Modjo

Modjo was a French house musical duo formed in Paris in 1999. The duo was made up of producer Romain Tranchart (born 9 June 1976) and vocalist Yann Destagnol (Yann Destal; born 14 July 1978). They had major success in 2000 with their hit single "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)".

Modjo
Origin	Paris, France
Genres	French house nu-disco alternative dance
Years active	1999–2003
Labels	Barclay Universal
Past members	Romain Tranchart Yann Destagnol
Website	modjoyanndestal.com

Biography

Romain Tranchart moved with his family to Algeria and Mexico, to finally live in Brazil. There, he started learning the guitar, finding inspiration through jazz classics.^[1]

At that time he became a fan of house music, influenced by DJ Sneak, Ian Pooley, and Daft Punk. He released his first house single as Funk Legacy titled "What You're Gonna Do, Baby" on Vertigo Records (FR) in 1998. Later, he decided to enter the American School of Modern Music in Paris, the French division of the Berklee School of Music.

Also Parisian, Yann learned to play flute and clarinet when he was a small child. As he aged he became deeply influenced by the Beatles, the Beach Boys, David Bowie and other pop acts. He started to play drums by emulating them. He also learned to play the piano and the guitar. He later bought himself a four-track recording machine and started songwriting and singing. Fascinated more by voices than by charismatic band leaders, he liked bands such as Aerosmith, The Police and Queen and lately became a great fan of R&B divas.^[2]

After being a drummer and sometimes-vocalist in a few bands, he met Romain in 1998, and the partnership was born. The two quickly began recording, and from those sessions came "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)". The single got recognition later on in 2000. It is a "French-flavour" house track with heavy pop and disco influences, which featured a sample from Chic's "Soup for One". The track became an instant number-one across Europe, and was followed up by other singles "Chillin'", "What I Mean" and "No More Tears". Their live version of the band was named Modjo Band, which saw the duo being accompanied by guitars, bass and drums.

After "No More Tears" and "On Fire", they started their respective solo careers, with Romain Tranchart remixing songs from various artists like Res ("Golden Boys"), Shaggy ("Sexy Lady"), Mylène Farmer ("California") and post producing the likes of Everynote's "Once Upon a Time". Yann Destal's released a Queen-esque album,^[3] titled The Great Blue Scar , reaching some success in France.^{[citation needed]}

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Nominee(s)	Ref.
International Dance Music Awards	2001	Best House/Garage 12"^[4]	"Lady (Hear Me Tonight)"	Won
MTV Europe Music Awards	2000	Best French Act^[5]	Themselves	Won
Smash Hits Poll Winners Party	2000	Best Dance Choon^[6]	"Lady (Hear Me Tonight)"	Nominated
		Best Dance/Solo Act^[7]	Themselves	Nominated
Top of the Pops Awards	2003	Band of the Year^[8]		Nominated

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		FRA ^[9]	AUS ^[10]	AUT ^[11]	FIN ^[12]	GER ^[13]	SWI ^[14]
Modjo	Released: September 18, 2001 Label: Universal Formats: CD	21	89	41	39	30	13

Singles

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions									Certifications	Album
		FRA ^[9]	AUS ^[15]	BEL ^[16]	GER ^[13]	NLD ^[17]	SWE ^[18]	SWI ^[14]	UK ^[19]	US ^[20]
"Lady (Hear Me Tonight)"	2000	7	10	5	2	4	8	1	1	81	SNEP: Gold^[21] ARIA: Gold^[22] BEA: Gold^[23] BPI: Platinum^[24] BVMI: Gold^[25] IFPI SWI: Platinum^[26]	Modjo
"Chillin'"	2001	44	35	34	38	41	26	10	12	—
"What I Mean"		88	—	52	67	58	—	17	59	—
"No More Tears"	2002	—	85	60	—	—	—	91	—	—
"On Fire"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

1. "Romain Tranchart interview". 27 October 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
2. "Modjo - Biography". Modjo Music presents Modjo. Modjo Music. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
3. "Yann Destal - The Great Blue Scar". Magic (in French). France. 2007-11-09. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
4. . March 4, 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
5. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (November 10, 2001). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved April 25, 2020 – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
6. "Page 12 - Smash Hits - Issue 575 - 13th December - 26th December 2000". 4 February 2019.
7. "Page 13 - Smash Hits - Issue 575 - 13th December - 26th December 2000". 15 July 2018.
8. . March 17, 2005. Archived from the original on March 17, 2005. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
9. "Discographie Modjo". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
10. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 1st October 2001" (PDF) (605). Australian Recording Industry Association. October 1, 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-22. Retrieved June 28, 2020 – via Pandora Archive. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
11. "Discographie Modjo". austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
12. "Discography Modjo". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
13. "Discographie Modjo". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
14. "Discographie Modjo". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
15. Peaks of singles in Australia:
    • All except noted: "Discography Modjo". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
    • "No More Tears": "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 3rd June 2002" (PDF) (640). Australian Recording Industry Association. June 3, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-22. Retrieved June 28, 2020 – via Pandora Archive. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
16. "Discografie Modjo". ultratop.be (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
17. "Top 40-artiest: Modjo" (select individual songs for chart information). Dutch Top 40. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
18. "Discography Modjo". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
19. "Modjo" (select "Singles" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
20. "Modjo – Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
21. "French single certifications – Modjo" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 1 February 2021. Select MODJO and click OK. 
22. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2000 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
23. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2000". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
24. "Certified Awards" (enter "Modjo" into the "Keywords" box, then select "Search"). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
25. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank: Modjo" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
26. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Modjo)". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2013.

External links

• Official website
• Yann Destagnol (Yann Destal) Twitter