chances for that. Ugh, 2 for 2 on not being able to go :(

[User22]

Ugh, 2 for 2 on not being able to go :(

Well you're not missing out on much when its not an Alizee concert lol. Man why am I being so negative about this? I feel like I'm joining the dark side or something...

But really, things could be worse. It could have been Alizee's only US concert and you not being able to go...so don't worry, the world won't end :D

[severianb]

I agree with Ben here as far as promotional efforts and I've been probably the most hard core case of promoting her. We need some help from Alizée. We can't do it on our own.

I'm going to jump on the "agree with Ben" bandwagon too. I was also at one time enthusiastic about promoting Alizée in America, but at some point I realized the ball was now in her court. Our letter was delivered to her and we know she got it. She knows where we stand and that we offered whatever help we could provide. It is really up to her to make the next move, if she chooses to do so.

Yes, I've introduced people to her music when I'm playing it, but that's as far as I go. The only thing I've ever heard her say is that she *doesn't* want to be popular in the United States. (Doesn't want to "swim with the sharks" I think her words were) Sure, she said that a long time ago, at the height of her success in France, but until I hear her say otherwise, I'm not going to go on any grand promotional effort.
As for Mexico being handed to her on a silver platter... Mexico was handed to the 2000-2004 Alizée. That's what was dangled before the Mexican's eyes... La Isla Bonita's midriff-bearing seductress and the JEAM sexbomb, both doing Flamenco hands like she was born Spanish. That was the Alizée they were expecting, and she didn't want to be that girl anymore. She could have shown up in a JEAM outfit and two Mariachis and owned that joint. Not saying she should have, but she could have. :D
I personally think the idea of being away from her family shot that bird down.

Edit:

Well you're not missing out on much when its not an Alizee concert lol. Man why am I being so negative about this? I feel like I'm joining the dark side or something...

But really, things could be worse. It could have been Alizee's only US concert and you not being able to go...so don't worry, the world won't end :D

I'd like to go to their Montreal concert and just ask them to sign my UEDS CD.... but that's mostly because Montreal is a fun, fun town. Makes Vegas look like a nunnery, IMHO. ;)

[FanDeAliFee]

Thanks for all the thoughtful remarks you guys have offered. So far, the voting is very split, with three comparable blocks - acquiesce, advertise and mobilize.

I'm very grateful to that gentleman who leads us, Ben, who tells us he will attend the New York City show. I look forward to hearing his report. I wonder if one is allowed to demurely shoot video there. Perhaps Chateau Marmont might appreciate receiving a bit of footage which they can exclusively edit and then publish to their advantage.

For the sake of readers new to Alizée, I provide the material immediately below for background.

When asked about them (Chateau Marmont?) last year in the March 10, 2010 issue of BRAIN MAGAZINE (ALIZÉE – Une Fille Dans Le Vent (A Girl In The Wind)), she said (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&q=cache:URD_3dx7HioJ:http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5443&page=13+%22I+worked+with+him+on+Grand+Central+but+ he+%22&ct=clnk)
They all four have different personalities. They complement each other. And they are super good melodists. After all is said and done, they may be known to most as musicians and producers of music but in melodies, they are really strong, in fact it is they who made my first single. I believe they have a great career ahead. I think people will ask them for a lot of titles and not just from the industry side, but also the popular side. I hope so, because they deserve it.The single mentioned was (the teaser for) Limelight (http://www.arjanwrites.com/arjanwrites/2010/02/listen-to-aliz%C3%A9e-limelight-produced-by-chateau-marmont.html) from Une enfant du siècle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Une_enfant_du_si%C3%A8cle#Singles), Alizée's fourth studio album.

As also noted by Alizée South Africa, (http://alizeesouthafrica.com/tag/chateau-marmont/), a year ago tomorrow Chateau Marmont had the pleasure of tweeting (http://twitter.com/chateau_marmont/statuses/9164970513) that Alizée was then briefly the number ONE search term on Yahoo France.

