Zouk Machine

Zouk Machine brings together members of the Guadeloupe group Expérience 7, namely Guy Houllier, Yves Honoré, Joëlle Ursull, Christiane Obydol and Dominique Zorobabel. By 1986, the group was making a name for itself in Guadeloupe with its debut album Zouk Machine and its first hit, "Sové Lanmou". While differences of opinion precipitated the fate of Joëlle Ursull, who chose to leave the group and strike out on her own, Zouk Machine recruited Jane Fostin in 1989 and returned to success with its third album and the hit "Maldòn", which reached No. 1 in the Top 50 in 1990. Selling several hundred thousand copies, this third project brought the group a number of prestigious concerts, including the Zénith in Paris. With Kréòl in 1991, the band maintained their reputation (No. 24 in the Top 50), before experiencing a slowdown with the lacklustre success of Clin D'œil, released in 1994. As a result of these lower sales figures, Zouk Machine's partnership with record label BMG came to an end, and the band was reorganized around Christiane Obydol and Dominique Zorobabel, who presented the discreet Sept Nuits Blanches (1999). After another split, with Christiane Obydol continuing the adventure alone, a new album under the Zouk Machine name was released in 2008, Koud'Soley, before the story ran out of steam. What remained were the group's early hits, which have become part of the zouk heritage and the subject of numerous covers over the years.