During the synth-dominated 1980s, Cheb Khaled imported and updated Raï with his arrival in Paris, and Serge Gainsbourg's daughter Charlotte made her singing début. Louis Chédid did a new version of a song he had performed in the '70s and made a great video to it, with Alain Souchon and other stars. The video to Laurence and Hélène's hit "À cause des garçons" also features '80s French celebrities, and the song found its way back onto the charts 20 years later thanks to Yelle.
Les Rita Mitsouko - Marcia baila (1985)
The duo's first big hit, and probably their best, even though they had a long, successful career that ended in 2007 with Fred Chichin's death. This song is dedicated to Argentinian dancer Marcia Moretto. Trippy synths, maracas, and Catherine Ringer singing her heart out for her recently-deceased former teacher all make a discothèque success.
À cause des garçons - À cause des garçons (1987)
Singer Yelle recently revived this hit to great effect. Laurence and Hélène called themselves À cause des garçons, and their first and only big hit shared their name. The last minute of the song is dragged down by some pretty bad rapping, but it's a good pop song up to that point, and fun to compare with Yelle's faster take.
Louis Chédid - Hold up (1984)
A remake of Chédid's 1975 song, this version's got a lot going for it: bouncy, layered synth, sirens, and a husky female back-up who announces the time in counterpoint to Chédid's description of the unfolding holdup. Plus there's a video for it, starring actors Claude Brasseur and Gérard Jugnot and singer Alain Souchon. Louis Chédid was hitting his stride at this time. His son M (Mathieu Chédid) has had a hugely successful career himself, with big hits like "Je dis aime."
Serge Gainsbourg - Charlotte Forever (1986)
"Lemon Incest" is the Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg duet people usually remember. It created a scandal at the time, and still freaks people out today. "Charlotte Forever" is equally intense but more heartwarming. Towards the end of his life, Gainsbourg wrote a film for his daughter with the same title as this song, and he made the soundtrack for it, too. Charlotte has starred in dozens of films since and has won three Césars, the French equivalent of Hollywood's Oscars.
Cheb Khaled and Safy Boutella - Kutché (1989)
Cheb Khaled may not be French, nor Safy Boutella; they're Algerian. But this is from Khaled's first album in France. The King of Raï is already in top form here, but he didn't acquire this title until a few years later with his second album, which made him a worldwide superstar. Kutché - the song and the album - are in some ways superior, though, because they aren't over-produced like some of his work that followed.
French pop went through big transformations as the '80s ended and the '90s began. MC Solaar started the French rap movement with his début in 1990. Serge Gainsbourg died in 1991. And Khaled's success with his second album in 1992 paved the way for future Raï stars. The '80s were a transitional time. The fashionable Rita Mitsouko came and stayed for decades, Serge Gainsbourg was still active but his health was declining, and Louis Chédid's son Mathieu was a pre-teen and on his way to becoming the pop star M.
For more French pop music:
French '70s Hits: Great Pop Songs from France in the 1970s
French '90s Hits: Great Pop Songs from France in the 1990s
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![Hold up!, Artwork By [Pochette] - T.T. Van](http://images.suite101.com/591451_com_chedid.png "Hold up!, Artwork By [Pochette] - T.T. Van") |
