Cuba had “Buena Vista Social Club” made of veteran musicians like Compay Segundo (1907-2003), Guadeloupe has “Les Vikings”. Indeed, in 1966 in the district of Carénage in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, two young musicians – Fred Aucagos and Guy Jacquet – decided to found a music group. They called it “Les Vikings” even if they were not fair-haired men with blue eyes but they were conquerors. Quickly, they managed to win over fans in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, France and in other countries.
52 years after its inception, “Les Vikings” are still in the music scene even if some members died. These last years, a productor understood the cultural heritage that this band represented and organized for it a major tour in Europe and, despite their age, the “grandfathers” of kadans music and other Caribbean rhythms in Guadeloupe continued attracting the crowd in France, in Germany etc.
The 40th anniversary of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe could not be celebrated without Fred Aucagos, Guy Jacquet, Max Sévérin and Camille Soprann and the younger musicians who joined the band such as Tony Lodin, Willy Salzédo…
As in the time of of the great local dances where couples met, the audience of the Mémorial ACTe danced and sang famous songs like “C vérité” or “Madam Je”, and Max Sévérin aka “Maxo” (76-year-old) did not forget to ask if there were some “Vikings’ babies” in the crowd…