Of course the bad news is that Wikipedia reports that the estimated total sales for UEdS has only been about 20,000 units. Lyrics from Limelight itself recount how hard the struggle for success can be -

I don't know where I'm going.
Looking for the limelight - bright


In passing I will observe that when the play version of the fable Peter Pan is staged, it has been traditional to depict the character Tinkerbell (Alizée's self-described mascot) with a spotlight, which stage effect was first created (generations ago) using a limelight. Limelight was also the name of Alizée's short-lived virtual radio station hosted by Goom in 2010.

It would seem that poor Alizée's good-luck fairy Tinkerbell has been kidnapped, bound and gagged, and locked into a closet - perhaps by an evil twin named Stinkerbell!

I wish Chateau Marmont a successful tour and hope their sometimes-partner Alizée sees happier days soon as well. As encouragement to Alizée, I will remind her of the career of the famous late American actress Katherine Hepburn, whom I once comically took pains NOT to meet, as related in a story at AAm here (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=146139&postcount=12).

After a number of films, Hepburn had become so unpopular that she was called "box-office poison" and everyone thought her showbiz career was over. But she persevered and came back stronger than ever, ending her long and distinguished career as the most celebrated American film actress of the entire 20th century.

[Merci Alizée]

Something that we can (or should) do :

1. Introduction of the official AAm newsletter system

We have mass e-mailing system and I feel that it has been used very less. This might be a good time to start with it. Since many of the members tend to be inactive after a year or so, it can be useful if we notify everyone with important things. This may include - notification about all Alizée related events, releases or something which we decide as a group.

Newsletter need not to be periodic, rather just a more often used feature.

Content of newsletter can be an attractive (but simple) poster like message with only relevant details.

An AAm newsletter may contain a link to specific thread for more details. For this a separate report section could be created.

Users of AAm can volunteer for the newsletter whenever they feel it's necessary. I mean if you think that something should be notified to all members, just create a message and PM it to any forum leaders. If found suitable then it would be sent to all members.

<hr>
For CM's shows, we can use create a newsletter telling everyone about the shows. The message may also ask users to inform us if they are attending the shows.

There can be many ways of informing us. Easiest maybe to just create a form in google docs (https://docs.google.com/) and link it in the message. Whoever is planning to attend the show can fill it in few seconds.

After that all the people who will be attending the shows can meet together and do something as a group.

I guess there won't be many people in this group, but even a small group of 10 people can be good.

This method can be used to set a trend for AAm.

[FanDeAliFee]

A supernatural appearance of Alizée at the Chateau Marmont tour is feared. Details available here (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6267).

[User22]

Something that we can (or should) do :

1. Introduction of the official AAm newsletter system

We have mass e-mailing system and I feel that it has been used very less. This might be a good time to start with it. Since many of the members tend to be inactive after a year or so, it can be useful if we notify everyone with important things. This may include - notification about all Alizée related events, releases or something which we decide as a group.

Newsletter need not to be periodic, rather just a more often used feature.

Content of newsletter can be an attractive (but simple) poster like message with only relevant details.

An AAm newsletter may contain a link to specific thread for more details. For this a separate report section could be created.

Users of AAm can volunteer for the newsletter whenever they feel it's necessary. I mean if you think that something should be notified to all members, just create a message and PM it to any forum leaders. If found suitable then it would be sent to all members.

I volunteer to make the newsletter! Pick me!!! Pick me!!! Over here!!! lol

[Marquis<3Alizée]

I still don't see the point to this after reading it twice. Supporting another Institubes group doesn't support Alizee. And Alizee's relationship with Institubes is dwindling anyway.

If Alizee wants to come to the US then she will. She shouldn't be worried about flopping in the US because all those Youtube Junkies that watch her videos would support her and she'd most likely make headlines just like she did back in 2000 in France.

So yeah, I don't see this as a good opportunity to support Alizee.

I highly agree with you aaron. I really don't get it either if she wants to come to the great US she will and make headlines!

[MYGOGT]

I still don't see the point to this after reading it twice. Supporting another Institubes group doesn't support Alizee. And Alizee's relationship with Institubes is dwindling anyway.

