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.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Annie Philippe




Annie Philippe was born in the Parisian district of Ménilmontant on the 17th of December 1946. After leaving school, Annie became a DJ in the Twenty One club, off the Champs Élysées, where she met Paul Mauriat, a famous musical arranger and orchestra leader who had worked with many other famous Yé-yé artists before her. Mr. Mauriat took a chance on Annie Philippe and found that he was pleasantly surprised.

Annie impressed him enough for him to help her land a recording contract with the French music label Rivièra Records, and she released her first four-track EP in 1964. Though it flopped, she was given a second chance and released a version of the Supreme's Baby love (with the same title) which sold quite well. She also toured for several seasons, notably with Jacques Dutronc and Claude François.

After the Sixties had passed Annie found herself taking a bit of a hiatus from the music Industry. Annie did not resurface until a few decades later, besides doing a few acting jobs here and there. However, once the Baby Boomer generation got older the nostalgia for Sixties pop music rose and she began a new music career almost in the same place as where she had left off. Today she still regularly preforms in the evenings and released a new single last June of this year entitled "Verses of Love."





17 comments:

  1. These get more interesting by the day!

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  2. I love how campy this is, It's like something that John Waters would turn you on to.

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  3. This genre of music is really interesting

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  4. cool stuff here mate,i'l visit every day

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  5. i feel sad every time i listen to the songs and i don't understand what do they mean..

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  6. your posts keep getting better and better!

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  7. supportin! <3

    australiascrapas.blogspot.com

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  8. Showing my support for a fellow blogger.

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  9. very beautiful songs. Great job mate. Supp.

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  10. Une jolie façon de reparler des sixties !!

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