Lougarou

Garolou (formerly known as Lougarou from 1975 to 1977) is a Canadian rock group formed in September 1975 on Prince Edward Island by brothers Marc and Michel Lalonde, Michel (Stan) Deguire, Steven Naylor, and Georges Antoniak. In the spring of 1976, the group's first album, Lougarou, was released, featuring the songs "À la claire fontaine," "Ah toi, belle hirondelle!" and "Dis-moi Charles," propelling the group onto the Quebec charts. That same year, the group was signed by London Records. In 1977, a folk-dance troupe called Loup-garous requested that the company stop using the name Lougarou. As a result, the name Garolou was born. Following this event, Georges Antoniak and Steven Naylor left the group and were replaced by Réginald Guay and Gilles Beaudoin. In 1978, the group released a second album entitled Garolou, featuring the hits "La Complainte du Maréchal Biron," "La Retraite de Bonaparte" and "Victoria”, earning the group a gold record and a Félix award in 1979 in the Folklore and Traditional category. The success led to a tour across Quebec, Canada, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Gilles Beaudoin left the group at the end of the series of shows with Gaston Gagnon joining shortly after. Garolou's third album, Romancero, was released in 1980, earning them another Félix award at the ADISQ gala. The songs "La Danse de la limonade" and "Dans Paris" both reached the top 5 on the Quebec charts. In 1981, the group joined Zachary Richard and Offenbach for a nineteen-city tour entitled Quebec Rock, performing with legendary rocker Joe Cocker in Montreal, Quebec, and Sherbrooke. The following year, the album Centre-Ville was released and the group took a break after a farewell tour in 1983, returning to the stage on December 30 and 31, 1994; recording the album Réunion live at the Théâtre de la Ville de Longueuil, which was released in 1997. A fifth studio album, Mémoire vive, was released in 1999.