I decided to create a blog about the popular European Genre of music known as Yé-yé. Mainly because of it's ever growing obscurity as time has moved forward. A large majority of people have never even heard of the genre nonetheless listened to it. Especially in the United States. Yé-yé music has had a very influential part in the history of what popular music is today and what it will some day evolve into eventually. Also Yé-yé has not only been influential in the evolution of popular music but also has had just as much, if not more, influence on music that has strayed away from the mainstream.




Yé-yé was a popular style of pop music that had emerged from France, Québec and Spain in the early 1960s. The term "yé-yé" derived from teenagers shouting "yeah! yeah!" at concert venues and while listening to the music genre to show enthusiasm. Yé-yé music was unique in a number of ways: first, it was the only musical movement so far to be spearheaded by females; second, it was a mostly European phenomenon, although it grew very popular in Japan in 1965. Yé-yé girls were always young (age 15 through 17 usually) and maintained an innocent public image which was perpetuated through the music.

Yé-yé girls were also sexy, in a deliberately naive way. Often Yé-yé lyrics and music were written by older male songwriters and sometimes would contain sexually suggestive themes and lyrics hidden in metaphors that were meant to sound innocent. A good example of this is featured in a song preformed by France Gall and written my famous Yé-yé singer/ songwriter Serge Gainsbourg called "Les sucettes" ("Lollipops") which include the lyrics "Annie loves lollipops, aniseed lollipops, when the sweet liquid runs down Annie's throat, she is in paradise." Due to France Gall's naivety as a young women she preformed the song never recognizing the hidden reference to fellatio until becoming a little older.



While the yé-yé movement was led by female singers, it was not an exclusively a movement for young women. The yé-yé masterminds (such as Serge Gainsbourg, who wrote several hits for France Gall, Petula Clark, and Brigitte Bardot, but was considerably older and came from a jazz background) were distinct from the actual yé-yé singers. These were harmless, romantic boys singing mostly ballads and love songs.

In this blog I will also touch on more topics than just Yé-yé artists and music exclusively. I will also write about some of the influences the music and culture has had on art, fashion and what the genre has contributed to music that would come to proceed Yé-yé. If you are interested please follow my blog and participate by adding comments and I will do my best to post music and related topics almost everyday.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Marianne Faithfull



Marianne Evelyn Faithfull (born 29 December 1946 in London) is an award winning English singer. She was born into a well-to-do family of aristocrats in the Hampstead district of London, England. Faithfull began her singing career in the mid-sixties, landing her first gigs as a folk music performer in coffeehouses around London. She was a very beautiful young woman with a lot of raw talent. It didn't take very long before she began attracting a lot of attention. She later had a very public relationship with Rolling Stone's (Who ever they are) lead singer Mick Jagger (whoever he is). Faithfull also had a very hard time struggling with heroin addiction and anorexia nervosa.

I personally think her laundry list of painful personal problems added a certain quality to her music. One of my favorite Marianne Faithful songs is "Sister Morphine" which was co-written by Mick Jagger. A song about Marianne's personal struggle with opiate addiction. Mick Jagger (that guy's name again) ended up taking credit for writing "Sister Morphine" with Keith Richards instead of Marianne but after a bit of a legal battle Marianne Faithfull was credited as co-writer. This wasn't the first time the Stones got rich off of Marrianne's talent. They also covered her first major release, "As Tears Go By", which became a chart success.

Marianne Faithfull does stray a little from your normal Yé-yé girl archetype and into the Rock and Roll genre. However, somehow she fits into the Yé-yé girl movement amongst fans. I have always enjoyed her music so I figured my blog could use a Marianne Faithfull post. Anyway, despite her problems, she has managed to have a very lucrative music and film career. After Four decades Marianne Faithfull is still active as an artist to this day.



7 comments:

  1. Eh, not my taste. but still sheis very talented!

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  2. hmm... I don't know what to think about this

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  3. Showing my daily support,it would be awesome if you returned the favor!

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  4. Very nice!

    Supportin!

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  6. spreading some love <3

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