Krak des Chevaliers is one of the best-preserved Crusader castles.^[1]

Bourtange star fort, restored to 1750 situation, Groningen (province), Netherlands.

The well preserved Bulgarian medieval fort Baba Vida.

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs. The term is derived from the Latin fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make").

Nomenclature[link]

Many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may class as fortresses; smaller ones formerly often bore the name of fortalices. The word fortification can also refer to the practice of improving an area's defence with defensive works. City walls are fortifications but not necessarily called fortresses.

The art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally classifies as castramentation, since the time of the Roman legions. The art/science of laying siege to a fortification and of destroying it has the popular name of siegecraft or 'siege warfare' and the formal name of poliorcetics. In some texts this latter term also applies to the art of building a fortification.

Fortification is usually divided into two branches, namely permanent fortification and field fortification. Permanent fortifications are erected at leisure, with all the resources that a state can supply of constructive and mechanical skill, and are built of enduring materials. Field fortifications, for example breastworks, are extemporized by troops in the field, perhaps assisted by such local labour and tools as may be procurable and with materials that do not require much preparation, such as earth, brushwood and light timber, or sandbags (see sangar).

There is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. This is employed when in the course of a campaign it becomes desirable to protect some locality with the best imitation of permanent defences that can be made in a short time, ample resources and skilled civilian labour being available.

Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territory.

History[link]

Ancient[link]

From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for many cities. Uruk in ancient Sumer (Mesopotamia) is one of the world's oldest known walled cities. The Ancient Egyptians also built fortresses on the frontiers of the Nile Valley to protect against invaders from its neighbouring territories. Many of the fortifications of the ancient world were built with mud brick, leaving many no more than mounds of dirt for today's archaeologists.

A model of the prehistoric town of Los Millares 3000 BC Spain, with its walls.

Artists impression of the battlements at Buhen fortress in Egypt about 1800BC

The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples and defensive walls.^[2]

Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were also fortified. By about 3500 B.C., hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain. Many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. The stone and mud brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered behind massive stone flood dykes and defensive walls, for neighbouring communities bickered constantly about the control of prime agricultural land.^[3] Mundigak (c. 2500 B.C.) in present day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks.^[4]

Model of Ishtar Gate and part of the walls of Babylon built by Nebuchadnezzar

Babylon was one of the most famous cities of the ancient world, especially as a result of the building program of Nebuchadnezzar, who expanded the walls and built the Ishtar Gate.

Exceptions were few—notably, ancient Sparta and ancient Rome did not have walls for a long time, choosing to rely on their militaries for defence instead. Initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without mortar.

The Lion Gate at Mycenae Greece 1600 BC

In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). In classical era Greece, the city of Athens built a long set of parallel stone walls called the Long Walls that reached their guarded seaport at Piraeus.

heuneburg a Celtic fort in Germany 600 BC, with mudbrick walls

In Central Europe, the Celts built large fortified settlements known as oppida, whose walls seem partially influenced by those built in the Mediterranean. The fortifications were continuously being expanded and improved. Around 600 BC, in Heuneburg, Germany, forts were constructed with a limestone foundation supported by a mudbrick wall approximately 4 meters tall, probably topped by a roofed walkway, thus reaching a total height of 6 meters. The wall was clad with lime plaster, regularly renewed. Towers protruded outwards from the wall.^[5]

The Great Wall of China.

Large tempered earth (i.e. rammed earth) walls were built in ancient China since the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1050 BC), as the capital at ancient Ao had enormous walls built in this fashion (see siege for more info). Although stone walls were built in China during the Warring States (481-221 BC), mass conversion to stone architecture did not begin in earnest until the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).

In terms of China's longest and most impressive fortification, the Great Wall had been built since the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC), although its present form was mostly an engineering feat and remodelling of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The large walls of Pingyao serve as one example. Likewise, the famous walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing were established in the early 15th century by the Yongle Emperor.

