French Music

Chagrin d’amour is a French pop duo, often hailed as the music artists to record the first French hip hop album. In 1982, they released Chacun fait ce qui lui plait, a recording of songs all performed in French with obvious influences by the rap music style. The album gained instant success in the country and sold over 3 million copies. Chagrin d’amour’s songs with simple rhymes and rap techniques caused many amateur music artists to become interested in the hip-hop style, beginning a new era of French music.

Brain Damage is a French dub band from Saint-Étienne. The band is made up by Martin, sound engineering, and Raphael, bass. Created in the year 1999, Brain Damage play a very personal and particular dub music: dark, like their home city, and emotional. The band defines it like an emo-dub-ambient.

Oui Oui were a French pop group formed in 1983. Guitarist/singer Étienne Charry and drummer Michel Gondry met at secondary school in Sèvres in 1978. The repertoire of songs Oui Oui built up was a reaction to what was termed cold wave music in France and the more politicized rock groups of the era.

Miou Miou is an East Bohemia indie pop band formed in the spring of 2003. Miou Miou’s music is characterized by girlish vocals in French, catchy lyrics, playfulness, repetitive elements, dynamic contrasts and searching for new sounds. Their music makes use of a wide range of instruments, from more unique instruments such as analog synthesizers, oscillators, vibraphone, harp and kantele; to more concert stuff like guitars, bass and drums.

La Fonky Family (often shortened to La Fonky, or La FF) are a French hip hop group from Marseille. They are composed of four rappers, Le Rat Luciano, Menzo, Don Choa and Sat, the producer Pone, DJ Djel, the dancer Blaze, the singer Karima, Flex (fetus) Nandell, and manager Fafa.

Alliage is a French boy band that was active in 1997-2000. Four young men were the members of the band: Steven Gunnell, Roman Lata Ares, Brian Torres and the leader Quentin Elias.

Les Rita Mitsouko was a French pop rock group formed by guitarist Fred Chichin and singer Catherine Ringer. The duo first performed as Rita Mitsouko at Gibus Club, Paris in 1980. They went on to become one of the most successful musical acts of the 1980s in France.

2Be3 was a French boyband that was active in 1996 - 2001. 2Be3 was formed in 1996 and comprised three childhood friends from Longjumeau: Filip Nikolic, Adel Kachermi and Frank Delay. Inspired by English bands like Take That and Worlds Apart, the group produced 3 studio albums and various compilations before disbanding in 2001.

Ivanov is a French band, one-hit wonder, composed of Aliocha Berman, Walter Troiaoni, Patrick Laithier, Gilles Petitjean and Yves Renaud. The band had its greatest hit in 1989, with Les Nuit sans soleil, which earned a Silver disc and reached number 7 on the French SNEP Singles Chart, in which it stayed for 16 weeks. The next single, Aventurier, released in 1990, and the album Casser le destin, were not unsuccessful. Band’s members were both writers and composers of their singles.

Tri Yann are a French band from Nantes (Breton: Naoned) in the départment of Loire-Atlantique, Brittany, who play traditional Breton Celtic music. The band was founded in 1971 by Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic - all of whom remain members - hence the suggested name of Tri Yann an Naoned (English: Three Jean’s of Nantes), Jean and Yann being respectively the French and Breton versions of the name John).