Arno

With his whiskey-and-cigarettes vocals, blues-inspired arrangements, and acerbic lyrics, Arno regularly earned comparisons to gutter poets like Serge Gainsbourg and Tom Waits. Born Arno Hintjens in Ostende, Belgium, on May 21, 1949, he first surfaced in a series of little-known R&B-influenced acts, including Freckle Face and Tjens-Couter. In 1977, Arno and longtime collaborator Paul Decouter co-founded TC Bland with Ferre Baelen and Rudy Cloet, and after a name change to TC Matic, the group emerged as one of the more successful European acts of the early '80s, scoring a series...