The Romans fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls. The most famous of these are the largely extant Aurelian Walls of Rome and the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, together with partial remains elsewhere. These are mostly city gates, like the Porta Nigra in Trier or Newport Arch in Lincoln.

Hadrian's Wall was built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England following a visit by Roman Emperor Hadrian (AD 76–138) in AD 122.

Medieval[link]

Genoese fortress in Sudak, Ukraine

Ávila city walls, Spain

Roman forts and hill forts were the main antecedents of castles in Europe, which emerged in the 9th century in the Carolingian Empire.

Rumelihisarı, İstanbul, Turkey

The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of some towns built around castles. These cities were only rarely protected by simple stone walls and more usually by a combination of both walls and ditches. From the 12th century AD hundreds of settlements of all sizes were founded all across Europe, which very often obtained the right of fortification soon afterwards.

Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork: the world’s largest brick gothic castle, in Poland

The fortified city of Valença, Portugal as seen from across the Minho River (Portugal's northern border with Spain)

Table of Fortification, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia.

Austro-Hungarian Fort 31 Benedykt of Kraków fortress

Austro-Hungarian Fort I "Salis Soglio" of Przemyśl fortress

Ranikot Fort in Sindh, one of the largest forts in the world.

The founding of urban centres was an important means of territorial expansion and many cities, especially in eastern Europe, were founded precisely for this purpose during the period of Eastern Colonisation. These cities are easy to recognise due to their regular layout and large market spaces. The fortifications of these settlements were continuously improved to reflect the current level of military development.

During the Renaissance era, the Venetians raised great walls around cities threatened by the Ottoman empire. The finest examples are, among others, in Nicosia (Cyprus) and Chania (Crete), and they still stand, to this day.

Early modern[link]

Medieval-style fortifications were largely made obsolete by the arrival of cannons on the 14th century battlefield. Fortifications in the age of blackpowder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb and disperse the energy of cannon fire. Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes.

This placed a heavy emphasis on the geometry of the fortification to allow defensive cannonry interlocking fields of fire to cover all approaches to the lower and thus more vulnerable walls.

The evolution of this new style of fortification can be seen in transitional forts such as Sarzanello^[6] in North West Italy which was built between 1492 and 1502. Sarzanello consists of both crenellated walls with towers typical of the medieval period but also has a ravelin like angular gun platform screening one of the curtain walls which is protected from flanking fire from the towers of the main part of the fort. Another example are the fortifications of Rhodes which were frozen at 1522 so that Rhodes is the only European walled town that still shows the transition between the classical medieval fortification and the modern ones.^[7]

Fortifications also extended in depth, with protected batteries for defensive cannonry, to allow them to engage attacking cannon to keep them at a distance and prevent them bearing directly on the vulnerable walls.

The result was star shaped fortifications with tier upon tier of hornworks and bastions, of which Bourtange illustrated to the right is an excellent example. There are also extensive fortifications from this era in the Nordic states and in Britain, the fortifications of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the harbour archipelago of Suomenlinna at Helsinki being fine examples.

19th century[link]

The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification. Star forts of the cannon era did not fare well against the effects of high explosive and the intricate arrangements of bastions, flanking batteries and the carefully constructed lines of fire for the defending cannon could be rapidly disrupted by explosive shells.

Worse, the large open ditches surrounding forts of this type were an integral part of the defensive scheme, as was the covered way at the edge of the counter scarp. The ditch was extremely vulnerable to bombardment with explosive shells.

In response, military engineers evolved the polygonal style of fortification. The ditch became deep and vertically sided, cut directly into the native rock or soil, laid out as a series of straight lines creating the central fortified area that gives this style of fortification its name.

Wide enough to be an impassable barrier for attacking troops, but narrow enough to be a difficult target for enemy shellfire, the ditch was swept by fire from defensive blockhouses set in the ditch as well as firing positions cut into the outer face of the ditch itself.

