Ilous & Decuyper

A short-lived duo in the French music scene of the early 1970s, Ilous & Decuyper have lived to tell the tale of a folk and pop album. An experienced musician, Bernard Ilous began his career in 1967 with the group Les Rover, before composing for artists such as Eric Charden, Dick Rivers, Johnny Hallyday, Françoise Hardy and Stone. His encounter with Claude Puterflam led to the formation of the duo Lenis Chorea for one song, "Mea Culpa" (1970), and to the writing of songs for the singer Edeline, girlfriend of a guitarist named Patrice Decuyper. The relationship was so strong that they went on to produce a duo album. Recorded between 1970 and 1971, Ilous & Decuyper was recorded with Christian Padovan (bass) and André Sitbon (drums) from Système Crapoutchik and other collaborators including Jean-Pierre Alarcen (guitar), under the supervision of Claude Puterflam, founder of the Flamophone label, which published it in 1972. A collection of folk songs enriched with pop, the album spawned two singles, "L'Élu " and "Aime-toi toi-même", but sold only 12,000 copies to a limited audience, ending the cooperation between the two protagonists. Back on his own, Bernard Ilous recorded the album Ilous (1974), then joined Le Système Crapoutchik for his 3rd and final album of the same name. He then continued to compose for Stone et Charden, Dick Rivers and Françoise Hardy, notably the song "Jazzy Retro Satanas" (1980), as well as for other artists, alongside his screen work. Ilous & Decuyper's unique album, which has become rare and sought-after, has since been the subject of several reissues, on CD by Magic Records (1996) and in limited edition vinyl format by Wah Wah Records (2011).