You have to remember that these artists run in the same circle, therefore supporting a French group (and actually there are more than one on this tour) can indeed show support for French music. The word DOES get around in the circle whether it is good or bad.
That said I am trying to make the Chicago show if my current schedule will allow.

[User22]

You have to remember that these artists run in the same circle, therefore supporting a French group (and actually there are more than one on this tour) can indeed show support for French music

I guess this is true. But there is only one way to see a result from going to one of these, and that is Alizee coming to the US sometime.

[FanDeAliFee]

Something that we can (or should) do :

1. Introduction of the official AAm newsletter system

This is somewhat similar to my suggestion (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=186995&postcount=1) that we create a Best of Alizée America section of the AAm Website. The basic idea is the same: THROTTLE the massive flow of new AAm content for people with limited time or interest. If I can expand on what I had written, and also address MA's remarks, I find that there are THREE issues:

1. Editorial control of content
2. Publication media
3. Notification/subscription

Users of AAm can volunteer... just create a message and PM it to any forum leaders. If found suitable then it would be sent to all members...

While any AAm member can create and control a newsletter (e.g, just link from their member profile to a forum post they episodically amend), it takes time to build a reputation. AAm has been building one for most of a decade. That's why a newsletter which the AAm Gods edit (if only by proxies) would be the one to which a person would be most likely to subscribe.

Content of newsletter can be an attractive (but simple) poster like message with only relevant details.

An AAm newsletter may contain a link to specific thread for more details...

A simple forum post ALREADY provides great flexibility! It can embed text, photos, videos and links. Sure there is, e.g. no interactivity via Javascript, but why get fancy?

By the way, there might be two versions of the newsletter, e.g. one with no more than 2500 words and another with no more than 250 words per edition or month,

We have mass e-mailing system and I feel that it has been used very [little]... This might be a good time to start with it... Newsletter need not to be periodic, rather just a more often used feature.

This issue is very critical. Notification schemes can be divided into two broad classes - PUSH and PULL.

Using the 2,000-name e-mail list is PUSHy. I would only use it once a year for an annual report on A and AAm, plus for only one or two other events of EXTRAORDINARY importance (e.g. Alizée is giving a US concert or AAm is closing down.) The annual report should always go out just before Thanksgiving to hawk store sales for Christmas.

Other newsletter editions should use PULL syndication like RSS feeds and Twitter tweets. The former has the GREAT advantage of being vendor-independent and in fact is already used for AAm podcasts. Pull syndication is VERY polite - when you turn it off you are never bothered again. That's why people have little fear of (and resistance to!) signing up to a pull feed.

You should also keep in mind that syndication methods keep changing. This is probably an argument for using those which have shown staying power.

[Mon Maquis]

Speaking more generally, my feeling now is that any promotional efforts aren't going to do much until Alizee herself starts taking an active role.

Ben is correct, you can promote all you want, if Alizee does not want to do it, she wont.

[FanDeAliFee]

I have created six new threads, linked below, one for each of the cities which Chateau Marmont will visit on their tour next month. If you intend or aspire to attend the show in a city, or just want to help those who do, please post to its respective thread. If you discover correctable errors or omissions in the initial post I made to any such thread, please PM me ASAP.

Personally, I find it most interesting that the sponsor for the show in Washington, DC is the local chapter of French Institute / Alliance Française.. I will remind you that the proposed strategic plan I wrote out last year (see After the ball (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=156263&postcount=254) and Making progress a step at a time (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=161543&postcount=29) ) identified this very group as of enormous potential utility in introducing Alizée to America. Also last year, I had urged (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=169735&postcount=138) Scruffy to exploit its Boston chapter

Let me close with this - Alizée has never performed in America, but she has certainly visited it, e.g. New York City with Farmer and Las Vegas with her husband, Do you think it is impossible she might be in the audience when "her band" plays in some US city? Don't you think she is at least a little curious how they will be received here? Of course, perhaps you have a better idea where and when you might bump into her in America some day soon!

