Normally we don’t write about Belgian music, as we’re not big connaisseurs of the scene. But we make an exeption for music legend Marc Moulin, who passed away in 2008. Marc was internationally known an praised for his fushion group Placebo and electro-pop group Telex. His body of work spans over 5 decades and ranges from jazz to progrock to electropop to ambient to jazzy electronica and lounge.

This Brussels-born versatile musician made his first steps in the Belgian jazz scene in 1961 when he won the Bobby Jaspar trophy for best soloist. But the real deal started for Marc when he and his close friend and guitar player Philip Catherine formed their own legendary band Placebo in 1971.

Placebo quickly became known for the unique mixture of jazz, soul, rock, funk and lots of electronic sounds. This was possible as Marc was the first Belgian to ever own a Moog synthesizer. Placebo recorded three albums during the seventies: ‘Ball Of Eyes’, ‘1973’ and ‘Placebo’. For many it was clear that with the album Placebo they reached their high point. It had a highly polished, unique and strangely modern sound that had depth and intelligence. It was part street, part studio wizardry and above all it was funky as hell!

After disbanding Placebo, Moulin takes a break from the jazz scene and starts his electro-pop group Telex at the end of the seventies. They’re most memorable for entering the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980. The group’s song “Euro-Vision” was a cheerful bleepy song with deliberately banal lyrics about the contest itself. The Eurovision audience seemed unsure how to react to the performance, and after the band stopped playing, there was mostly stunned silence, with scattered polite applause. We’re sure that Sebastien Tellier was taking notes for his Eurovision entry for France in 2008.

Moulin returns to the jazz scene in 2001, when he combines his two great loves, jazz and electronic dance music, on the album Top Secret (Blue Note Records). He recorded his last album, ‘I Am You’, in 2007.

His visionary fusion of musical genres and use of electronics on his early seventies records still sound fresh to this day. He was ahead of his time when he formed Placebo, he created the blueprint for electronic dance music with Telex and he was a pioneer of the electro jazz and louge music movement at beginning 2000. So yes, we Belgians can be proud of Marc Moulin and his legacy.

© I Love Belgium

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We start with a Placebo live recording for the track Planes from the first album Ball Of Eyes:

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Placebo’s song Balek from the self titled album from 1973:

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One of the many great songs from the Placebo album: Stomp

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The I Love Belgium team’s favourite: Telex – Moskow Discow (1979)

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We end with his 2005 album Entertainment and song Silver