The profile of the fort became very low indeed, surrounded outside the ditch by a gently sloping open area so as to eliminate possible cover for enemy forces, while the fort itself provided a minimal target for enemy fire. The entrypoint became a sunken gatehouse in the inner face of the ditch, reached by a curving ramp that gave access to the gate via a rolling bridge that could be withdrawn into the gatehouse.

Traditional fortification however continued to be applied by European armies engaged in warfare in colonies established in Africa against lightly armed attackers from amongst the indigenous population. A relatively small number of defenders in a fort impervious to iron-age weaponry could hold out against high odds, the only constraint being the supply of ammunition.

Much of the fort moved underground, with deep passages and tunnels to connect the blockhouses and firing points in the ditch to the fort proper, with magazines and machine rooms deep under the surface.

The guns however, were often mounted in open emplacements and protected only by a parapet - both in order to keep a lower profile and also because experience with guns in closed casemates had seen them put out of action by rubble as their own casemates were collapsed around them.

20th and 21st centuries[link]

Steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in modern warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Only underground bunkers are still able to provide some protection in modern wars. Many historical fortifications were demolished during the modern age, but a considerable number survive as popular tourist destinations and prominent local landmarks today.

Dragon's teeth—tank traps in the Eifel

The downfall of permanent fortifications had two causes:

• The ever escalating power, speed, and reach of artillery and air power meant that almost any target that could be located could be destroyed, if sufficient force were massed against it. As such, the more resources a defender devoted to reinforcing a fortification, the more combat power that fortification justified being devoted to destroying it, if the fortification's destruction was demanded by an attacker's strategy. From World War II, bunker busters were used against fortifications. By 1950, nuclear weapons were capable of destroying entire cities, and produced dangerous radiation. This led to the creation of civilian nuclear air raid shelters.
• The second weakness of permanent fortification was its very permanency. Because of this it was often easier to go around a fortification and, with the rise of mobile warfare in the beginning of World War II, this became a viable offensive choice. When a defensive line was too extensive to be entirely bypassed, massive offensive might could be massed against one part of the line allowing a breakthrough, after which the rest of the line could be bypassed. Such was the fate of the many defensive lines built before and during World War II, such as the Siegfried Line, the Stalin Line and the Atlantic Wall. Note that this was not the case of the Maginot Line, designed to force the Germans to pass through Belgium and that has fully achieved its political and strategic role^[8].

Bunkers in Albania^[9]

Instead field fortification rose to dominate defensive action. Unlike the trench warfare which dominated World War I, these defences were more temporary in nature. This was an advantage because since it was less extensive it formed a less obvious target for enemy force to be directed against.

If sufficient power were massed against one point to penetrate it, the forces based there could be withdrawn and the line could be re-established relatively quickly. Instead of a supposedly impenetrable defensive line, such fortifications emphasized defence in depth, so that as defenders were forced to pull back or were overrun, the lines of defenders behind them could take over the defence.

Because the mobile offensives practised by both sides usually focused on avoiding the strongest points of a defensive line, these defences were usually relatively thin and spread along the length of a line. The defence was usually not equally strong throughout however.

The strength of the defensive line in an area varied according to how rapidly an attacking force could progress in the terrain that was being defended—both the terrain the defensive line was built on and the ground behind it that an attacker might hope to break out into. This was both for reasons of the strategic value of the ground, and its defensive value.

This was possible because while offensive tactics were focused on mobility, so were defensive tactics. The dug in defences consisted primarily of infantry and antitank guns. Defending tanks and tank destroyers would be concentrated in mobile "Fire Brigades" behind the defensive line. If a major offensive was launched against a point in the line, mobile reinforcements would be sent to reinforce that part of the line that was in danger of failing.

Thus the defensive line could be relatively thin because the bulk of the fighting power of the defenders was not concentrated in the line itself but rather in the mobile reserves. A notable exception to this rule was seen in the defensive lines at the Battle of Kursk during World War II, where German forces deliberately attacked into the strongest part of the Soviet defences seeking to crush them utterly.

