’80s French Pop Essentials

Reverberating drums, twangy bass slaps and guitar solos as big as their players’ bouffants: pop in the ’80s was a global phenomenon. And it found a particularly welcoming home in France, where dramatic chansons came souped up with all the glam and sonic excess of the era. But new wave electro-pop were perhaps the country’s proudest exports, with hits such as Desireless’ “Voyage voyage” charting in much of the rest of Europe. Moreover, the likes of Lio, Niagara and Étienne Daho would inspire the younger generation that dived head first into the French Touch scene a decade later.