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Plume (b Michel) Latraverse. Singer-songwriter, author, b Montreal 11 May 1946. At first a painter, Plume Latraverse became a rock musician at the beginning of the 1960s, then in 1964 started composing folk-inspired songs, which he sang in church basements and such boîtes à chansons as the Prag and the Café catastrophe in Montreal. In 1970 he sang at the Maison du pêcheur de Percé, on the Gaspé coast, where he met Pierre Landry (le Docteur Landry) and Pierrot Léger. The three founded La Sainte Trinité which was an instant hit among fringe groups in Montreal. In 1971 the group recorded the LP La Sainte Trinité (Zodiaque ZOX-6020 and Nuage N-C04).
In 1972 Plume Latraverse left La Sainte Trinité to pursue a solo career and recorded four albums 1974-5. His irreverent songs, written in joual on ballads or rock tunes, chronicled the daily life of the youth of the 1970s. He spent many months in France, then performed in Toronto. In 1977 he made a tour of Quebec. His first performance in Europe was at the 1978 Festival du printemps de Bourges; he followed this appearance with European tours in 1979 and 1982. He also toured in Quebec with the group Offenbach, ending the tour at the Montreal Forum in 1983. That year, he published in Montreal Cris et écrits, followed by Contes-gouttes in 1987. A film, Ô rage électrique (Films du crépuscule 1985), documented the life of Latraverse and his group of friends.
Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Latraverse released several more albums and the hit single "El Niño" (1998), and performed often at Quebec music festivals (eg, Les FrancoFolies de Montréal, including his first show at Place des Arts, in 1994). A series of intimate recitals 1992-4 gave way to a rock aesthetic with the show La Grande Saloplumerie (1996), dubbed the rock event of the year.
This "black sheep" of the chanson in Quebec declared that he preferred being a "happy amateur to a sad professional" (Ottawa Le Droit, 13 Jan 1977).
Publications; Awards
Three collections of Latraverse's song lyrics have been published: Chansons pour toutes sortes de monde (vlb éditeur 1990); Chants lybres (vlb éditeur 1994); and Tout Plume (...ou presque), (Typo 2001); as well as the songbooks Chansons nouvelles (1995) and Plume Latraverse: Choix de vingt (1997).
Plume Latraverse has won the Prix international de la jeune chanson (France, 1980); the Prix de la chanson (Tokyo, 1982); the Prix Georges Lenouïl for Métamorphoses 1; the Prix international de chanson francophone at the Festival d'été international de Québec (1994); the Medaille Jacques-Blanchet (1994); and a 2002 Félix recognition award.
Writings
Contes gouttes, ou, Le pays d'un reflect. 1987
Bric-à-brac: Pas d'admission sans histoire (Montreal 1993)
Striboule (Montreal 1995)
Discography
Plume Pou digne. 1974. Deram XDEF-101
Pommes de route. 1975. CBS PFC-90635
Le Vieux show son sale. 1975. Deram XDEF-112
En noir et blanc. 1976. Deram XDEF-131
À deux faces. 1977. CBS PFC-90637
Plume à l'Outremont. 1977. CBS PFC-90426
Les Pires succès de Plume. 1978. Deram XDEF-154/CBS PFC-90638
All Dressed Plume. 1979. 2-Deram XDEF-1578
Chirurgie plastique. 1979. Deram XDEF-166
French Tour. 1980. CBS PFC-80058
Livraison par en arrière. 1981. CBS PFC-90647
Métamorphose I. 1982. CBS PFC-90669
Autopsie canalisée. 1983. CBS PFC-80079
Insomnifères. 1984. CBS PFC-80101
Les Mauvais compagnons (Métamorphose II). 1984. CBS PFC-80093
Plume Latraverse. (1984). Musidisc MU-241-K-8519
Chansons pour l'élite. (1985). Musidisc MU-241-K-8630-8
Chansons inédites; inusitées. (1986). Musidisc MU-241-K-8555
D'un début à l'autre. 1987. 2-CBS PFC-2-80121
Le Lour passé de Plume Latraverse I. (1989). A & M CD-9511
Le Lour passé de Plume Latraverse II. (1989). A & M CD-9512
Le Lour passé de Plume Latraverse III. (1990). A & M 70301-9514-2 (CD)
Le Lour passé de Plume Latraverse IV. (1992). Disques Dragon DBCD-1903
Chansons pour toutes sortes de monde. 1990. Dragon DBCD-0901 (CD)
Chansons nouvelles. 1994. Les Disques Plinc, PLCD-1146
Le Lour passé de Plume Latraverse V. 1995. DBCE-1907
Mixed Grill. 1998. Disques Dragon DBCD-1912
Vingtemps. 2001. Disques Dragon DBCD-1913
Chantes d'épuration. 2003. Disques Dragon DBCD-1914
Hors-saisons. 2007. Disques Dragon DBCD-1915
Plumonymes. 2008. Disques Dragon DBCD-1916
Latraverse also participated in the recordings Du même nom of Gilles Valiquette in 1974 (Zodiaque ZOX-6017) and À fond'train: Plume et Offenbach in 1983 (2-CBS-GFC-80086).
