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The Art of French Boogie

October 29, 2015
By Rod Glacial

So what exactly is French Boogie? It’s our heritage of sorts and it has become popular thanks to YouTube and Skyblogs.11Local rap radio whose site hosts a wealth of popular urban blogs. The term designates tracks that came out between the late ’70s and the mid-’80s, records which were initially Gallic versions of American funk, then disco and old school rap. And, as you might expect, there are moments of questionable taste.

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The covers from the genre, though, aren’t questionable at all. They are a crafty mix of flash and fun, with bright colors, brash typography, revealing clothes and self-control at all times (or a perfect illusion of control). Below is a sample of 22 emblematic sleeves belonging to the genre, which are simply too outlandish to stay stuck at the bottom of a jumble sale record crate forever. They were exclusively sold as 45s (apologies to Didier Makaga whose amazing 33s didn’t make it on the list), running the gamut from Thierry Pastor to Serge Delisle, from DJ legend Micky Milan to aging star Michel Fugain and from Plaisir to Regrets.

Thierry Pastor - Coup de folie (Moment of Madness)
/// Listen

Note: the funny side of a sleeve is not always intentional. Thierry, who grew up in Algeria, retains a fondness for typography set in gold and penned a covert hit, “La Fille du Nordica.”
Micky Milan - Quand tu danses (When You Dance)
/// Listen

A legendary DJ at l’Echappatoire, a club in the suburban town of Clichy-sous-Bois – and the best for disco-funk in the ’70s and ’80s – Micky is giving those voluptuous gals a real eyeful. This shouldn’t come as a surprise – he was the first Frenchman to sign with Salsoul.
Alec Mansion - Trop triste (Too Sad)
/// Listen

Everything is said in the title, “Too Sad,” which somewhat eclipses the man behind the music. Though he was one of the best in this genre, he comes from Belgium.
François Feldman - Ma petite vidéo (My Little Video)

Obviously, if you get Mondino to do your sleeve, you’re playing it pretty safe. After New Wave on the A side, pop singer Feldman tries his hand at disco-funk on the B. And ends up with a hit.
Elegance - Vacances j’oublie tout (Holiday, I Forget It All)
/// Listen

Crisp lines, company culture, a passion for PR, strict tailoring: Elegance, the godfathers of funk-pop, welcome you aboard the ’80s.
Interview - Salut les salauds (Hiya Creeps)
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When she arrives on the scene, she kicks the creeps to the kerb on this sterling example of franglais “singing.”
Le Club - Un faits divers et rien de plus (A Nasty Little Crime, Nothing More)
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One of French boogie’s biggest smashes. In fact, we prefer the Belgian sleeve, with its Kanye Westian pomposity, to the Mondino original.
Plaisir (Peasure) - Fou de toi (Crazy for You)
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Fisheyes and white Repettos, we just can’t get enough Plaisir, a solo project from Guy Accardo, one of the architects of French boogie alongside Milan, Feldman and Makaga.
New Paradise - Easy Life
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Have you seen how moody they all look? Come on! Have you seen that jacket? Once they’d discovered Saint-Tropez, the French all wanted to put American, models on wax.
Bibi Flash - Histoire d’1 soir (1 Night Story)
/// Listen

Wearing a tank top, 1 written as a figure to get a “rappy” effect, alternate title in brackets, hair blowing through a ventilator: state of the art images for this female disco-rap combo with Bibi fresh from her Chagrin d’Amour hit.
Kevin Morane - Break Dance
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It looks like the two breakdancers here got lost on their way to making another record, or is it the Belgian singer Vincent Ghobert (real name) that’s out of place? As usual, the B side is better than the A.
Kid Tajine (The Tagine kid) - Facile! (Easy!)
/// Listen

The spelling mistake in “Tajine” is intentional. We have no worthwhile info on this record. We’re just praying that no one called Roger (and born in Algiers) gets offended by the lyrics.
Style - Playboy en détresse (Playboy on the Rocks)
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Another sun-drenched project by Accardo, which must have rocked a lot of campsite discos in the summer of 83.
Pino D’Angio - Mais quelle idée (But What an Idea)
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French adaptation of the hit “Ma Quale Idea” which gives you an idea of the cultural standard achieved by international relations in southern Europe throughout the ’80s.
Sheila - Chanteur de funky (The Singer of Funky)
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Diametrically opposed to the diabolical “Et je smurfe” by another fading pop sensation, Annie Cordy, this Sheila, with no B attached, is trying a bit too hard but her devotion isn’t actually all that bad.
Le Président Shû-Shan - Boum! Un coup d’matraque (Boom! Hit by a Truncheon), 1985
/// Listen

This piece of electro-funk straight outta nowhere is actually surprisingly listenable, but its sleeve will continue to haunt the Carrere catalogue for centuries to come.
Michel Fugain - Où tu voudras quand tu voudras (Wherever You Like, Whenever You Like)
/// Listen

OK, say what you want about this tune but the sleeve smashes the competition to smithereens.
Regrets - Tout le monde s’amuse (Everyone’s Having Fun)
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A group led by singer Agathe who chose the “art school” camp for the pop radio smash of the era.
Thierry Le Luron - Le smurf politic (The Politics Smurf)
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This is as French as moldy camembert. One of the numerous forays made by comedians into “rap.”
Eric Elliott - Chérie noire (Black Sweetheart)
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Excellent play on words referring to the Série Noire set of crime novels with tongue in cheek imagery and a reconstitution of the crime scene as a bonus. Feldman’s gang are once again responsible for this.
Hip Videop - Sentir les frissons (Feeling Shivers)
/// Listen

In 1984, smurfing was a “genre,” tailor made for people in white gloves who spoke exclusively in onomatopoeias. Here the focus is more on Michel Gondry than surgery.
Serge Delisle - Germaine
/// Listen

There’s nothing much to add – if history only remembers one French boogie record sleeve, it’s got to be this one!

Rod Glacial is an editor at Noisey. In love with the ’80s look, his oral history of French Boogie appeared in the third edition of Audimat. He has also interviewed Micky Milan, esteemed DJ resident at l’Echappatoire in Clichy-sous-Bois – the legendary French disco-funk club of the ’70s and ’80s.

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For even more French boogie classics, check out the playlist below.

French Boogie Classics
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