Large parts of this chronology come directly from the very good webpage maintened by Guilhem Ensuque.
January 92: first demos by Valérie (reviews in les
Inrockuptibles, Magic Mushroom and other french fanzines).
March 1992: Accoustic solo concert (Rex Club / Paris)
June 1992: Valérie meets Olivier (guitarist)
September 1992: Recording of new tracks in a studio
October 1992: Accoustic concert of Valérie and Olivier (l'Espace
Européen/Paris)
Décember 1992: Contribution to a pop compilation (tape) "
"Simple as Them" with ten other young french bands
March 1993: They meet Fabrice (bass player)
April 1993: They are signed by the "Le Village Vert" label
Summer 1993: Préparation of the first album
October 1993: Recording and mix of the first album "l'Échapée
belle". 8 tracks are produced by Paco Rodriguez (ex Gamine), one by
Michael Head (ex Pale Fountains/Shack) and two by the band
themself.
November 1993: Participation to the compilation "l'Equipe a
Jojo" with the song "Ca m'avance a quoi ?" with de Jean-Louis Murat,
Katerine, Dalcan, Bill Pritchard, ...
December 1993: Recording in Liverpool of the
"Island" song arranged and produced by Michael Head.
April 1994: The "Les ciels de traine" 3 tracks EP is released
with two songs from the album and a new song.
June 1994: First concert of the band in Liège (Belgium)
July 1994: The video of "Les ciels de
traine", directed par Philippe Levy, starts playing on french TVs.
October 1994: First single : "L'accord parfait"
November 1994: The first album "L'échappée belle" is released
Janvier 1995: Jean-Pierre Ensuque replaces Olivier Durand as the band's guitarist
March 1995: The album is released in Japan (on the Epic label)
Spring 1995: First tour (30 datess) in France and Belgium. Last date le on june the 6th in Paris (divan du monde).
May 1995: Contribution to the compilation "Un air de Famille"
July 1995:Spring festivals : Dour, Francofolies...
September 1995:Second single "Ce que l'on tait"
Fall-Winter 1995: The scheduled tour is cancelled.
January to April 1996: Second tour (35 dates) in France, Belgium and Switzerland
June 1996: The album is released in the US, Canada and GB (on the Nettwerk label) where it gets very good reviews from the press.
August 1996:Recording and mix of the second album with Gilles Martin (producer of dEUS, Dominique A, Miossec, Little Rabbits)
December 1996:Some concerts in england (two dates in London: Hope&Anchor and Splash Club)
11 march 1997: The second album "Immobile" is released in France and Europe
March to may 1997:French tour
July 1997:They tour in the US under the Lilith Fair banner
Fall-Winter 1997:Some concerts in France
27 january 1998:The second album is relased in the US, Canada and GB (still on Nettwerk).
14-27 february 1998:Promotional tour in the US and Canada
6 march 98: The compilation "Comme un seul homme" is released.
March 1998: Bruno Saunier, the drummer, decides to leave the band for health reasons. After some auditions a new one is found before the end of the month.
May 98:Some dates in europe (France, England, Ireland and Switzerland)