Axel Bauer, French composer and performer, looks back on the story of Cargo, single which propelled its career in 1984. The piece sold with more than 500.000 specimens the year of its exit however never failed to see the light of day. At the microphone of Isabelle Morizet in the show There is only one life in life Saturday, Axel Bauer tells how his single made its way to the top of sales, despite the reluctance of the director of his label, Léon Cabat.
Axel Bauer, at the time already in contact with the Vogue record company, had proposed his piece Cargo to the director of the label: Léon Cabat. A proposal that is far from having charmed the boss, then convinced that the piece would not work. “I think he was used to a certain music and all of a sudden it jostled him. He told himself that people were not going to understand, that it would be useless” recalls Axel Bauer on Europe 1. ” He had also sent a circular to all his promo staff saying: ‘Do not work on Cargoit will not work’.”
“Life proved him wrong”
Despite the insistence of Axel Bauer’s father, who was working at the time with the union of record producers, Léon Cabat refused the piece again and again. “Even if it was my son, it wouldn’t work,” the Vogue boss said. For Axel Bauer, the verdict is clear: “the piston did not work”, he smiles today.
Despite the reluctance of the boss of the record company, the piece ends up being released, passing through clandestine channels. “We brought him to a radio. And suddenly it got carried away. People called asking what that thing was,” explains Axel Bauer to our microphone. The rest of the story is well known: the song became a hit, rose to second place in sales in France in May 1984 and sold more than 500,000 copies the year of its release. “Life has proven Léon Cabat wrong,” said Axel Bauer.
The French composer, however, did not harbor any resentment against him. “We can all be wrong and we can all do stupid things. I don’t think that takes anything away from his career and the fact that he had built a great record label. It got me started and I pay homage”, specifies Axel Bauer.