French Boogie 1982 - 1989

The French in the 80s were not faint-hearted: as some threw themselves heart and soul into music or business, others wouldn’t mind going bottomless to get themselves noticed. While Bernard Tapie soon realized his own fortune was rather to be found in business, many music-loving dreamers already imagined themselves in the sun, in an enchanting world made of funky rhythms and synthesizers.

A real hub for such multi-cultural productions, the city of Lyons was home to many labels, such as l’Étoile Verte, Mosquito, SEDICAV, Mérabet, Bouarfa or El Bahia. Little by little, this particularly prolific scene reached a new audience: Nordine Staifi or Shams Dinn won fame on vinyl, Carte de Séjour got John Peel’s attention. The latter – an Arabic rock band led by Rachid Taha – even became infatuated with Charles Trenet’s Douce France. Their cover, tinged with an Eastern feel and hint of irony, was stupidly censored in France at the time.

Elsewhere, however, hands of friendship were extended between newcomers and “true” French people. In Rouen, Bernard Guégan, a sociocultural worker in a center for occupational integration, initiated girls of North African descent into rap for a contest launched by a magazine. Noticed through Vally from the famous duo Chagrin d’Amour, the resulting group was put on tape by producer Slim Pezin under the name of Ettica.

With the rise of independent radios, recently licensed by François Mitterrand’s government, the airwaves reflected more than ever the diversity of musics in France. Some then-unknown African or overseas genres were given a place on Radio Nova’s Sonomundial show. Carbone 14’s host Phil Barney tried his hand at spoken word between American-funk songs, and the latest hits from Maghreb delighted Radio Beur’s listeners.

Of course, such a vivid emulation was also noticed by music business professionals of the time, who started spicing anything up with a touch of exoticism to boost sales. Some seasoned veterans of groove also stepped onto this path with some nice period productions for themselves or for others.

Slim Pezin (Ettika) Already renown in the disco-funk niche thanks to records by Arpadys or Voyage (as a member of the latter), Slim Pezin was a major arranger for the Parisian Who’s Who in the 70s and 80s (Claude François, Mylène Farmer, Johnny Hallyday).

Sammy Massamba A real icon of Congolese music, Sammy Massamba started his career in the 60s as a member of the Protestant singing group Les Cheveux Crépus.

JM Black With an uncle running a radio station and a cousin who was an exceptional bass player (Vicky Edimo), this Cameroonian from Douala had been immersed in music since his earliest childhood.

Marc Moulin (Alec Mansion) A discreet jazz musician and a political commentator on TV, Marc Moulin was mostly known for being one of the clowning musicians in Telex.

Philippe Chany In 1981, along with Phil Krootchey and Fred Versailles, the young Philippe Chany founded an electronic funk band called Love International.