The terrain that was being defended was of primary importance because open terrain that tanks could move over quickly made possible rapid advances into the defenders' rear areas that were very dangerous to the defenders. Thus such terrain had to be defended at all cost.

In addition, since in theory the defensive line only had to hold out long enough for mobile reserves to reinforce it, terrain that did not permit rapid advance could be held more weakly because the enemy's advance into it would be slower, giving the defenders more time to reinforce that point in the line. For example, the battle of the Hurtgen Forest in Germany during the closing stages of World War II is an excellent example of how impassable terrain could be used to the defenders' advantage.

After World War II, ICBMs capable of reaching much of the way around the world were developed, and so speed became an essential characteristic of the strongest militaries and defenses. Missile silos were developed, so missiles could be fired from the middle of a country and hit cities and targets in another country, and airplanes (and air carriers) became major defenses and offensive weapons (leading to an expansion of the use of airports and airstrips as fortifications). Mobile defenses could be had underwater, too, in the form of nuclear submarines capable of firing missiles. Some bunkers in the mid to late 20th century came to be buried deep inside mountains and prominent rocks, such as Gibraltar and Cheyenne Mountain. On the ground itself, minefields have been used as hidden defences in modern warfare, often remaining long after the wars that have produced them have ended.

Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, providing a buffer between potentially hostile militaries.

Forts[link]

Engineers fill Hesco bastions at a forward operating base in Afghanistan.

Forts in modern usage often refer to space set aside by governments for a permanent military facility; these often do not have any actual fortifications, and can have specializations (military barracks, administration, medical facilities, or intelligence). In the United States usage, forts specifically refer to Army fortifications; Marine Corps fortifications are referred to as camps.^{[citation needed]}

However there are some modern fortifications that are referred to as forts. These are typically small semi permanent fortifications. In urban combat they are built by upgrading existing structures such as houses or public buildings. In field warfare they are often log, sandbag or gabion type construction.

Such forts are typically only used in low level conflict, e.g., counterinsurgency conflicts or very low level conventional conflicts, e.g., the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation saw the use of log forts for use by forward platoons and companies. The reason for this is that static above ground forts can not survive modern direct or indirect fire weapons larger than mortars, RPGs and small arms.

North America[link]

Fort Snelling on the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, 1844. Image painted by John Caspar Wild (1804-1846).

In British North America, and subsequently in the frontiers of the United States, prior to the 20th century the term fort was increasingly used for any military base of operations regardless of how fortified it was. Military forts in the American Old West during the Indian Wars were often lightly fortified enclosures with log or adobe walls. In many areas the term fort was used to refer to any European or U.S. outpost, military, para-military, or civilian, that was located in an undeveloped region. Many of these outposts were simply trading posts or a combination of a trading post and an Army post.

Some famous U.S. military forts included Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger on the Emigrant Trail and Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River.

Prisons and others[link]

Fortifications designed to keep the inhabitants of a facility in rather than out can also be found, in prisons, concentration camps, and other such facilities, with supermaxes having some of the strongest of those. Those are covered in other articles, as most prisons and concentration camps are not primarily military forts (although forts, camps, and garrison towns have been used as prisons and/or concentration camps; see Theresienstadt, Guantanamo Bay, and the Tower of London for examples).

See also[link]

Captain John Smith's 1624 map of Bermuda, showing important sites, including the Castle Islands Fortifications.

The Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajasthan, India. For more than 3 centuries, the Fort remained impregnable.

Klis Fortress in Croatia, built into the south face of a rocky mass. Lost and re-conquered several times over more than two thousand years.

