Dolly and C°'s early influences might have been lifted from the best chapters of an English/American rock compendium - indeed, the group's sound was heavily influenced by the likes of Blondie, Prince, the Pixies and the Smashing Pumpkins. But lead singer Manu's greatest source of inspiration was the work of English indie diva PJ Harvey. The young French singer was fascinated by Harvey's deep, melancholy vocals and, after seeing PJ in concert, Manu decided to accompany her own singing on guitar. Performing extensively on the local music scene, Dolly and C° soon began to build up an extensive repertoire (most of which was written by Manu). And before long the group attracted a massive following of fans.

Encouraged by this early success on the local music scene, Dolly and C° went into the studio to begin work on their début album. After producing a mini album (featuring six tracks), Dolly and C° went on to produce their first full-length album themselves. (The album, entitled simply "Dolly and C°, actually scored a considerable hit on the national music scene, selling over 85,000 copies).

Shortly after the release of their début album, the group underwent several major changes in their line-up, re-inventing themselves as Dolly. The new-look Dolly went on to sign a recording deal with the East West label and then returned to the studio to set to work on a new CD album.

After producing their own albums at the beginning of their career, Dolly teamed up with the renowned English producer Clive Martin (who had already made a name for himself on the French music scene, working with Les Négresses Vertes). Dolly's new CD album, released in 1997, also featured outstanding contributions from a number of well-known French songwriters including David Salsedo, lead singer of the French rock group Silmarils (who wrote "Je ne veux pas rester sage") and Bashung's habitual songwriter Jean Fauque (who penned the title "Joe").

Music critics wrote rather damning reviews of Dolly's new album, accusing the group of being overly 'commercial'. But critics were rather more impressed by Dolly's vibrant live shows. The group went on to perform a memorable concert at Le Bataclan in Paris in December '97, then embarked upon a series of extremely successful tours which included dates both at home and abroad. Unfortunately, Nico, the group's guitarist, broke his wrist in July of this year which meant that several weeks of Dolly's summer tour had to be cancelled. However, in spite of this minor setback, Dolly have still managed to attract an impressive number of new fans and look to have an extremely promising career ahead of them.

But Dolly stormed back to the forefront of the French music scene in August 1999 with a new album entitled "Un jour de rêves". The album had a distinctly rock feel thanks to the guitars, which were particularly omnipresent on the album. Unlike most other albums in production these days, "Un jour de rêves" was recorded with real instruments rather than machines – which gave it a particularly lively feel. The group appeared to invest more time and effort in their studio work this time round, but did not completely lose with the ‘live’ approach for which they are famous.

After almost a year spent touring up and down France and even abroad for a few concerts, Dolly spent most of 2001 locked in their studio—a small farm near Nantes—to work on their next album. Released in the beginning of 2002, this 13-track album entitled "Plein Air" was also produced by Clive Martin. Even though Dolly claimed it to be "more climatic than their previous works", "Plein Air" (meaning "Open Air") featured the same style of sounds as in the band’s first album but spiced up with some electro experiments. After the release of the first single "C’est pour toi", the band hit the road as soon as April for a tour that was only to end at the end of 2002.

Once their tour was over, the foursome went straight into the studio to begin work on their fourth album, "Tous des stars." The album, released in 2004, included ample use of samplers which gave Dolly's sound a smoother, more polished edge. However, the presence of machines on the new album did not take anything away from the group's raw "rock" energy that had helped forge their reputation on the live scene. Dolly's album won rave reviews from the critics. But tragedy stuck in May 2005, whilst the group were partway through a new tour. Bass-player Mickaël Chamberlain (aka Micka) was killed in a car accident and the band called a temporary halt to their concert and recording activity to mourn their loss.

September 2005