Chateau Marmont March 2010 gig in Chicago, IL (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6270)

Chateau Marmont March 2010 gig in Toronto, ON (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6273)

Chateau Marmont March 2010 gig in New York, NY (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6274)

Chateau Marmont March 2010 gig in Montreal, QC (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6275)

Chateau Marmont March 2010 gig in Washington, DC (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6276)

Chateau Marmont March 2010 gig in Austin, TX (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6277)



http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/196888_204987079528248_100000508724909_784606_7827 635_n.jpg

[FanDeAliFee]

First, here is a bit more about Chateau Marmont from the interview (http://www.brain-magazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3392&catid=94&Itemid=6) of Alizée in the Wednesday, March 10, 2010 issue of Brain Magazine, as translated here (http://lilitownamerica.co.nr/?p=277) and tweaked by yours truly -.

Q, It’s Chateau Marmont that produced half the [UEdS] album. Why them?
Alizée: Yes, they made most songs, but Rob has made the album. Rob has 3 titles, Marmont 5...

Q. I’ll enumerate the six producers of the album, and you’re going to describe each of them in a few words...

[Which of these is the most beautiful?
Alizee: The best? Holala! I’ll say Julian of Marmont...

Q. The dirtiest?
Alizee: The most saaaale? Aha! Halala … the dirtiest! I can say that but it is a joke right? Guillaume of Marmont. He will be angry!
Then read (http://100sucre.blogspot.com/2009/04/interview-chateau-marmont-eng.html) a casual interview done April 2009 (and translated into English) with the four members of the band itself -

Angy Laperdrix (bass guitar)
Julien Galner (drums)
Guillaume de Maria (keyboard)
Raphaël Vialla (singing & guitar)<table cellspacing="10" cellpadding="10" width="75%" align="center"><tr><td>As I write this. one can find two different spellings for Julien's surname on the Internet.
One gets 725 hits if one Googles for the string "Julien Galner" "Chateau Marmont"
One gets 162 hits if one Googles for the string "Julien Galinier" "Chateau Marmont"
I have now adopted the former spelling.
Indeed, one can confirm it is correct by consulting the band's Facebook Info page (http://www.facebook.com/chateaumarmont?sk=info).</td></tr></table>And if that is not enough, read (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popheart.fr%2Finterview-rencontre-avec-chateau-marmont-3155.html) Google's translation of a November 2009 interview of the band by AAm's good friend in Paris, Julien Perret.

Finally, below I detail the (partial) credits (http://www.qobuz.com/telechargement-album-mp3/Alizee-Une-Enfant-Du-Siecle/Rock-Pop/Alizee/Jive-Epic/default/fiche_produit/id_produit-0884977545036.html) which members of Chateau Marmont earned on the CD Une Enfant Du Siècle -

<big><big><big>Limelight</big></big></big>
Raphaël Vialla, Lyricist
Raphaël Vialla, Composer
Angy Laperdrix, Lyricist
Angy Laperdrix, Composer
Julien Galner, Lyricist
Julien Galner, Composer
Guillaume de Maria, Lyricist
Guillaume de Maria, Composer

<big><big><big>Les collines (never leave you)</big></big></big>
Raphaël Vialla, Composer
Angy Laperdrix, Composer
Julien Galner, Composer
Guillaume de Maria, Composer

<big><big><big>14 décembre</big></big></big>
Raphaël Vialla, Lyricist
Raphaël Vialla, Composer
Angy Laperdrix, Lyricist
Angy Laperdrix, Composer
Julien Galner, Lyricist
Julien Galner, Composer
Guillaume de Maria, Lyricist
Guillaume de Maria, Composer

<big><big><big>A coeur fendre</big></big></big>
Raphaël Vialla, Composer
Angy Laperdrix, Composer
Julien Galner, Composer
Guillaume de Maria, Composer

<big><big><big>Une fille difficile</big></big></big>
Raphaël Vialla, Composer
Angy Laperdrix, Composer
Julien Galner, Composer
Guillaume de Maria, Composer

<big><big>The New French Fab Four</big></big>

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/32451_444883949664_23098484664_5607927_3439300_n.j pg

[FanDeAliFee]

According (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popheart.fr%2Finterview-rencontre-avec-chateau-marmont-3155.html) to Chateau Marmont, who composed half the songs on Alizée's 2010 CD, Une Enfant Du Siècle, their earlier composition Solar Apex, embedded below, was key to their invitation to join Institubes - and hence, to ultimately bringing them into collaboration with the Corsican fairy. (This video certainly also adds weight to my suspicion that Alizée is partly of Remulak extraction (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=159631&postcount=5), :LOL!)

