French Pop: from Music Hall to Ye-Ye

From Django Reinhardt and Edith Piaf to Francoise Hardy and Serge Gainsbourg, French pop has long fascinated the outside world. This book, the first in-depth history published outside France, travels from music halls, jazz cellars and cafes to discotheques and teenage parties to tell the tale of how the French transitioned from accordions to electric guitars, from Maurice Chevalier to Johnny Hallyday, from the existential angst of Left Bank chanson to the effervescent joy of ye-ye. Across dozens of performers from Sacha Distel to Sylvie Vartan, and hundreds of recordings, this is the story of how the French fused their native traditions with the best the world had to offer tango, jazz, swing, exotica, rock'n'roll and folk and emerged in the sixties with their own unique and much- loved spin on the pop music conquering the world.