Philippe Krootchey
Philippe Krootchey | |
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| Born | Philippe Georges Robert Crutchet 23 October 1954 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France |
| Died | 9 February 2004 (aged 49) Villejuif, France |
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Philippe Georges Robert Crutchet (23 October 1954 – 9 February 2004[1]), known professionally as Philippe Krootchey, was a French DJ, musician, and television/radio personality.[2][3]
Biography
Born of mixed race in Issy-les-Moulineaux to a Beninese father, Krootchey began his career as a disc jockey in the club scene of 1970s Paris, prominently hosting at Les Bains Douches and Le Palace. He was a member of short-lived disco group Love International alongside Philippe Chany and Fred Versailles, who would release one single, "Dance On The Groove (And Do The Funk)", in 1981.
As a solo recording artist, Krootchey released his first single, "Qu'est-ce qu'il a (d'plus que moi ce négro là?)", followed by its English counterpart "Whatazzy", on Casablanca Records in 1984. Keeping with the track's mockery of racism, its cover art, a photograph of Krootchey by Pierre et Gilles, parodies the packaging of French chocolate drink Banania, which featured a smiling, dark-skinned Tirailleur sporting a fez. The accompanying music video for Whatazzy was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. Krootchey would undertake a brief residency at the Starck Club in Dallas, Texas around this time.
His final single on Casablanca, "J'Entends A Mes Oreilles", was released in 1986; with his next and final release "Cruel Justicier" being issued on French eclectic label New Deal in 1989.
Krootchey would go on to host Blah-blah Groove for music television channel MCM and L'agence des voyages sonores for Radio Nova for a time in the 1990s. He would later serve a four-year stint as creative director for the LGBT periodical Têtu until the early 2000s.
Following a legal battle against then-Minister of Health Philippe Douste-Blazy, Krootchey would finally obtain permission to receive a liver transplant from his partner, Pascal. Despite the successful operation, he would later die in Villejuif of a ruptured aneurysm on February 9, 2004, aged forty-nine[4].
Discography
Love International
- Dance On The Groove (And Do The Funk) (1981)
Krootchey
- Qu'est-ce qu'il a (d'plus que moi ce négro là?) (1984)
- Whatazzy (1984)
- J'entends À Mes Oreilles (1986)
- Cruel justicier, (New Deal 1988)
References
- ^ "CRUTCHET Philippe Georges Robert". Match ID. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- ^ Bernier, Alexis; Lebovici, Elisabeth (4 September 2004). "Mort de Philippe Krootchey". Libération (in French).
- ^ "Krootchey". Victoria & Albert Museum. 1980.
- ^ Tributes from Jean-François Bizot for Radio Nova and Alexis Lebovici and Élisabeth Bernier of Libération: paris70.free.fr/krootchey.htm