• Border fence
• Castra
• Citadel
• Coastal fortification
• Defensive wall
• Hesco bastion
• List of fortifications
• List of forts
• Military camp

Fort components

• Abatis
• Banquette
• Barbed wire, Razor wire, Wire entanglement, and Wire obstacle
• Bartizan
• Bastion
• Berm
• Caponier
• Casemate
• Curtain
• Czech hedgehog
• Defensive fighting position (aka a "foxhole")
• Ditch
• Embrasure
• Glacis
• Gun turret
• Keep
• Palisade
• Parapet
• Pillbox
• Postern
• Ravelin
• Revetment
• Sandbag
• Scarp and Counterscarp
• Turret

Types of forts and fortification

• Bastion fortress
• Blanket fort
• Blockhouse
• Bunker
• Castle
• City wall
• Chinese city wall
• Compound
• Diaolou
• Fire support base
• Flak tower
• Grad, a Slavic wooden fortified settlement
• Hill fort
• Land battery
• Martello tower
• Medieval fortification
• Missile silo
• Pā a 19th-century Māori fortification
• Peel tower
• Polygonal fort
• Promontory fort
• Redoubt
• Stockade
• Star fort

Fortification and siege warfare

• Military engineer
• Military history
• Medieval warfare
• Siege
• Siege engine

Famous experts

• Henri Alexis Brialmont
• César Cui
• Diades of Pella
• Mozi
• James of St. George
• Bernard de Gomme
• Fritz Todt
• Menno van Coehoorn
• Vauban

Gallery[link]

References[link]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fortification

Look up fortification in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Fortress Study Group
• Militaryarchitecture.com
• Study of Fortifications in Slovenia
• Fortifications in Slovenia

Daniel Balavoine
Background information
Also known as	Bala
Born	(1952-02-05)5 February 1952 Alençon, Orne, France
Died	14 January 1986(1986-01-14) (aged 33) Gourma-Rharous, Mali
Genres	Pop New wave World music
Occupations	Musician Singer-songwriter Producer
Instruments	Acoustic guitar Piano Synthesizer Fairlight CMI
Years active	1971–1986
Labels	Disques Vogue (1971–1973) Barclay Records – Universal Music Group (1975–1986)
Associated acts	Présence Starmania
Website	www.dbalavoine.com
Notable instruments
Fairlight CMI

Daniel Balavoine (5 February 1952 – 14 January 1986) was a French singer and songwriter. He was hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and inspired many singers in the 1980s, such as Jean-Jacques Goldman, and Michel Berger, his closest friend. He took part in French political life and is known for a 1980 televised verbal confrontation with François Mitterrand.

In the French music-business, Balavoine earned his own place with both his powerful voice, his wide range and his lyrics, which were full of sadness and revolt. He was emphatic, and his songs for the most part talked about despair, pain, and death. Hope was present as a theme, as well. He sold more than 20 million records during his career.

Biography[link]

Childhood[link]

Daniel Balavoine was the youngest in a family of six children. He had 2 sisters and 3 brothers. His father, Emile, is an urban engineer and worked for the Reconstruction Ministry. His mother was an antics wholesaler. In 1959, his father relocated to Algeria and Balavoine moved to southern city of Pau and attended a boarding school, an experience which Balavoine clearly didn't appreciate. When he was 11, he heard She Loves You by The Beatles which sparked his taste in music.^[1]

In 1968, while he was attending high school, he supported the nationwide strikes which occurred during the summer like thousands of young people, and imagined himself beginning a political career, however, the way the events culminated disappointed him and he redirected his interests towards music, abandoning his scholarship.

Band Time[link]

Having fully decided to make a living in music, he began to perform as a ballroom singer in Pau, performing Bob Dylan songs. Then he joined some short-lived city bands and began to develop some notoriety in town.

In 1971, he moved to Paris but it was again disappointing for him and he returned to Pau. Soon afterwards, he answered an audition in Paris to join a hard rock band, Présence, whose singer had just left. Another great future singer, Laurent Voulzy, was a the main competition for the job. Ultimately, Balavoine was chosen and went into the studio. The band soon released an album which wasn't a big success. Despite that, the band toured all over France.

