Fontaine, Alex

Websites:  https://www.mondopq.com/alex-fontaine-le-saint-graal-du-rock-garage-quebecois/
Origin: Dupuy, Abitibi, Québec, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Lafontaine is originally from Dupuy in Abitibi, a village a stone's throw from the border between Quebec and Ontario. His family owned a piano on which Lafontaine developed a natural ease in interpreting well-known songs by ear. It was by moving to Trois-Rivière around 1965 that the young musician - now a guitarist - quickly gathered new friends in his very first group: The Mustangs.

It was at the English school that I met Claude Saintonge and then Roger Lemieux. Lemieux was our manager – and also janitor at the school – and took us everywhere, to the JOC rooms, the school gymnasiums… It worked STRONG: we played every weekend and it was booked months in advance ! Saint-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Saint-Casimir, Deschambault, Donnaconna… We were the most prominent group in Mauricie and we even went to Montreal later.

We had free access to a room in our school where we practiced non-stop. A year after our debut, we participated in a first orchestra jamboree at the Trois-Rivières coliseum in front of 4,000 people. Les Classels and Les Baronets were present. Personally, I was not a fan of Quebec-style covers, even if I did a few when I started: I always preferred to perform the original version of a song. Our show therefore included English versions as well as 2 or 3 of my very first compositions. The crowd was screaming and calling for The Mustangs and eventually, we outclassed all the groups - amateurs and professionals alike - and won the competition.

Géatan Santerre worked at the CHLM station (Trois-Rivières). He had access to new English and American releases before anyone else and let us hear them before it was broadcast. For example, we heard Paint it Black by the Stones and we performed it 2-3 days later on stage in front of a surprised crowd: it helped us a lot!

A few months later, while his group was stalling, Fontaine came across new musicians and decided to abandon Les Mustangs, looking for something more professional. This is how Gil Patrick (born Gilles Desrochers) replaced the singer in the group which continued its activities for a few years, even recording a 45 rpm with the arranger François Carel and various songs which remained unpublished until the Disques Mérite include them in their Les Introuvables compilations.

By leaving the Mustangs, Fontaine recruited new collaborators. Enter guitarist Roger Hubert known as Maguire, with his new Gretsch purchased from Bonneville in Trois-Rivières. To this former member of the local band Les Downbeats (and later guitarist in the power trio Les Soundtracks) are added Robert Dussault (bass) and Michel Fafard (drums), both formerly of the group Les Jaguar Men.

The musicians quickly chose a new name for their group in homage to another group, Scottish this time: Them (with Van Morrison). The Ithems (quickly simplified The Items) adopted a more corrosive sound with an obvious English influence, adapting the Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Who… almost no Beatles, explains Lafontaine. We made money with the two groups I assembled. I remember that in 1967, I earned $75 per evening! I sang 3 times and had fun, it was healthy. I didn't do drugs or alcohol, even if at times we played in bars like Lac-aux-Tortues where things were more mixed.

In January 1968, The Ithems recorded their only single for TéléDisc, one of the many labels managed by producer Denis S. Pantis. Curiously, Lafontaine does not appear anywhere on this 45 rpm. He specifies: I left the group in the spring of 1967, without controversy, among good friends. It was Michel Fafard who subsequently replaced me in Les Ithems. According to Lafontaine, it is probably this version of the group (which also included Patrick Nameth and François Biron at the time of the recording of the 45 rpm) which also appeared a few times on television, notably on the shows Bonsoir Copains (Sherbrooke) and Youth in Orbite (Trois-Rivières). Normand Choquette or Gaétan Santerre must have influenced me to try my luck solo. I was surprised, but that's when I was asked to record some demos and present them at Trans-Canada in Montreal.

Lafontaine has been accumulating various new compositions of his own for months, some of which have already been performed on stage within the Items. He therefore went to RM Studios (Radio-Marie) in Cap-de-la-Madeleine operated by the Oblate Fathers (see Résurrection! for more details on these studios) and recorded around fifteen demos in the spring of 1967, alone with his guitar. He then went to Montreal to present the band to Joey Gallimi and Tony Catichio, both scouts / arrangers / producers for the Trans-Canada label which then had its offices on Avenue du Parc. From the lot, two titles are selected for what will be his one and only single: Goodbye & You are not sincere.

