'60s French Pop Essentials

With newfound freedom and youthful rebellion, the spirit of the sixties came to Paris in full swing. Like much of the world, France caught Beatlemania and the yé-yé generation—and figureheads Françoise Hardy, France Gall and stylish pied piper Serge Gainsbourg—followed with a playful, baroque take on rock ‘n’ roll. There were also true-to-form takes on the genre from Johnny Hallyday and Dick Rivers. Still, it wasn’t all shimmies and shakes; post-war chanson reached an apotheosis in Edith Piaf’s classic “Non, je ne regrette rien”.