<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/teO2oLFLqo4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/teO2oLFLqo4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>

[severianb]

Thank you for all this information. Great stuff. I really enjoyed their work on UEDS, and I think Lilly was absolutely right when she said they have a bright future. I'm sure I'd enjoy their show, it's just really far out of the way with all I've got going on.

[FanDeAliFee]

It is interesting to compare the list of cities which Chateau Marmont will tour with the locations of AAm autographed UEdS CD recipients and also the locations of French speakers in North America. Of course, ALL of these will be larger in regions of high population density, all things being equal.

First, the list of tour cities:

Tour Dates
Mar 09 - The Abbey - Chicago, IL
Mar 10 - The Drake Hotel - Toronto
Mar 11 - The Studio at Webster Hall - NYC
Mar 12 - Le Belmont - Montreal
Mar 14 - The Velvet Lounge - Washington, DC
Mar 18 - SXSW - Austin, TX
Mar 19 - SXSW - Austin, TX
Mar 20 - SXSW - Austin, TX

Next, below is the map showing the aforementioned CD recipients in North America. Save for the Austin gigs, the correlation under examination is significantly positive.

<center><img src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/o/docdtv/Alizee/CD-NorthAmerica.jpg" width="670" height="430"> (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=162511&postcount=1)</center>

Finally, below is the map showing where French is most often spoken in the USA at home, along with selected remarks first posted at How many Americans know French? Who are they? (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=188559&postcount=17). Note that the Louisiana Cajun concentration is somewhat close to Austin. (Also, since the map data was collected Hurricane Katrina drove MANY people from coastal Louisiana to coastal Texas! Louisiana will lose one seat in the next US Congress and Texas will gain four seats.). Finally, for a city in Texas, Austin is especially hip (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=187201&postcount=45), with an important university population and a non-trivial Internet development contingent.

<big>US regions where French is spoken at home</big>

http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/o/docdtv/Alizee/FrenchInTheUS.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:French_in_the_United_States.png)
<table width="435" align="center"><tr><td>At-home French language distribution in the United States. Counties and parishes marked in yellow are those where 6% to 12% of the population speak French at home; brown, 12% to 18%; red, over 18%. Cajun French and French-based creole languages are not included even though the Creole dialects are spoken throughout the U.S. and taught in many U.S. schools.</td></tr></table>

In the US, French is spoken mainly by the Louisiana Creole, native French, Cajun, Haitian, and French-Canadian populations. French is the second de facto language in the US state of Louisiana (where the French dialect of Cajun/Creole predominates). The largest [at-home] French-speaking communities in the United States reside in Northeast Maine; Hollywood and Miami, Florida; New York City; certain areas of rural Louisiana; and small minorities in Vermont and New Hampshire. Among US adults who can converse (http://www.gallup.com/poll/1825/about-one-four-americans-can-hold-conversation-second-language.aspx) in French, WOMEN OUTNUMBER MEN ALMOST (23/12) TWO TO ONE.

Roughly speaking, 1.6 million (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_States#French) Americans age 5+ speak French at home. Six times as many adults (age 18+), about 10 million (http://www.gallup.com/poll/1825/about-one-four-americans-can-hold-conversation-second-language.aspx), can converse in French, and comprise 4.4 percent of US adults...

In America, over 13 million people report their dominant ancestry as French. About HALF as many Canadians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Canada#Use_of_French), 6.6 million, speak French at home, 91% resident in Québéc. About 3 million Québécois, some 41%, are bilingual. The population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France) of metropolitan France is 63 million, about five times as numerous as nominal Franco-Americans.

