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Formed by three former members of Les Ambitieux, Jean Fredenucci (vocals, bass), Guy Mattéoni (organ) and Michel Donat (drums), Les 5 Gentlemen of Corsican origin settled in Marseille and recruited guitarists Claude Olmos and François Paoli for their first record, "Dis-nous Dylan", released by the Riviera label - a subsidiary of Barclay - in 1966. One of the leading exponents of garage rock and the mod movement, the costumed band performed beyond France's borders, in Italy and England, where they recorded the singles "Daytime " and "All the Time Clementine " under the name The Darwin's Theory. That same year, following the release of the Cara-Lin EP, he took a psychedelic rock turn with the track "Qu'as-tu Katyusha?", taken from a 3rd EP which also featured the ode "L.S.D. 25 ou les métamorphoses de Margaret Steinway". The following year saw the release of the Oum Tse Oum Papa EP, featuring four original tracks signed as usual by Jean Fredenucci, before the 5 Gentlemen accompanied Swedish singer Peter Holm on the French version of "Monia " (1968). A fifth and final EP, Twiggy, was released in 1967, before the group split up the following year. Former students in the Faculty of Science, the musicians took different paths. Guy Mattéoni embarked on a solo career before specializing in arranging, in particular for the Âge tendre et tête de bois tour in 2006, while Claude Olmos went on to play with Alan Jack Civilization, Alice, Dock Daïl, Cœur Magique and Magma. In 2005, the compilation L'Intégrale 1965/1968 brought together records released under the names Les Ambitieux and Les 5 Gentlemen, including two tracks recorded in Italian ("Dimmi Dylan") and English ("Daytime"). 2010 sees the publication of an anthology of the Tendres Années 60 series.
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