Suzanne Doucet is a German new-age musician, producer, composer, and singer, best known for being one of the founders of new age music. She was the founder of the first new age music store in Hollywood, CaliforniaOnly New Age Music in 1987 and founded the first New Age Music Conference in Los Angeles in 1989.[1]
Doucet was an actress and singer in Germany and Switzerland in the 1960s and 1970s receiving European airplay for her German version of Be My Baby, which charted at number 1 on German music charts. Bunter Drachen, which appeared in the Guy Ritchie film, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. also charted at number 1.[2] She starred in Godspell, alongside Donna Summer, which toured throughout Europe.
In 2020, Fact Magazine listed Doucet's album Reflecting Light, Vol. 1 from 1983 at number 4 of the 20 Best New Age Albums of all Time.[3] Her single, Forever, was featured in Shirley Maclaine's videos, Inner Workout and Going Within.[4]
Early life and career
Suzanne Doucet was born on August 27, 1944, in Tübingen, Germany. Her father, Dr. Friedrich-Wilhelm Doucet, wrote numerous books on dream interpretation and parapsychological phenomena and her mother, Helen von Muenchhofen was a theater actress.[5][6] Her grandmother, also named Helen von Muenchhofen was an actress as well and played a role in the silent movie, Metropolis.[7]
She moved to Munich in 1962 and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1963. By the age of 18, Doucet was an established pop star in Germany.[8]
Career
Before Doucet started her career in the entertainment industry she worked as a designer and painter in Ascona (Switzerland). She played the leading part in a theater comedy "Die Türen knallen" in Stuttgart in 1963 and was discovered by the record company Metronome. She had her first TV appearance in the live TV show "Familienparty"[9] in Hamburg in 1963 on NDR.
As a pop music artist, Doucet's first hit song was the German version of Be My Baby (Sei mein Baby) in 1964 which reached #1 on the German pop charts. Shortly afterward she released, Das Geht Doch Keinen Etwas An which made the Top-10 on German charts.[10][11][12] Her first U.S. single release was, Swan Song (Liberty Records), which was listed as a Best Bet by Cashbox Magazine.[13]
Doucet moved to the US in 1983 and opened Only New Age Music in Hollywood, CA With her husband James Bell as well as founding the International New Age Music Network in 1987.[18] She produced and directed three international conferences and the first New Age/World Music Festival at the Wiltern Theater (featuring artists such as Paul Horn, Steven Halpern, Tim Wheater, Jai Uttal a.o.).[19][20] Doucet recorded and released 50+ albums in the US with New Age music also collaborating with Chuck Plaisance, Gary Miraz, and Tajalli (See discography).