<big><big>French surnames - provincial per capita densities</big></big>

http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/o/docdtv/Alizee/WorldFamilyNames-French.jpg (http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/SearchEthnicity.aspx)

The bottom line is this, men -
:
We gotta invert that ENORMOUS US francophone gender gap before Institubes sends us one GIRL instead of four BOYS, ROFLPMP!

[FanDeAliFee]

I remind folks that the North American tour by Chateau Marmont, composer of half the songs on Alizée's UEdS CD, begins the next Wednesday. If you cannot attend one of their shows, you can still support them by picking a tour city (e.g. the nearest to you) and electronically contacting its nearby francophile institutions, which I have identified. (See the threads indexed here (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=199998&postcount=25) for handy Web links to the respective tour city contacts.)

[FanDeAliFee]

You ask - How can attending a Chateau Marmont show help Alizée?

To learn the answer, one should ask how Google became one of the most valuable firms in the world within a few short years. Google succeeded because they TARGETED ads to people better than anyone else ever did - by watching what people DO, and so what they LIKE.

A hunter who has a truck load of bullets, but fires blindly into the forest, will starve before he bags enough game to eat. Yet a hunter who has only a single clip of ammo, but knows where to look for game and takes careful aim before firing, will eat well.

Chateau Marmont concerts are one of the BEST places we have EVER had in North America to win people over to Alizée! We know many things about the people who will attend them which are very favorable.

1. They like and listen to music
2. They are willing to pay for entertainment
3. They like French culture, or at least are not hostile.
4. They like a style of music Alizée has embraced
5. They even like a band with which Alizée herself worked!

It is a HUNDRED (or maybe a thousand?) times EASIER to find someone you can enchant with Alizée at a Chateau Marmont show than by approaching random strangers! For a given amount of personal selling effort, you will have a HUNDRED times as much success!

You do not have to like Chateau Marmont or synth music, or UEdS, or even Alizée singing this type of material yourself! But If you want Alizée to continue working, it is important that she has as many fans as possible who will buy SOME of her artistic output - maybe not the same stuff you prefer!

Businesses, political coalitions, and other groups are often composed of people who do not like one another. But they WORK TOGETHER because they share a common goal which serves each of them!

So if it is not impractical, load up your video iPod with Alizée videos - including synth music, pull on an Alizée teeshirt and attend a Chateau Marmont show in a city near you! Socialize with the people there and look for an opportunity to tell them about Alizée. If nothing else, bring your UEdS CD to the show. During spare moments, turn to your neighbor and say that you hope there will be time to get it autographed. That can be the ice-breaker which starts a conversation about our favorite singer.

End of story!

Ummm, it would be a nice morale booster for Alizée if when the guys in Chateau Marmont returned to Paris, they could tell her that EVERYWHERE they went they ran into MANY of her fans. I am sure she has feelings just like we do.

[FanDeAliFee]

Follow Chateau Marmont's North American tour on their <nobr>Facebook wall</nobr> (http://www.facebook.com/chateaumarmont?sk=wall)

[FanDeAliFee]

Well, Chateau Marmont's North American tour is now history. You can read a humorously frank and detailed account, with cool photos, of the first part of their adventures here (http://www.viceland.com/blogs/fr/2011/03/22/chateau-marmont-sont-en-amerique-pour-la-toute-premiere-fois/). One is happy to learn that their show in Montreal was SOLD OUT! (This hardly contradicts my theory (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=156263&postcount=254) that the French language is an issue for musical success in North America.)

But in this post, I want to examine the name with which they chose to brand themselves.

In their November 2009 interview by Julien Perret, they reported (http://www.popheart.fr/interview-rencontre-avec-chateau-marmont-3155.html) that the band itself was formed in September 2006 and its name coined to capture both a sense of French refinement and a little disgusting debauchery.

