René la Taupe
René la Taupe (French for "René the Mole") is a French project created by Fox Mobile Group to promote ringtones for Jamster. The character of René is a CGI mole whose songs generally contain scatological humor.
René's first song, "Merde" (French for "shit"), was released in 2009 and details a relationship where the singer can't decide whether they love or hate the object of the song. The video features René dancing next to a pile of excrement. The song did not chart in France, but the German release, "Scheisse, ich liebe Dich" under the name Mauli, reached number 30 in Germany and number 39 in Austria. It was also Jamba's most downloaded ringtone in 2009. A thirty-second remake called "C'est La Rentrée" ("Back To School") was released as a ringtone and YouTube clip in August 2010. It was released in English as "Holy Crap, I Love You" under the artist name Mad Moley.
In 2010, Fox Mobile Group released René's next song, "Mignon, Mignon" ("Cute, Cute"), about an animal that is cute because it is fat. The song was written by Christian Büttner, Hank Hobson and Marcello Pagin. This song was much more successful, reaching number one on both the digital and physical charts in France and receiving over five million views on YouTube in two months. The German ringtone release was titled "Jammi Jammi", with the Mauli name dropped, instead replaced with Rene der Maulwurf ("Rene the Mole"). The English release also changed the artist name, in this case to "Crazy Mole", and titled the song "Yummy". Both of these translations had a 30-second preview, but full versions were never released. It also received a French 30-second ringtone remake, "Mauvais, Mauvais" ("Bad, Bad"), mocking France for their poor performance in the FIFA World Cup that year.
René's next single, "Tu Parles Trop" ("You Speak Too Much"), was released in October 2010 and peaked at number three on the French Singles Chart. A month later, René released an album titled "Les Aventures de René la Taupe" ("The Adventures of René The Mole"). The album contained his first three original French singles (not counting "C'est La Rentrée", though a thirty-second music video was included on a bonus DVD) and ten new tracks. The album peaked at 20 on the French charts. It spawned one more ringtone, "Petit Papa Noel" ("Little Father Christmas", also covered by Pigloo), which did not chart.
Since the album, René has released four singles from 2011 to 2014, including "Rock La Vie" ("Rock Life") for the French version of the movie "Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked". None of these singles have been particularly successful.
Written by Irk.
