The story of L’Affaire Louis Trio began back in 1979 when Hubert, a young musician based in Lyon (in the South of France), formed a group called Cleet Boris. Hubert soon persuaded his younger brother, Vincent (aka Karl Niagara) to join the group and they began performing their brand of melodic hard rock at local gigs. At the end of 81, Hubert decided it was time to add another member to the group and placed an ad in the local press. Along came François (aka Bronco Junior).

In 1982 Hubert decided to rename the group L’Affaire Louis Trio, taking the original band name Cleet Boris as his own pseudonym. The group continued playing locally, attracting an impressive number of fans with their innovative sound (which critics, somewhat at a loss for words, later dubbed "fun rock fused with cha cha cha"). The group performed at the "Printemps de Bourges" festival in 1985 and went on to win the "Rock Envol" contest the following year. But L’Affaire Louis Trio’s big breakthrough came after the release of their début album, "Chic planète", in 1987.

Following the enormous success of this first album, L’Affaire Louis Trio were suddenly everywhere. Their records were constantly on the radio, while their grinning faces and wacky hairstyles became a permanent fixture on French television. L’Affaire Louis Trio were suddenly in demand, performing with Alain Chamfort at the Casino de Paris, then flying off to Egypt to support Alain Bashung on tour. Finally the group became such a hit with the French public that they got to perform their own concert at the prestigious Olympia music-hall in Paris. By 1987 L’Affaire Louis Trio had made it - indeed, they went on to win Best New Group at the 1987 edition of "Les Victoires de la Musique" awards.

The following year L’Affaire Louis Trio recorded a second album, entitled "Le retour de l’âge d’or". The album cover depicted the group against a wacky cartoon-style background, which was to become an enduring symbol of their fun pop sound. The album produced two hit singles, "Bois ton café" and "Succès de larmes".

L’Affaire Louis Trio’s light poppy sound began to evolve as they moved into the 90’s. The group’s third album, "Sans légende", marked a definite change of musical direction, featuring more sophisticated ballads with deeper lyrics. "Sans légende" included a number of sentimental love songs, a tribute to French music-hall star Charles Trenet and a moving ballad entitled "Balle perdue". The latter was inspired by the death of Cleet Boris and Karl Niagara’s father (who was killed in 1976 when a gun went off in the middle of a bar brawl in Lyon).

L’Affaire Louis Trio’s next album "Mobilis in Mobile" (released in 1993) was entirely inspired by the famous fictional character Captain Nemo, the hero of Jules Verne’s novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea". Compared to the group’s earlier work, "Mobilis in Mobile" was an altogether more sober work. The vibrant brass sections and brash pop arrangements of "Chic planète" had now been replaced by guitars, sophisticated backing vocals and more intelligent lyrics. L’Affaire Louis Trio were certainly working hard to throw off their poppy "cartoon" image.

After the immense success of "Mobilis in Mobile", L’Affaire Louis Trio’s career took a new turning. The group of musicians who had accompanied them on stage and in the recording studio from the beginning of their career announced that they were going their own separate ways and L’Affaire Louis Trio found that they had become a real trio at last.

At the start of 94 Cleet Boris began writing a new collection of songs and in September the trio went into the studio to record a new album, "L’homme aux mille vies". They decided not to replace their original group of studio musicians, preferring to play the other instruments themselves. Keyboard-player Bronco Junior took on drums (the instrument he had originally started out playing), Karl Niagara played bass guitar and a variety of other instruments, while Cleet Boris remained on vocals. The trio would go on to invite a number of special guest musicians into the studio, including Richard Kolinka (the former drummer of the seminal French rock group Téléphone who split in 1986) and the famous bass-player Colin Moulding (formerly with the English pop group XTC).

"L’homme aux mille vies", which was released in 1995, is certainly the most accomplished of all L’Affaire Louis Trio’s albums. This rich, multi-faceted work was the last the musicians were to record together as a trio. A few months after the album’s release Karl Niagara announced that he was quitting the group.

L’Affaire Louis Trio have, rather ironically, survived as a duo, Cleet Boris and Bronco Junior going into the studio together to record a new album on the Chrysalis label. The album, entitled simply "L’Affaire Louis Trio" (despite the absence of the third member of the trio) was released on March 28 1997. The new songs have a more poetic feel to them than the group’s earlier work, but fans will be delighted to find that L’Affaire Louis Trio’s catchy pop/rock fusion is still much in evidence. French fans were able to hear extracts from L'Affaire Louis Trio's new album in the spring of 98 when Cleet Boris and Bronco Junior embarked upon a major national tour (stopping off in Paris at La Cigale on April 3rd).

Nevertheless, this record foreshadowed the end of the artists’ association as they split for good in 1999.

A compilation, the Best of Affaire Louis Trio was released in 1998 as their goodbye to the public.

In 2001, Cleet Boris made a comeback with a solo album released under his real name of Hubert Mounier. This opus entitled "Le Grand Huit" and produced by Benjamin Biolay, features melodies very similar to those of Affaire Louis Trio, yet the tone here is much more melancholic and mature, and certainly more personal.

August 2001