Art Mengo

Michel Armengot (born 16 September 1962), more commonly known as Art Mengo, is a French singer and songwriter. Although he was born in the Occitan city of Toulouse in France, he is of Spanish descent.^[1]

Art Mengo live at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2009.

Early life

Mengo was born approximately 70% deaf. Despite this handicap, his mother gave him a keyboard, which set him on his future career. When he was a teenager, corrective surgery on his ears helped him regain his hearing. Music, however, was not Mengo's first career plan: after completing his baccalauréat, Mengo studied chemistry and physics at university.^[1]

Career

During his university years, Mengo played piano at a local bar during the evenings. Mengo had purchased an 8 track recorder, which influenced his move into the music industry. With Mengo writing the music, and his brother-in-law Patrice Guirao producing lyrics, a considerable inventory of music was created.^[1]

This work got Mengo a record contract in 1988. Shortly thereafter he released his first single, "Les Parfums de sa vie (Je l'ai tant aimée)", which was a hit on the French Top 50.^[2] His music quickly became popular, and by 1992 he was asked to write a song for French superstar Johnny Hallyday, "Ça ne change pas un homme".^{[citation needed]} In 1993, he wrote an entire album for German singer Ute Lemper. He performed the song "Parler d'amour" with Ute on this album.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

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)^[3]
• Entre Mes Guillemets (2006, Polydor)
• Ce Petit Chemin (2012, L'autre Distribution 9311861)

Live albums

• Live Au Mandala (1998, Columbia)

Compilation

• Les Parfums De Sa Vie: Le Meilleur (2001, Columbia) 1990–1998