In 1972, the band signed a contract with Warner Music Group but Balavoine quit the group.

the Hard times[link]

In 1973, while he was working as a record dealer, The Vogue studios, which produced Présence, contacted him and offered him to support him in a a solo career. His first Vogue record, Viens Vite was released but suffered poor sales. Balavoine then became a background vocalist alongside his brother, Guy. Soon afterwards, they starred in a pop Musical, La Révolution Française.

In 1974, Patrick Juvet, one of the biggest performers in France at the time, offered him the opportunity to be the opening act on his next tour. Balavoine wrote a song for him, Couleurs d'Automne, which appeared on Juvet's new album.

While attending a show, Léo Missir, vice president of Barclay Records, was impressed by Balavoine's aura and signed him immediately to a 3-year deal which ended up lasting far longer. His first record, De Vous à Elle en Passant par Moi, was released in 1975 but again resulted in disappinting sales.

While recording the album, he met Catherine Ferry, who was chosen as the French candidate for the next Eurovision Song Contest, which was to take place in Holland. Ferry came in second place with Balavoine and his brother on back-up vocals. This great result led to Balavoine and Ferry developing a strong friendship. Balavoine would go on to write most of her songs following her Eurovision success.

In 1977, a Balavoine released a second record, Les Aventures de Simon et Gunther but again it sold poorly and Eddie Barclay began getting impatient.

Success Time[link]

[edit] Starmania

In 1978, Michel Berger, who had just finish writing Starmania, was still looking for the singer to portray Johnny Rockfort. While watching TV, he was impressed by Balavoine, who sang the title song from his last successful album. He immediately hired Balavoine and a strong brotherly relationship began between the two singers.

A few months later, Starmania was a phenomenal success and most of its songs hit the charts. Balavoine performed 3 of them: Quand on arrive en ville, Banlieue Nord and most notably, SOS D'un terrien en detresse, which was written specifically for Balavoine's voice. SOS D'un terrien en detresse went on to become a huge hit, nationwide and around the world. ^[2]Peter Kingsbery, the lead singer of the American band Cock Robin, wrote the English version of the song: Only the Very Best, which was also a big hit in France.^[3]

Balavoine's solo career was soon very successful, as well, with the release of his third album, Le Chanteur. The title song, which spoke of the unstoppable rise and fall of a young singer,^[4] was a huge commercial success with one million units sold. The album sold 800,000 copies.

At the same time, Balavoine continued touring with Starmania, becoming one of its most notable faces. Between April and May 1979, the musical was performed at the Palais des congrès in Paris, before 100,000 spectators, further increasing Balavoine's popularity.

In 1979, he released his fourth album, Face Amour/Face amère. Though it enjoyed moderate success, its sold less copies than the previous album. Me laisse pas m'en aller and Ces petit riens were the biggest hits from the record. Even still, this last opus allowed him to put on a very successful solo tour throughout France for the first time, with the high point being a 3-day stint in the Olympia.

[edit] Un Autre Monde

In 1980, Balavoine returned with his fifth studio album, Un Autre Monde. This record was particularly successful, with 3 songs hitting huge commercial success: Mon Fils, Ma Bataille with 543,000 units sold, Je ne suis pas un Heros,^[5] originally written forJohnny Hallyday, who would insert it in his own set list in tribute, and La vie ne m'apprend rien.

Balavoine went on tour again and came back to the Olympia for a 4 sold out shows, which gave birth to his first live album, Daniel Balavoine en Concert in November 1981.

[edit] Vendeur de Larmes

During the winter of 1981, Balavoine went to Ibiza, Spain to write his sixth album. Balavoine decided to radically chane his musical style, making it more rock-oriented and using electronic effects. In April 1982, Vendeur de Larmes was released with eventual hits, such as Vivre ou Survivre,^[6] Dieu que l'Amour est triste and Soulève-moi.^[7]
[8]

The Album hits a huge success becoming Diamond album in few months. The following tour was also very popular, challenging the best performances of the time. During 4 days, Balavoine performed in Palais des Sports. All his shows were sold-out and left an unforgettable souvenir to the audience.

