Bézu

André Bézu entered the world on July 24, 1943, in Tourcoing within France’s Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. The performer who would later record simply as Bézu first gained recognition through French cinema during the 1970s before turning to music the next decade. His earliest singles, novelty numbers composed by Gérard Tempesti and Guy Lux, appeared on the TNR label in the mid-1980s under the group name Bézu et la Grand St. Germain and included the tracks “Ali Baba,” “Moi Vouloir du Couscous,” and “Le Sex Symbol.”

Breakthrough arrived with “À la Queuleuleu,” issued by Carrère in 1987 and tied to the television program La Classe; the song climbed to a Top Five position on the French singles chart in early 1988. The sudden attention prompted a 1988 re-release of the earlier Bézu et la Grand St. Germain single “Ali Baba.” Its 1989 successor, “Le Tortillard,” adopted a comparable approach yet failed to match that level of popularity. Later efforts, among them the 1991 parodic hip-hop novelty “Le Rap aux Moules,” likewise found little audience.

Occasional compilations, such as the 2001 collection titled À la Queuleuleu, kept his name in circulation, though Bézu remained known chiefly as a one-hit wonder. He passed away in Paris on February 7, 2007.