If you are as naive as was I, an American who little follows the depressing antics of over-privileged celebrities, the CBS News video below explains the history of the famous West Hollywood luxury hotel named Chateau Marmont where they (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chateau_Marmont#Notable_people_and_events) are wont to cavort, and to which the band's name partially alludes.

<embed src="http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf" scale="noscale" salign="lt" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" background="#333333" width="425" height="279" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" FlashVars="si=254&uvpc=http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/uvp_cbsnews.xml&contentType=videoId&contentValue=50097905&ccEnabled=false&amp;hdEnabled=false&fsEnabled=true&shareEnabled=false&dlEnabled=false&subEnabled=false&playlistDisplay=none&playlistType=none&playerWidth=425&playerHeight=239&vidWidth=425&vidHeight=239&autoplay=false&bbuttonDisplay=none&playOverlayText=PLAY%20CBS%20NEWS%20VIDEO&refreshMpuEnabled=true&shareUrl=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7185739n&adEngine=dart&adPreroll=true&adPrerollType=PreContent&adPrerollValue=1" />

But were I French and unaware of the California hotel, the band's name would ring in my ears like Hotel Arnold (as in Benedict Arnold (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold)) would in an American's, for Marshal Auguste de Marmont (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_de_Marmont) is famous as a long-time intimate lieutenant to Napoleon - who would eventually betray this renowned son of Ajaccio. This makes it quite ironic that the band should become the intimate musical partner of our favorite singer from that same Corsican city, Alizée! (Aside: The greatest irony is that Marmont would end his life in Vienna, tutoring the son of the man he betrayed - the Duke of Reichstadt, aka Napoleon II.)

<table cellspacing="10" align="center"><tr valign="top"><td width="250"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Marmont.jpg/250px-Marmont.jpg"><br><center>Auguste de Marmont, Marshal of France</center></td><td width="383"><a href="http://mairie.chatillon-sur-seine.pagesperso-orange.fr/Originex.html"><img src="http://mairie.chatillon-sur-seine.pagesperso-orange.fr/Origine/IMAG0001.GIF"></a><br>The other, French, "Chateau Marmont" - Le château du maréchal Marmont à Châtillon-sur-Seine</td></tr></table>The band only became associated with Institubes when the latter released their independently produced work, Solar Apex, in December 2008 (http://tylerwolff.com/2009/07/chateau-marmont-solar-apex/). By then CM was already over two years old. Thus, the historical footnote linking them with Alizée through the Marshal is purely by curious fate, rather than by any design.

I discussed a little about re-using a famous name as a branding strategy last year in the post "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"? (http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?p=172954#post172954) To be frank, I think choosing the band name Chateau Marmont was a mistake. The treacherous Marshal aside, in the Internet age, when one searches the net for this name, hits relevant to the band are totally swamped into obscurity by those relating to the hotel.

But if the guys were hung up on an allusion to the hotel, they could have tried playful variants like G(h)ateau Marmont, which might have given them a <a href="http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3064/3076910200_b2356aba91_o.gif">cake shaped like a building</a> for a symbol. (BTW Alizée fans, GH is a very characteristic letter combo in Corsu.) And if the band remained faithful to its other-worldly synth genre, its members might have found themselves better pleased with a name like Logan's Runners. I guess it is all just too late now.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/o/docdtv/Alizee/GateauMarmontLogo.jpg

<table cellpadding="10" align="center"><tr valign="top"><td>By the way, you can read about how the hotel got its name <a href="http://www.sunsetstript.com/2010/09/11/how-did-chateau-marmont-get-its-name/">here</a>. It was named after the street on which it sits, which in turn was named after an early British - NOT French - Hollywood film star.<br><br><img src="http://www.spotlight.com/hallfame/portraits/percy_marmont.jpg"><br><center>film actor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Marmont">Percy Marmont</a></center></td><td><img src="http://you-are-here.com/building/chateau_marmont.jpg"><br><center>The hotel <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chateau_Marmont">Chateau Marmont</a> in West Hollywood</center></td></tr></table>In the final analysis, it is important that the public likes the product you sell. But many people selling premium goods sure do spend a lot of money to get themselves the right name - it must often make a difference to how hard and long a journey to success one must endure. And the recorded music business is next to impossible these days, anyway.