New musicians will soon be assigned to accompany the singer on record: The Chancellors! This rock group from Montreal had also been recruited the previous year by Trans-Canada and was gaining popularity thanks to the charisma of its singer, Michel Pagliaro. However, it was without the latter that the recording of Lafontaine’s single took place. The group, made up of André Parenteau (who unfortunately has no memory of this recording session), Gilles Brière and Pierre Martin, thus perfects a musical track. It was only a few weeks later that Lafontaine returned to Montreal to discover the final result and add his voice to it. He adds: It was a General Motors mechanic from St-Jérôme who financed the $2,500 for the recording of my 45, through Catatchio or Gallimi. It was Gallimi who renamed me Alex Fontaine. I did it for fun, to earn a little pocket money, but I didn't see myself making a career out of it. I did a little promotion, but never performed my songs solo on stage.

I left with Trans-Canada on a mini promotional tour - in a limousine! - with Paolo Noël and a singer whose name escapes me. We visited all the radio stations in Quebec and Trois-Rivières, starting with CHLT in Sherbrooke for the show Bonsoir Copains with Jean Malo. I performed my two songs, but during my first (Goodbye), the sound completely cut out… and we were live! Let’s just say it didn’t make me look good.

Afterwards, at Télé-4, I didn't miss my chance and it played for a long time in Quebec, climbing to first or second position on certain stations. It wasn't a huge success; I think I sold 2000 copies in total. I earned 3 cents from the record sold because I was an author-composter. Imagine: Renée Martel, who I knew at the time, only earned a penny per 45 rpm despite all her success as a performer!

Rediscovered for the first time in 1993 on the Rumble compilation by Montreal record store Denis Lalonde (Le Pick-Up), his single immediately became the object of desire for many collectors before being adapted by the Montreal group Les Incapables who released it. performer in show. The sound is raw and Fontaine's look is snotty, slobbery as hell! He spits the four truths in his lover's face: Don't speak to me in that tone anymore; That’s no way to talk to boys. You should be careful. You are no longer the same, you have changed a lot. So listen to me carefully, I can't do anything anymore.. because you are not sincere, sincere, you.. oh NO! Boom! If several Quebec rock 45s had ventured headfirst into what we would today describe as our first punk manifestations on record (see our special Mondo Garage with Michel Alario), Alex Fontaine can boast of having pushed the limits of the genre by recording the definitive single or at least THE most shattering composition of garage rock in the provinces! Point bar. We can debate it for a long time, but what’s the point: you know it’s good!

On the other hand, the folk-rock ballad Goodbye, offers quite a contrast but remains candid... like the man who confides in us. It is also a well-known recipe to pair a bitter and heartbreaking slow song on the B side of a simple rock song. This breakup song, never compiled or reissued for 50 years, does not lack bite: I will think about it one day, this time spent together, it is nothing more for you: you have already forgotten me. Ohhh Goodbye. Don't stay, I won't say anything, you're no longer mine; just like before, I will find my way then I will tell you.. I will tell you.. Goodbye.

Is Lafontaine aware of the profound impact his single single has had on a crowd of music lovers and musicians since its original release? Not really, but visibly flattered, he wisely clarifies his thoughts: I remember, I was invited for the 50th anniversary of CKVL at the time of the 45, a big flyer party with exotic dancers, I had barely 17 years old and I said to myself.. ahh yes, this is the artistic world!? Of course I was impressed, but I felt that I had to make my life differently... I continued my studies after my 45 and I made a good living outside the industry as a welder until recently before retiring. I don't consider myself a great musician and my voice is not great (Editor's note: perfect for rock'n'roll!). That said, last summer, I was able to attend a retro concert by the group Les Apollons. While chatting with the musicians, Normand Corbin (himself a former member of the Mustangs who had replaced me) recognized me – hey, you had it! It was quite a surprise: I hadn’t been forgotten! And there you are in front of me guys…

Thank you Jean-Marc for this first interview in 50 years; Michel and I can finally classify this file which has mystified many knowledgeable music lovers since 1967! Thanks also to Michel Alario & Félix B. Desfossés for the digitization.
Sebastian Desrosiers, MondoPQ