International Time[link]

[edit] Loin des yeux de l'Occident

In 1983, Bala participated in his first Paris-Dakar Rally. Victim of a breaking-down during the first run, he followes the rest of the race as a spectator and discovers Africa. He was deeply in shock of what he saw: "when, arriving in a small village, we saw a kid looking for flies to eat them, we have nothing more to say". After that, he went to Scotland in order to write his seventh album. Very inspired by his African experience, he released, in October 1983, Loin des Yeux de L'Occident (Far Away of Occident Sight). According to music specialists, this last record is the most engaged one of the artist. He talks about Third World women in "Pour la Femme veuve qui s'éveille(For the Widow who is waking up), Torture in "Frappe avec la tête (Strike with the head), drugs in Poisson dans la cage and South American dictatorships in Revolucion.

The melody, very close of Peter Gabriel's one, mixes Electronic music (electrical guitar, keyboards etc.) with World music ambient with African drums.

During the year, he is also starring in the Musical Abbacadabra, alongside with ABBA brunette Frida Lyngstad. They will performed the song Belle together.

When a bombing in Beirut happened, Balavoine, whose brother, Yves, was stationed, creates a polemic by insulting the French Veterans and the government who were pushing to the war. Two weeks later, he makes a public apology for the disorder he created.

In 1984, Balavoine goes again on the road for a full year tour across France. For this new tour, Balavoine introduced new technologies like Vari-Lite lights and HF tech. Balavoine looked for the perfect sound and the perfect ambient rather than the set which was furnished very poorly. All his songs music were rewritten in a very pronounced Rock versions.

In July, Balavoine becomes for the first time a father at the age of 31. Very touched and blessed by the event, he wrote a brand new song, Dieu! Que c'est beau! and included it in his tour set list.

He also wrote a full album for his friend Catherine Ferry using for the first time his Fairlight synthesizer he bought at high price.

Fairlight

[edit] Sauver l'amour

In 1985, all the music stars are more and more involved in charities and humanitarian events. Balavoine was invited to the Live Aid but didn't have any chance to perform.
^[9]

So the French created their own event, The Singers Without Borders, which wasn't a big success mostly because of the expensive price. Nevertheless, the concert album sold well.

During the Summer, Bala come back in Scotland for his eighth and most successful record: Sauver l'amour The French artist innovates again using his Fairlight and especially it's the first album released on Compact Disc. The Fairlight allows Balavoine to insert a lot of electronic effects and sound never heard before. Sauvez l'amour is the best demonstration of Balavoine's talent.^[10]

Mostly all the songs of the album became hits: L'Aziza in honor of his Jewish Moroccan wife and mother of his son, Corine; the main title song of the album, Sauver l'amour an hymn to love; Tous les Cris, les SOS, a song about about despair, Petit Homme mort au Combat which main theme is Child soldiers, Aimer est plus fort que d'être aimé which was the last single released before Balavoine's tragic death.

This album received a huge commercial success, the best one of Daniel Balavoine: 1,240,000 records sold and 1,580,000 singles sold.^[11]

Daniel Balavoine received, as posthumous title, the Victoire de la Musique Album of the Year Award in 1986 for Sauvez L'amour

Death[link]

In 1986, Daniel Balavoine was chosen to lead a raise funding for building water wells in Africa. In order to supervise it, he was invited by Thierry Sabine, founder and director of the Paris-Dakar Rally Raid.

On January 14, 1986, Balavoine, Sabine, a female reporter and her cameraman got aboard Sabine Chopper to referee a football match. In 7pm, the helicopter suffered a desert tempest and landed. But a few minutes later, the chopper took off again and few minutes later disintegrated itself killing all the passengers.

Balavoine tumb

The news of Sabine and Balavoine deaths plunged the country in deep grief and the accident remains inexplicable still nowadays. Balavoine was buried in Biarritz^[12].