Good luck to the fellows of CM!

[FanDeAliFee]

You can now read both parts of the article in which Chateau Marmont recounts, with text and snapshots, their (first?) North American tour. Below, I link both to the original French texts, and to the crude English translations offered up by Google Translate. Enjoy.

Part 1:
(French) (http://www.viceland.com/blogs/fr/2011/03/22/chateau-marmont-sont-en-amerique-pour-la-toute-premiere-fois/)
(English) (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.viceland.com%2Fblogs%2Ffr%2F201 1%2F03%2F22%2Fchateau-marmont-sont-en-amerique-pour-la-toute-premiere-fois%2F)

Part 2:
(French) (http://www.viceland.com/blogs/fr/2011/04/05/chateau-marmont-sont-en-amerique-pour-la-toute-premiere-fois-part-ii/)
(English) (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.viceland.com%2Fblogs%2Ffr%2F201 1%2F04%2F05%2Fchateau-marmont-sont-en-amerique-pour-la-toute-premiere-fois-part-ii%2F)

<table width="550" align="center"><tr><td align="center"><img src="http://www.viceland.com/blogs/fr/files/2011/04/matthieu-patron.jpg"</a><br><big><big>Coup d'état, fait accompli: The four members of Chateau Marmont, with their manager, Matthieu Couturier (seated)</big></big></td></tr></table>

[Scruffydog777]

But were I French and unaware of the California hotel, the band's name would ring in my ears like Hotel Arnold (as in Benedict Arnold (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold)) would in an American's, for Marshal Auguste de Marmont (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_de_Marmont) is famous as a long-time intimate lieutenant to Napoleon - who would eventually betray this renowned son of Ajaccio. This makes it quite ironic that the band should become the intimate musical partner of our favorite singer from that same Corsican city, Alizée! (Aside: The greatest irony is that Marmont would end his life in Vienna, tutoring the son of the man he betrayed - the Duke of Reichstadt, aka Napoleon II.)



Did history repeat itself? Didn't CM go off and do their own shows all around France while Alizee waited for them to return so she could organize a tour for the album? It looks to me like they abandonned her or maybe a better term for it would be running away instead of putting up the good fight?

[lefty12357]

Did history repeat itself? Didn't CM go off and do their own shows all around France while Alizee waited for them to return so she could organize a tour for the album? It looks to me like they abandonned her or maybe a better term for it would be running away instead of putting up the good fight?

Well, I'm not sure if they ever agreed to tour at any time with Alizée. It seems to me she said early on that she hoped to get the original musicians to tour with her, but they had prior commitments at the time and she hoped to work something out with them. And that's why she was putting off the tour until later. That's why I thought she should have just put a band together and done some small shows right away when UEDS first came out.

So did they abandon or avoid her, or was nothing ever agreed upon? My guess is the latter, but either one could be true I suppose.

If or when she does her next project, I would hope that she will put together a band she can rely on to see the project through, especially for any touring. The problem is that these kinds of musicians make their living playing. They can't afford to sit around home without pay, keeping their schedule open waiting for a possible tour that may or may not happen.

[Scruffydog777]

To tell you the truth, this is very disillusioning. With the cancellations of the concerts in Paris in relation to the Psych album, we were led to believe that the problem was lack of promotion. So what would you do if something that you had a lot of time and money invested in failed? You would go over every facet of your operation and make sure on your next album, all your ducks were in a row, everything was cast in stone, and it's all too apparent that it wasn't.

Everything should have been planned far in advance. We release the album on this date, We do a concert in Paris on this date with either CM or some other musicians. We then go on a tour of France or Europe or Mexico or what ever and it's all too obvious that nothing along those lines was done.
Now we have the rumor that she may release a best of album. It seems to be the unanimous feeling of everyone in here that now is not the time for such an album. So I have to wonder, who is running this operation?

[Un-rêve]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UCUvOEHo3w