Art Mengo
Encyclopedia
Michel Armengot more commonly known as Art Mengo, is a French singer and songwriter. Though born in the French city of Toulouse
, he is of Spanish descent as his parents had fled from Spanish dictator Francisco Franco
.
. His music quickly became popular, and by 1992 he was asked to write a song for French superstar Johnny Hallyday
. In 1993 he wrote an entire album for German singer Ute Lemper. He performed the song "Parler d'amour" with Ute on this album.
Despite his successes, he remains relatively unknown.
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, he is of Spanish descent as his parents had fled from Spanish dictator Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
.
The beginnings
It is worth noting that Mengo was born with greatly diminished hearing. In fact, it was estimated by doctors that 70% of his hearing ability was missing. Despite this handicap, his mother gave him a keyboard as a plaything. It is now clear that this had an impact upon his future career. During his teenage years, corrective surgery for his ears helped him to regain his hearing ability. Music, however, was not Mengo's first career plan. Upon completing the baccalauréat, Mengo pursued chemistry and physics at university.Music
Music initially was a hobby to Mengo as his studies came first. During his university years, Mengo would play piano at a local bar during the evenings. Mengo had purchased an 8 Track recorder, and this would play heavily into his move into the music industry. With Mengo writing the music, and his brother-in-law producing lyrics a considerable inventory of music was created. It was good enough for Mengo to get his first record contract in 1988, shortly thereafter he released his first single, which was a hit on the French Top 50Top 50
The Top 50 refers to a list of weekly hit singles, or albums. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the same but similar to the top 40, but with 10 extra places....
. His music quickly became popular, and by 1992 he was asked to write a song for French superstar Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...
. In 1993 he wrote an entire album for German singer Ute Lemper. He performed the song "Parler d'amour" with Ute on this album.
Despite his successes, he remains relatively unknown.
Studio albums
- Un 15 Août En Février (1990, CBS)
- Guerre D'Amour (1992, Columbia)
- La Mer N'Existe Pas (1995, Columbia)
- Croire Qu'Un Jour (1998, Columbia)
- La Vie De Château (2003, Polydor)
- Entre Mes Guillemets (2006, Polydor)