…..SoSuterBill…..

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BILLY SUTER chats to Ballito-based PIERRE DE CHARMOY, former heart-throb singer and film star (he was the lead in the 1984 Afrikaans film, Tawwe Tienies). Pierre, now a grandfather with his once-flowing locks now shorter and grey, is still making music in between his life as a farmer. 
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HIS main focus over the past 25 years or so has been on family and farming, but don’t for a minute think former South African heart-throb singer-songwriter Pierre de Charmoy has shelved his music.

Quite the contrary – the award-winner, who reached No 1 on the local charts with Live On, in the 1980s, has performed regularly over the years, has collaborated in more recent times on various projects with the likes of Dennis East, Kurt Darren and Steve Hofmeyr …and, he told me this week, he is still recording,

His latest musical project is an album of songs and demos he has been working on for some years now. The planned album will be titled Reflections, but Pierre is in no hurry to release it: “With the current state of the industry, it might just remain like that. We’ll see…,” he adds.

Durban-born farmer’s son Pierre, who turned 63 on February 1, does however concede that “the studio is my happy place. It’s where I create”.

It was in 1992 that Pierre opted to bow out of the spotlight after a dozen years of continuous recording and touring. It was time in which he received four South African Sarie Awards and two Scotty international awards, and rubbed shoulders or shared stages with, among others, Juluka, The Judds, Julio Iglesias… even Mother Theresa.

“My other passion took over – and that was to farm,” he says, adding that he missed the creative side of the music business only, “none of the rest”.

Pierre started out developing a two-hectare property into a home rental estate and then tried hydroponics, growing tomatoes and cucumbers. He gave that up in 1999 when a sugar farm came up for sale, and he has been farming sugar ever since.

His creating a new album in no way indicates he wants a big return to the spotlight, he explains, adding that “the market is very small in South Africa, and to go into it full time is another story…”

He adds: “I have three sons, all doing outstandingly, and I want to be available for them. Going into the industry full time would require a lot of international travelling.”

Pierre’s sons are Byron, Christian and Philip and they have given him four  grandchildren, which immediately raises a wide smile: “I am l loving life as a  grandpa and reliving my childhood”.

Pierre is married to Karen de Charmoy, who wrote her husband’s biography, What Happened? Says Pierre: “I am always asked, ‘what happened? Karen, my multi-tasking, ever-capable wife, decided to write my story. She told it with compassion, truth, humour and attention to the facts. It is all in the book.”

Looking back, Pierre recalls that RPM Records signed him up, and recorded and released his first single, Lonely Hearts, in December 1981. That led to him being named Most Promising New Artist at the annual South African Sarie Awards.

RPM quickly followed up with the album Ovation, containing the No 1 single, Live On. It won Pierre the Best Male Vocalist Sarie Award the following year.  Reaching Out followed in 1983 with the singles Reaching Out and You’re My Lady.

Pierre performed at Rapport Miss South Africa pageants and presented the radio programme Southern Sounds Top Twenty, his website reports. He also hosted TV shows, including No Jacked Required.

He may also be recalled as a principal cast member of Geoffrey Sutherland’s ambitious and spectacular Queen tribute show, The Show Must Go On, the sequel to Queen at the Opera. Both shows were huge hits at Durban’s Playhouse Opera theatre.

The year 1984 was particularly memorable for Pierre, as he received both the Sarie Award for Best Male Vocalist and The Scotty 3M Best Album Award. He also took the Sarie for Best Male Vocalist in 1985.

Pierre has many memories to look back on, but a highlight of his career, he says, was performing for a crowd of 120 000-plus at the historic Concert in the Park, in January 1985. It was the first fully multiracial, mega-music event in South Africa, and raised funds for NGO Operation Hunger.

When asked for five words to describe himself he says: “Determined, focused, committed, positive and driven”.

Some things about him that the general public is unlikely to know is that he struggled at school (his own words) and was stripped of his prefect duty while in matric at St Charles College in Pietermaritzburg, where his interest in music started when he began composing songs and arranging music for the popular Sunday folk Church Services there.

Another thing fans might not know is that he had trouble with his vision to the point that “I never read a book”.

Pierre loves the outdoors, hunting, fishing , diving and cooking. He is also is a big fan of golf, tennis, surfing and “fixing anything”.

The best advice he ever received, he says, came from musician Chris Rea, who told him, “As an idea comes to you, drop everything and write it down”.

He remains grounded: “Most compliments are a surprise. I love seeing the reaction from folks, especially on our golf days. We have a good laugh, but I don’t miss the limelight at all!”

Pierre closes by saying he’d like to think of himself as just a humble farmer who has a passion for nature and music.