How it started

In 1972 in Montreal, the rock and folk music group québécois Beau Dommage was formed by Michel Rivard (singer and guitarist), Robert Léger (keyboard, flutist) and Pierre Huet (lyricist), then a year later, additional members Pierre Bertrand (bass guitar), Marie-Michèle Desrosiers (singer, keyboard) and Réal Desrosiers (drummer) were added to the roster. The last change to the roster was when Robert was replaced by Michel Hinton on stage, but continued to compose for the group. The naming of the group Beau Dommage is an old Quebec expression meaning “bien sûr, bien entendu” which translates to “of course, of course”. It is also the name used for their first album.

First Album Beau Dommage

Sold over 50 000 copies after 2 weeks of its release, a tour in Quebec which then follows the group performing outside of Montreal. During the tour, they have met many youths who relates to the themes of their songs, the everyday life of a youth. In June 24th of 1976, Beau Dommage performed alongside of Octobre, Harmonium and Contraction in the concert “La fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste’’ in Montreal, with over 400 000 Québécois on Mont-Royal, and another tour in France in 1977 with Julien Clerc.

Notable songs

La complainte du phoque en Alaska

To Beau Dommage, this was an unexpected success, to where Félix Leclerc covered the song in his album Le tour de l’île, published in 1975

Un incident à Bois-des-Fillion

Their longest piece of music appeared in their album Où est passée la noce? was granted the ‘Jeune chanson 1976’ by the state secretary of french government culture during the Marché international du disque et de l’édition musicale (MIDEM), in Cannes.

Awards and distinction

April 28 2009

Each members received the medal of honor of ‘L’assemblée nationale’ for ‘a remarkable contribution’ for Beau Dommage ‘au patrimoine culturel et artistique du Québec’

A mural was painted with the group’s name Beau dommage at 6760 Saint-Vallier.

September 23 2017

Beau Dommage makes their entry in the Pantheon of Canadian authors and composers. 

NOTE: The group reunited for special performances in 1984 (Forum de Montréal), 1994–1995 (tour and performance at the Francofolies festival).

Source : https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/beau-dommage-1

translated by Andy Huang

Octobre was a Québec progressive rock band active from 1971 to 1982. The band emerged during the rise in popularity of cult groups in Québec, an era described as a folk-rock renaissance. The band was founded by singer-songwriter and keyboardist Pierre Flynn, who wrote most of their songs. The other members consisted of bassist Mario Légaré, guitarist Jean Dorajs, and drummer Pierre Hébert. Their music engaged with local socio-political issues in Québec, as reflected in their name, which derives from the October Crisis, a political hostage situation that involved murder and military occupations, occurring in Greater Montreal in October 1970. Octobre became associated with the growing progressive rock movement in Québec, contributing to the expansion of rock music beyond conventional song structures and themes.

Musically, Octobre merged progressive rock with a range of other genres, including jazz, funk, and R&B. Throughout their career, they released several albums that reflected their musical evolution and experimentation with fusion elements within progressive rock. From the beginning, their self-titled debut album, Octobre (1972), introduced the group’s distinctive fusion of progressive rock and chanson lyricism. Their third album, Survivance (1974), was more experimental and marked a shift towards a more symphonic, jazz-oriented progressive sound. L’autoroute des rêves (1976), their fourth album, was their most successful and is often considered the most sophisticated and refined recording. Here, their style shifted towards jazz-rock and orchestral pop, with brass and string fused with chanson. Overall, Octobre developed a reputation for carefully crafted and detailed arrangements. Although their music did not achieve the same level of commercial popularity as other chanson artists did, they nevertheless played a major role in expanding the stylistic diversity of Québec’s popular music.

Importantly, Octobre’s music was rooted in Québec’s social and political context during the tumultuous 1970s. Their songs spoke to the Québécois working class both musically and lyrically. For instance, their song “La Maudite Machine” (1972), from their first album, became an anthem for many young people in Québec and propelled Octobre into Québec music folklore. Their music differed from that of other progressive rock bands through their emotionally charged lyrics tied to Québec realities. Because their messages were grounded in local concerns, they resonated strongly with audiences in Québec rather than with those outside Québec. Nevertheless, Octobre earned respect for their musical skill, ultimately gaining recognition and success, opening for the British progressive rock band King Crimson and headlining their own concerts across Québec.