A politically and humanitarian involved singer[link]

Since 1968, Balavoine was very interesting by the French political life. During the strikes in May, he thought firstly making politic. But the end of the movement and General de Gaulle come-back deceived him and he turned his mind to music.

Despite of it, his political interest did not left him. In 1980, he confronted François Mitterrand, who was at this time the National Secretary of Socialist Party and French presidential bid candidate, during a France 2 Evening News broadcasting program. During a 7 minute spontaneous speech,an angry Balavoine expressed what he felt about the political care of Youth in France, in fact that the Youth Community is completely ignored by the political world who is only interested by their own stuff, leaving all the room speechless.^[13] After this famous intervention, Balavoine became, in the eyes of France, the perfect Spoke Person for a French Youth which wants political answers about their life problems.

He supported his Friend Coluche in his presidential bid. When Coluche finally abandoned, François Mitterrand, who was still impressed by the young artist's aura, asks him to join his campaign team. Balavoine performed during the first meetings but finally retires, feeling he became a political recuperation object.

More and More, he turns his mind toward Humanitarian work, especially about Africa. A few months before his tragical death, he joined a NGO, called Action Ecole, a French charity, supported by Sir Bob Geldof who creates Students communities to raise funds for Africa. He was charged to manage water wells building in the Sahel. This is while supervising it that he died tragically in the crash of Sabine's Ecureuil in Mali.

Balavoine was also appointed first Godfather of Les Restos du Cœur, founded by Coluche and one of the biggest Representative of SOS Racisme whose president Harlem Désir awarded him for l'Aziza as Best song against Racism.

Balavoine's legacy[link]

The French public look proudly upon songs like "Vivre ou survivre" (1982), "Dieu que c'est beau" (1984), "L'Aziza", "Sauver l'amour", "Aimer est plus fort que d'être aimé", and "Tous les cris, les SOS" (1985), comparing Balavoine favourably to English language groups like Eurythmics, Queen and Depeche Mode.

Balavoine’s songs have been interpreted by many artists, for example Catherine Ferry for whom he wrote near 20 songs, Jeanne Mas, Liane Foly, Frida Lyngstad, Lena Ka, Johnny Hallyday, Pascal Obispo, Patrick Fiori, Florent Pagny, Grégory Lemarchal, as well as Marie Denise Pelletier (from Quebec) who had an enormous success with her own rendition of the song "Tous les cris, les SOS" in 1987.

In 1986, Belgian francophone artist Lara Fabian released her first single, "L'Aziza est en pleurs" (composed by Marc Lercs) in honour of Balavoine.

In 2006, to mark the 20th anniversary of the singer's death, Barclay Records released his complete recorded works as a boxed set entitled "Balavoine sans frontières".

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• De vous à elle en passant par moi (1975)
• Les aventures de Simon et Gunther... Stein (1977)
• Le chanteur (1978)
• Face amour / Face amère (1979)
• Un autre monde (1980)
• Vendeurs de larmes (1982)
• Loin des yeux de l'Occident (1983)
• Sauver l'amour (1985)

Live albums[link]

• Sur scène (1981)
• Au Palais des Sports (1984)

Compilations[link]

• Ses 7 premières compositions (1986)
• L'essentiel (1999)
• Sans frontières (2005) (a 12-CD box set containing all of his recorded works, studio and live)

Other projects[link]

• Starmania (1978) (sings 5 songs)
• Chrysalide, of Patrick Juvet (1974)
• Patrick Juvet vous raconte son rêve (1973)
• Catherine Ferry "Vivre avec la musique" - producer and composer (1984) WEA
• Abbacadabra (1983) – a children's musical based on songs of Swedish group ABBA

Filmography[link]

• Alors... Heureux ? (1980)
• Qu'est-ce qui fait craquer les filles... (1982)

External links[link]

• Official website of the association Daniel Balavoine
• Biography at Radio France Internationale (in English)

Reference[link]