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Chapter 61: Belles Belles Belles

Pop & French yé-yé

This chapter features, among some gems of the 60s French pop scene, our first Eurovision contest winner! France Gall (technically representing Luxembourg) brings an urgent fervor to “Poupée de cire,” and makes me long for a proper Amerivision. The non-French songs here mostly share a bubblegum appeal with their Gallic cousins, though if anything can match Francoise Hardy’s existential melancholy, it’s the heart-rending choral version of Henry Mancini’s “Moon River.”
1. Claude François

Belles Belles Belles

2. Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers

Why Do Fools Fall In Love

3. Françoise Hardy

Tous les garçons et les filles

4. 1910 Fruitgum Company

Simon Says

5. France Gall

Poupée De Cire Poupée De Son

6. Wayne Newton

Danke Schoen

7. Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot

Bonnie and Clyde

8. Henry Mancini and His Orchestra

Moon River

9. The Young Rascals

Good Lovin'

10. Trini Lopez

If I Had a Hammer