Lio

Lio (born 17 June 1962) is a Belgian singer and actress who was a pop icon in France and Belgium during the 1980s.

Life and career

Wanda Maria Ribeiro Furtado Tavares de Vasconcelos was born in Mangualde, Portugal. When her father was called up to fight in the Portuguese Army, the family moved to Mozambique. Her parents divorced and, in 1968, Wanda moved with her mother and new stepfather to Brussels, Belgium, where her sister, actress Helena Noguerra, was born. In her teens she was determined to become a singer, and she was encouraged by singer-songwriter Jacques Duvall (né Eric Verwilghem), a family friend. She took her stage name, Lio, from a character in the Barbarella comic books by Jean-Claude Forest.

In 1979, together with songwriter Jay Alanski, she and Duvall began working with Marc Moulin and Dan Lacksman from the electro-trio Telex. "Le banana split", which sold over 1 million copies, and "Amoureux solitaires", a song originally by punk rock band Stinky Toys. Both songs rose to the top of many pop charts in France, and Moulin and Lacksman also produced her self-titled first album. In 1982 the American music duo Ron and Russell Mael, of Sparks, worked with her on the album Suite Sixtine, on which some of her previous songs were translated into English. Suite Sixtine was compiled and art directed by Ralph Alfonso for Attic Records Canada, where it was originally released. Her second album, Amour toujours, was produced by Alain Chamfort and released in 1983. The same year, she first appeared on the screen in Chantal Akerman's film Golden Eighties, a lighthearted, humorous French pop musical about the people who work together in a Parisian shopping center. Lio plays a carefree hairdresser in the movie.

Lio (album)

Lio, also known as Premier Album, is the debut album by Belgian pop singer Lio. It features the hit singles Amoureux solitaires, Amicalement votre and her signature song Le Banana Split.

Singles

Re-Issues

The album was originally released by the record company Arabella in 1980. It was re-released by Warner Music Group in 1996. Finally, a second re-issue by Ze Records followed in 2005 with four bonus tracks, including the extended version of the main hit single "Le Banana Split", "Teenager" (the b-side of "Le Banana Split") and the Spanish version of the single "Amoureux solitaires".

Track listing

According to Lio's autobiography Pop Model, it was her lyricist Jacques Duvall who translated the lyrics of Lonely Lovers, the original English-language song by French punk band Stinky Toys which became Amoureux solitaires. However, if composer-guitarist Jacno approved the cover, singer-lyricist Elli Medeiros didn't. In the end, Duvall couldn't have his name in the official credits of the song and didn't get any royalties for it.

Liō

Liō is a daily comic strip created by American artist Mark Tatulli and distributed by the Universal Press Syndicate since May 15, 2006. As a pantomime strip, it has an international appeal. In 2008, the strip brought Tatulli a National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award.

Characters and story

The strip focuses on the adventures of a creative little boy, Liō, who lives with his father (unnamed in the strip) and his pets. Liō's mother is deceased. It is currently unknown how she died. The setting of the story varies from Liō's house to his school and the general outside world. The time period appears to be contemporary, except for an episode set in the year 2101, when Liō is in his nineties but still very much capable of mischief.

The story is told visually, with little or no dialogue. Gags frequently involve the supernatural, alien invasion or mass destruction of many sorts, creating a surreal, disturbing atmosphere. Some of the strip's recurring themes involve Liō getting even with grade-school bullies, helping animals (most of which are non-anthropomorphic but display obvious intelligence) defend themselves against humans or their predators, and performing mad scientist style experiments. He is often seen using robots that he constructs himself for causing mischief. Another recurring gag in the strip is parody of other famous comic strips, including Cathy, For Better or For Worse, Garfield, Zits, Calvin and Hobbes, Blondie, Peanuts, Pearls Before Swine, The Family Circus and Berkeley Breathed's strips.