By the early 1980s, the popularity of progressive rock was declining as musical tastes were shifting towards other styles. Larger record companies were also reluctant to promote Québec artists due to the political tensions surrounding the 1980 referendum on Québec sovereignty, which created additional challenges for bands like Octobre. The band eventually disbanded in 1982. After the breakup, Pierre Flynn continued his career as a solo artist, composer, and producer, becoming a major figure in Québec popular music. Today, Octobre is remembered as a part of the era of Québec progressive rock bands that expanded the possibilities of francophone rock during the 1970s. Their work demonstrates how musicians in Québec used their musical influence to engage with socio-political issues while maintaining their Québecois identity.

Sources:

1. “La Maudite Machine.” 2021. Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. March 8, 2021. https://www.cshf.ca/song/la-maudite-machine/.
2. “Octobre Discography and Reviews.” n.d. Prog Archives. https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2970.
3. “Octobre.” n.d. ProgQuebec. https://www.progquebec.com/octobre.html.
4. Rioux, Christian. n.d. “Pierre Flynn | the Canadian Encyclopedia.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pierre-flynn-emc.
5. Trimaximalist. 2025. “Octobre.” JazzRockSoul.Com. November 1, 2025. https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/octobre/.

Suggested Listening:

1. “La Maudite Machine” (1972): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOBJemp1-rI&list=RDgOBJemp1-rI&start_radio=
2. “Le vent se lève” (1978): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzB-xaVXYsw&list=RDlzB-xaVXYsw&start_radio=1
3. “Les Nouvelles Terres” (1974): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-VwIqcxffg&list=RDZ-VwIqcxffg&start_radio=1
4. “Violence” Live (1996): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htmauoeDYZo&list=RDhtmauoeDYZo&start_radio=1

Harmonium is a Montreal-based rock band formed in 1972. Its founding members are Serge Fiori as the composer playing flute and guitar, Michel Normandeau on vocals and guitar, and Louis Valois on keyboard and bass. Their first performance was at the boîte à chanson La Patriote in 1973. Later band members include Pierre Daigneault on brass, Serge Locat on keyboards, and after the departure of Normandeau and Daigneault in 1976, Denis Farmer joined on drums, Monique Fateux on vocals, Libert Subirana on woodwinds, and Robert Stanley on guitar.

They released their first eponomously-titled album Harmonium in 1974, which was accompanied by the singles Pour un instant on the A-side and 100,000 raisons as the B-side. A year later they released their sophomore album Si on avait beson d’une cinquième saison the next year, which contains a lyricless five-movement, seventeen-minute song suite without words titled Histoires sans Paroles as the finale. It a definitive statement of the prog-rock genre as opposed to the more folk-rock style of their first album with the increased formal and orchestration ambition. It remains their most successful and popular work, particularly the single Dixie.

Their third and final studio album L’heptade was released yet another year later in 1976 as a double-LP based around the number seven. It was completed in collaboration with Neil Chotem who provided orchestral interludes between each of the seven songs. Fiori expanded on the prog-rock forms that had been developed in the previous album with multiple lengthy and multi-movement compositions. A 1977 live recording of the entire album was released in 1980 and rereleased in 2002 following a copyright dispute concerning L’heptade.

Harmonium embarked on multiple international and domestic tours between 1977 and 1980, going from Europe to the the west coast of the United States and all over Canada. The group formally disbanded in 1980 in order to pursue other musical endeavors, as well as stress from mounting political pressure around the Quebec sovereignty referendum. This stress was captured in the documentary of their tour Harmonium in California directed by Robert Fourtier. Since their disbandment, the cover group L’Éveil was formed.

Sources

https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/harmonium-emc#Harmonium
http://quebecinfomusique.com/artistes/biographie.asp?artistid=172
https://www.universalmusic.fr/artistes/20000112729
https://www.discogs.com/fr/master/13096-Harmonium-Les-Cinq-Saisons
https://www.discogs.com/master/168530-Harmonium-Lheptade
https://www.discogs.com/fr/master/290060-Harmonium-En-Tourn%C3%A9e

Further Listening