Yéyé and the Pop Boom
French Music
Course 1 · Chapter 7 · Yéyé and the Pop Boom
In the early 1960s a new audience appeared in France: teenagers with their own money, their own radio programmes and their own idols. The music they liked came from across the Channel and the Atlantic, but they wanted it in French, and a generation of young singers obliged. The result was a pop boom known as yéyé, which had a short life but changed the French music business for good. This chapter follows that moment: how it was built, who the stars were, and how it connected to the Eurovision Song Contest. Names, dates and attributions are given from general knowledge and flagged where they should be checked.
Where the Name Comes From
The word yéyé is a French spelling of the "yeah, yeah" in English-language pop songs, and in particular in Beatles songs (check). It is usually said to have been popularised by a sociologist writing in a national newspaper in 1963, who used it to describe a generation of young people (check the details). The word was first used somewhat sceptically, and it stuck.
Building a Youth Market
Radio from outside
For much of the postwar period the state controlled broadcasting, but stations such as Europe 1 and RTL broadcast from just across the border, so that they could carry advertising and a more modern tone (check the details). They reached a young audience that state radio did not.
A radio show and a magazine
A programme called Salut les copains began in 1959 and a magazine of the same name followed in 1962, created by Daniel Filipacchi and Frank Ténot (check). They gave teenagers a place to hear and read about the music.
A big public concert
A free concert at the Place de la Nation in Paris in June 1963, organised around the magazine, drew a very large crowd and is often described as a landmark of the pop boom (check the date and the numbers, which are disputed).
The record and the jukebox
The 45 rpm single, the portable record player and the jukebox put music in teenagers' own hands (check).
The Stars
| Artist | Known for | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Hallyday (1943 to 2017) | Rock and roll in French | Often called the French Elvis; had a career lasting more than fifty years (check) |
| Françoise Hardy (1944 to 2024) | "Tous les garçons et les filles" (1962, check) | Wrote many of her own songs; quiet, melancholy style set her apart |
| France Gall (1947 to 2018) | "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" | Won Eurovision in 1965 with a song by Serge Gainsbourg (check) |
| Sylvie Vartan (born 1944) | Pop and rock singles | Born in Bulgaria; married Hallyday in the 1960s (check) |
| Sheila, Richard Anthony and others | Hit singles | A crowded field, many of whom had short careers (check) |
Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest, an annual television competition between European broadcasters begun in 1956 (check), was an important showcase for French song. France has won several times over the decades (check the years), and one of its best-known moments is France Gall's 1965 win, singing for Luxembourg, with a song written by Gainsbourg (check). For the French, Eurovision has been both a source of pride and, more recently, a point of anxiety, as other countries and styles have taken the lead. The contest also links to the wider European television culture covered in another course, Jeux Sans Frontières (It's a Knockout): Europe's Game Show 1.
What Came After
By the end of the 1960s the pop boom had changed shape. Some stars moved on to more serious songwriting, some to cabaret and some faded. The events of 1968 and the new rock and folk styles took the music in new directions. The business, however, was permanent: radio, magazines, television appearances and record sales had become a normal part of French popular culture.
Exercises
Explain where the word yéyé comes from and name three ingredients that built the French youth music market of the early 1960s.
Many yéyé hits were French versions of foreign songs. Give one argument that this was a weakness and one that it was a strength.
Quick Reference
- Name: from the "yeah, yeah" of English-language pop
- Market: Europe 1 and RTL, Salut les copains, the Nation concert, the 45 single
- Stars: Hallyday, Hardy, Gall, Vartan
- Eurovision: France Gall's 1965 win, with a Gainsbourg song
- Key tension: international style versus French identity
- Check: the origin of the word, concert figures, contest results
Next chapter: Concrete Sound to French Touch, which covers experimental and electronic music from Schaeffer to Daft Punk.