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| Yé-yé | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early 1960s,Western andSouthern Europe |
| Derivative forms | |
| Regional scenes | |
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| Other topics | |
Yé-yé (French:[jeje]ⓘ) oryeyé[1] (Spanish:[ɟʝeˈʝe]) was a style of pop music that emerged inWestern andSouthern Europe in the early 1960s. The French termyé-yé was derived from the English "yeah! yeah!", popularized by Britishbeat music bands such asthe Beatles.[2] The style expanded worldwide as the result of the success of figures such as French singer-songwritersSylvie Vartan,Serge Gainsbourg andFrançoise Hardy.[3] Yé-yé was a particular form ofcounterculture that derived most of its inspiration from British and Americanrock and roll. Additional stylistic elements ofyé-yé song composition include baroque, exotica, pop, jazz and the Frenchchanson.[4]
Theyé-yé movement had its origins in the radio programSalut les copains (loosely translated as "Hello, mates" or "Hello, pals"), created by Jean Frydman and hosted byDaniel Filipacchi andFrank Ténot,[5] which first aired in December 1959. The phrase "Salut les copains" dates back to the title of a 1957 song byGilbert Bécaud andPierre Delanoë, who themselves had little regard for the yé-yé music that the radio show typically featured. The program became an immediate success, and one of its sections, "Le chouchou de la semaine" ("This Week's Sweetheart"), became the starting point for mostyé-yé singers. Any song that was presented as achouchou went straight to the top places in the charts. TheSalut les copains phenomenon continued with amagazine of the same name that was first published in 1962 in France, with German, Spanish, and Italian ("Ciao Amici") editions following shortly afterward.[6]
"Radios were practicing a real hype, much more than today. We, the singers, were much, much less numerous than today – and there were fewer radios. It was also the heyday ofSalut les copains, and the press played an extremely important role, it could promote beginners. I remember being on the front page ofParis Match very quickly, without being very well known or doing anything special for that; this would no longer be possible nowadays. In fact, in the 1960s, we saw the advent of the mass media. At the same time, fashion had assumed a considerable importance, which it had never before had. Singers like me became emblems of fashion, in addition tochanson, which helped to maintain notoriety."
—Françoise Hardy,Télérama, 2012.[7]
Françoise Hardy performed onMireille Hartuch'sLe Petit Conservatoire de la chanson television show in February 1962 (a year before The Beatles recorded "She Loves You"), singing "La fille avec toi", which began with "Yeah yeah yeah yeah". After she finished, Hartuch remarked on the "yé yé" lyrics and asked her what they meant.[8] The term was popularised byEdgar Morin in a July 1963 article inLe Monde.[9]
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Yé-yé music originated in France and was a mostly continental European phenomenon usually featuring young female singers.France Gall, for example, was only sixteen years of age when she released her first album and seventeen when she won the Eurovision Song Contest (forLuxembourg) singing the prototypebubblegum song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son".
France had a large market for the consumption of French-language songs at the time. Unlike other European nations such asWest Germany, the French were more willing to support artists from their own country, singing in their native tongue.[10] Some of the early French artists who were dabbling inrock and roll and similar genres, such asJohnny Hallyday, admit that they were creating an imitation of English-language rock music.[11] Yé-yé helped assimilate that music in a unique, French way, and with the popularity ofSalut les copains, the public began to see stars such as France Gall emerge.
While some Yé-yé songs had innocent themes such as that ofFrançoise Hardy's "Tous les garçons et les filles" ("All the guys and girls my age know how it feels to be happy, but I am lonely. When will I know how it feels to have someone?"), others were intentionally sexualised. Composer and singer/songwriterSerge Gainsbourg once called Gall the FrenchLolita and, wanting to exploit her innocence,[12] composed for her thedouble-entendre song "Les sucettes" ("Lollipops"): "Annie loves lollipops, aniseed lollipops, when the sweet liquid runs down Annie's throat, she is in paradise." The lyrics of the song are blatantly phallic, and the music video essentially features a group of dancing penises.[13][14]
Because female singers dominated the yé-yé scene, the movement is occasionally seen as a feminist statement, even though the songwriters behind the singers were men, and the songs often infantilized their singers (as previously discussed in this article). That said, in lieu of a desperate and codependent voice, a fun and flirtatious point of view was often depicted. Gall's 1966 song "Baby Pop," for example, adopts a playful attitude toward the traditional institution of marriage, singing "On your wedding night, it'll be too late to regret it."[15]
Sylvie Vartan married rock starJohnny Hallyday in 1965 and toured in America and Asia, but she remained a yé-yé at heart, and as late as 1968 she recorded the song "Jolie poupée" ("Pretty Doll"), about a girl who regrets having abandoned her doll after growing up.
Sheila portrayed the image of a well-behaved young girl. Her first hit was "L'école est finie" ("School is over") in 1962.
In 1967, teen yé-yé singerJacqueline Taïeb won the Best Newcomer award inCannes at theMidem awards for her hit single "7 heures du matin".
Other significant girl singers of the era include teen TV starChristine Delaroche,Jocelyne,Zouzou,Evy, Cosette (Dominique Cozette) andAnnie Philippe. Some girl groups emerged, such as Les Parisiennes, influenced by acts likethe Shangri-Las.
