Thierry Culliford

0 Releases

20 Tracks

[b]Thierry Culliford[/b] (b. 29 December 1955, Uccle, Belgium) is a Belgian comics author, scriptwriter, publisher, and musician, son of renowned cartoonist [a=Peyo], né [a=Pierre Culliford] (1928—1992), and elder brother of [a=Véronique Culliford] (b. 1958). Thierry has collaborated with his father since 1983, notably contributing to [i][url=https://discogs.com/artist/319535]The Smurfs[/url][/i]. After Peyo died in 1992, he continued producing new issues in the existing comic series, such as [i][url=https://discogs.com/artist/8465445]Johan et Pirlout[/url][/i], under his father's pen name.

In his early twenties, Thierry co-authored a humorous "coming-of-age" comic strip, [b][i][url=https://discogs.com/artist/4236274]Germain et nous…[/url][/i][/b] ("Germain and us"), with his ex-classmate and friend [url=https://discogs.com/artist/211353]Frédéric Jannin[/url], published by prolific Franco-Belgian magazine [i][l=Spirou][/i] between March 1977 and September 1992. As their comics began gaining critical acclaim, Culliford and Jannin decided to work further on one of its recurring themes — a fictitious favorite band of Germain and his teenage friends, [b][a=The Bowling Balls][/b] (usually mentioned in the context of their repeated failed attempts to record an illegal live bootleg). Thierry and Fred invited [url=https://discogs.com/artist/3958826]Bert Bertrand[/url], son of [a=Peyo]'s frequent collaborator and the "Smurfs" scriptwriter [a=Yvan Delporte] (1928—2007), and another mutual friend to join, posing as brothers [url=https://discogs.com/artist/923761]Elton[/url], [url=https://discogs.com/artist/923760]Averell[/url], [url=https://discogs.com/artist/923757]Billy[/url], and [a=Fernand Ball] in the abundant faux ephemera, including a bogus press kit, non-existent album covers, and several fake interviews; Thierry's father Peyo joined the hoax, appearing as the band's producer [a=Jack Grodikski]. The increasingly elaborate joke culminated in a debut 7" single, [i][r=417426][/i], released by [l=EMI Belgium] on 1 April 1979. A not-so-fictional-anymore band soon signed with [l=Ariola], releasing [i][m=204090][/i] 7" in 1980 and a few more singles. The group's aspiring career was cut short by Bertrand's suicide in 1983, with the remaining bandmates releasing an aptly titled [i][r=1087644][/i] LP a few months later.