Mano Solo

Biography

Mano Solo (24 April 1963 – 10 January 2010), born Emmanuel Cabut, was a French singer. He was born in Châlons-sur-Marne on 24 April 1963 to the illustrator Cabu and Isabelle Monin, co-founder of the ecology-related magazine, La Gueule ouverte.

Early life

From the age of 17, Mano Solo played guitar in a punk rock group, les Chihuahuas. He began singing his own compositions in the early nineties. He then sang regularly at the Tourtour theatre in Paris, alongside singers Marousse and P'tit Louis.

Recording career

His first album, La Marmaille Nue×La Marmaille nue3 December 1993 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1La barre est dure1:522Allo Paris2:473Je marche seul1:594Sacré Cœur2:385Chacun sa peine2:22615 ans du matin2:317Pas du gâteau3:098Julie3:349Allez viens2:3010Toujours quand tu dors2:3011Au creux de ton bras3:1612Le Monde entier2:3613La Lune3:3014On boira de la bière4:0615Trop de silence2:58, was released in 1993 and sold 100,000 copies in the first year. His second album, Les Années Sombres×Les Années sombresAugust 1995 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1C'est en vain2:342Tango1:593Soir de retour3:174Y'a maldonne3:485Paris boulevards4:226Dis moi3:097Tu t'envoles4:278Barbès-Clichy4:019Quand tu me diras3:1310Une image3:5211À pas de géant2:0312Les Poissons4:2913Mes amis d'enfance2:3314Le Limon4:1715Je reviens3:1816Tous les jours2:4717Pont d'Austerlitz3:30 ("The Dark Years"), a somber album that also went gold in its first months was released in 1995. In 1996, he regrouped with part of the Chihuahuas for the album Frères Misère (Brothers in Misery). Its rhythms are closer to punk, and the texts are more topical than his solo albums. With little media attention, the album failed to meet immediate success.
The release of a new album: Je sais pas trop×Je sais pas trop21 October 1997 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Te souviens-tu3:092Les Fées2:303La Liberté4:114Sens-tu4:025Le Drapeau3:376Ça n'a pas marché2:297Janvier2:508Il m'arrive encore2:289Que reste-t-il à vivre2:2110Je suis venu vous voir3:5511C'est plus pareil4:4312Novembre2:12 ("I don't really know") was in 1997. Recorded live and featuring, once again, original melodies and sounds, it was a Gold record in France. Two years later, Mano Solo recorded the double album Internationale Shalala, live at the Tourtour, a little theatre where he played regularly since the beginning of his music career. He sings and plays guitar on the album, accompanied only by another guitarist, Jean-Louis Solans. The songs come from earlier Solo albums, except for Shalala, a hymn of "inner revolution" that the artist sang together with his audience at the end of every concert, with a positive and dynamic message.
His second live album, La Marche×La Marche8 October 2002 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Des pays5:542Je taille ma route3:253Allô Paris4:004Allez viens3:275Une petite seconde3:546El mungo3:597Y'a maldonne4:188Soif de la vie3:409Une image4:2910Paris boulevard3:1911Julie5:5912Canal du Midi3:1913Périph'2:5514Les Enfants rouges4:1115Sha la la7:18 (The Walk), was released in 2002. It consists mostly of songs from the album Dehors×Dehors17 January 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Des pays5:392Je taille ma route3:583El Mungo3:314Pour gagner4:525Les Gitans4:506Là-bas3:037Les Habitants du feu rouge3:418Canal du midi2:059Le Périph2:1910Soif de la vie4:0111Les Hommes seuls4:1612Métro2:4313Les Enfants rouges3:55 ("Outside"), released earlier (August 2000). With the album comes a DVD featuring photos and videos from concerts, and CG animations from Mano Solo's imagination.
In 2004, Les animals was released. As with other Solo albums the sound was new, the lyrics contained much poetic language, and the songs were performed energetically. Some titles were new recordings of old songs. The song Botzaris, recorded with Les Têtes Raides, was featured on the album. Solo appeared on two tracks on the album Dans le caillou by Karpatt.

In the Garden

In 2006, Mano Solo did not renew his contract with his label, Warner. He self-produced his new album In the Garden×In the Garden2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1In the Garden3:092Les Endurants2:533Les Petits Carrés blancs3:354Palace3:335Aimer d’amour2:266La Fortune3:317Entre nous3:548Dans ma mémoire3:339Le Repas3:1610No future4:1911Toujours le même tableau3:2012Ne sens‐tu rien venir2:52, announced for March 2007. He offered this record by subscription sale starting on 18 September 2006 : and every month after, subscribers get access to new material (songs or videos). The subscription fee goes towards the album's promotional costs.

Other works

Parallel to his singing career, Solo developed other talents, including art. He designed the covers of some of his albums. He founded his own publishing imprint (La Marmaille Nue), which released two of his own books: a poetry anthology, Je suis là ("I am here") (1995), and a novel, Joseph sous la pluie ("Joseph in the rain") (1996).
From 2001, Solo became very interested in the Internet; he created and developed his own website around his artistic, social, and political interests, while encouraging his visitors to be creative themselves.

Death

Solo had been HIV positive for years secondary to his youthful drug use. He was rushed to the hospital after a concert in Paris on 12 November 2009. There he died at the age of 46 on 10 January 2010, due to his illness. He is buried at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.