Although originating in France, the yé-yé movement extended over Western Europe.
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Italian singerMina became her country's first female rock-and-roll singer in 1959.[16] In the following few years, she moved tomiddle-of-the-road girl pop. After her scandalous relationship and pregnancy with a married actor in 1963, Mina developed her image into that of a grown-up "bad girl".[17] An example of her style may be found in the lyrics of the song "Ta-ra-ta-ta": "The way you smoke, you are irresistible to me, you look like a real man."[18] By contrast, her compatriotRita Pavone cast the image of a typical teenage yé-yé girl; for example, the lyrics of her 1964 hit "Cuore" complained how love made the protagonist suffer.
Parisian-born singerCatherine Spaak had a massive success in Italy with a style very close to that of Françoise Hardy. Other significant Italian yé-yé girls include Mari Marabini, Carmen Villani, Anna Identici and the girl groups Le Amiche, Le Snobs and Sonia e le Sorelle.
British singerSandie Shaw recordedPuppet on a String in 1967 and won theEurovision Song Contest 1967, the first for the United Kingdom.[19]
In Spain, which was under the rule of theFascist Francoist regime, yé-yé music was at first considered to be incompatible with Catholicism. However, this did not stop the yé-yé culture from spreading, although a bit later than in the rest of Europe; in 1968 Spanish yé-yé girlMassiel won the Eurovision song contest with "La, la, la", while the sweet, naïve-looking singerKarina enjoyed success as the Spanish yé-yé queen with her hits "En un mundo nuevo" and "El baúl de los recuerdos". In the 1965 filmHistorias de la televisión,Concha Velasco's character, who competes against a yé-yé girl, singsLa chica ye-ye ("The Yé-yé Girl"). The song became a hit, and Velasco is often remembered asla chica yeyé.
Yé-yé grew very popular in Japan and influenced the origins ofShibuya-kei andJapanese idol music.[citation needed] Gall recorded a Japanese version of "Poupée de cire, poupée de son". The filmCherchez l'idole, featuring Johnny Hallyday, has seen a Japanese DVD release. The yé-yé vocal groupLes Surfs appear in the film performing their hit song "Ça n'a pas d'importance".
At the end of the 1970s, there was a brief but successful yé-yé recurrence in France, spreading across the charts of Western Europe with electro-pop-influenced acts such asPlastic Bertrand,Lio andElli et Jacno and,in a harder rock vein, Ici Paris and Les Calamités (a subgenre dubbed "Yé-yé punk" byLes Wampas leader Didier Wampas). Lio had a string of hits during 1980, the most famous of which was "Amoureux Solitaires". This new brand of yé-yé, although short-lived, echoed the synthesizer-driven sound that had surfaced recently withnew wave music.
While the yé-yé movement was led by female singers, it was not an exclusively female movement. The yé-yé masterminds (such asSerge 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.Michel Polnareff, for example, played the tormented, hopeless lover in songs such as "Love Me Please Love Me", whileJacques Dutronc claimed to have seduced Santa Claus's daughter in "La Fille du Père Noël". Among the more popular male yé-yé singers wasClaude François, notable for songs such as "Belles, Belles, Belles", a French-language adaptation ofthe Everly Brothers' andEddie Hodges' "(Girls, Girls, Girls) Made to Love". In Portugal, the first yé-yé bands appeared inCoimbra in 1956, most notably Os Babies, led byJosé Cid.[20] Other Portuguese bands followed afterward, including Os Conchas, Os Ekos, Os Sheiks, Os Celtas, Conjunto Académico João Paulo, Os Demónios Negros and singers such as Daniel Bacelar.[21]
The yé-yé movement maintains a particular prevalence in the music world because of its swinging, catchy rhythms and carefree lyrics. Unlike the confining strictures of society, yé-yé promoted a refreshing and invigorating newness and inevitably promoted a sort of sexual rebellion that greatly characterized the 1960s.Dalida's 1960 song "Itsi bitsi, petit bikini", previously recorded as "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" byBrian Hyland, perfectly illustrated yé-yé's newfound nonchalance and release from prudish subject matter. The song, "...which denotes a nonchalant and undisciplined listening,"[23] is about a girl afraid to reveal her bikini to fellow beachgoers, and it represents the shocking aspect of the lax attitude toward an increased sexuality, especially for women, as bikinis were previously considered scandalous. Similarly, yé-yé contributed to the creation of a youth culture within a postwar France that expressed a certain playfulness and carefree perspective on life. Sociologist and philosopherEdgar Morin commented on the rise and popularity of yé-yé music and culture, "...seeing in yé-yé's frantic, syncopated rhythms simultaneously a commodified music...of adult consumption, and a festive, playful hedonism..."[24]
As it was for any postwar youth culture, yé-yé acted as a creative outlet that aided in defining an era as well as an identity for Europe, specifically France. The archetype ofla parisienne, exuding an exotic charm and magnetic appeal, was greatly defined by the influence of the numerous yé-yé girls within the scene and created an indelible mark in the worlds of both fashion and style. The "...escapist, ironic..."[25] facets of yé-yé enticed thousands of listeners, promoting a gaiety and glamour that intertwined with the sexual freedom and modernity of theSwinging Sixties.
