Yé-Yé
A profile of Françoise Hardy.
France’s musical revolution had a start date: June 22, 1963. That was the day that, to celebrate the first anniversary of the magazine Salut les copains (literally “Hello buddies!”), the journal’s parent radio station, Europe 1, organized a free concert in Paris’ Place de la Nation. The line-up of Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan and Richard Anthony attracted 150,000 revelers. Some danced on rooftops. Others watched the spectacle from the treetops of the nearby Bois de Vincennes park as they puffed Disque Bleu cigarettes (for the aspirational woman) or the filterless Gauloises beloved of Serge Gainsbourg (for male artistes).
The following day, Paris-Presse screamed the headline Salut les voyous! (“Hello Hooligans!”). Other journals deplored the perceived violence of the blou...
