Marcel et son Orchestre

A festive rock band, Marcel et son Orchestre was born in the alternative movement of the 1980s. Initially oriented towards chanson humoristique, then ska and reggae, the group was formed in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1986 by Franck Vandecasteele alias Mouloud, then a percussionist who became the lead singer and sole original member in 2003. After a first concert on May 16, 1986, the team expanded and recorded a first demo entitled Bel Air, after finishing in the final of the Printemps de Bourges competition in 1989. This period saw the arrival of Tof (Christophe Carlin) on trumpet and Tibal (Frédéric Labit) on saxophone, who added to the group's sound, which was adept at disguising itself on stage. Changes of musicians and style followed, including the recruitment in 1993 of guitarist Jean-Baptiste Jimenez, until the recording of their first album Sale Bâtard (1996). A regular on the alternative stages of festivals, bars and small provincial venues, Marcel et son Orchestre enjoyed growing success with Crâne Pas, T'es Chauve (1998), featuring a series of choral anthems. Popular as far afield as Quebec, the troupe drew forty thousand spectators to the Vieilles Charrues festival in summer 2000, between the album En Public !!! (1999) and the studio album Si T'en Reveux, Y'en Re N'a (2001). Replacing Clodio (Claude Brame) as lead singer, Vandecasteele leads the band on the following albums Un Pour Tous... Chacun Ma Gueule! (2003) and E=CM2 (2006) and Bon Chic... Bon Genre! (2009), featuring a cover drawing by Charlie Hebdo's Charb, after others by François Boucq and Jean Solé. The death on October 14, 2009 of early drummer Vincent Sarrazin (present from 1988 to 2000) and the fatigue accumulated by touring contributed to the group's separation, after the albums Dans la Joie Jusqu'au Cou (2011) and Tous les Coups Sont Permis (2012), revisiting the repertoire in acoustic versions. Reunited for three concerts in 2017, then on a festival tour the following year, the seven members of Marcel et son Orchestre belatedly returned to the studio to record a reunion album, C'Est Pas à Vous Qu'ça M'Arriverait, released in 2025.

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