If the Yé-yé girls of yesteryear like France Gall, Sylvie Vartan, Jacqueline Taieb and Françoise Hardy had been born 20 years later and had access to producers with synths and drum machines, what would they have sounded like?

A new compilation ‘Histoire De Coeur – Lost French Synth-Pop 7’ers & Euro-Bombs’ released by Caroline True Records goes part way into realising that fantasy, although as the press release says, these Quarante Cinqs were “Virtually neglected until now – only the heads knowing…” – featuring singles released between 1980 to 1989, this was a period “celebrating the chanson of the past” while “updating that for a new generation and a new dancefloor.”

Curated by self-confessed Francophile John Kertland of Caroline True Records with sleeve notes by him too, one thing that certainly stands out is the sense of fun and adventure. This European outlook shines brightly from the dull Britain of that time with the Wednesday afternoon and Sunday closing that those narrow-minded culturally-stunted Reform supporting types want to return to… as Kertland puts it himself, this was “A golden age of Synth-Pop – Post-Disco… inventing the future… Delving into a relatively unexplored Niche French Music”.

Opening with the title song by Corinne Tell from 1987, ‘Histoire De Coeur’ offers tense synth funk with digital slapped bass and synthetic strings. From the same year and shaped by similar percolating digital bass, Fanny Forest’s ‘Les Lolitas Des Magazines’ makes use of DX7 pan pipes and brass stabs to embellish an archetypical Europop tune. Meanwhile, Fabienne Stoko’s cute ‘Poupée’ takes its lead from Belgian-based poppet Lio in its quirky rhythmic stutter but twists with its gothic choir.

From 1989, the Italo disco flavoured ‘Sauve-Moi’ from Valene comes with barrages of Simmons drums and the spring of real slapped bass while continuing in the Italo vein, especially in its keyboard lines, is 1984’s ‘Illusion’ by Kelly Way. The oldest track and of 1980 vintage is Sonia (not the lass from Liverpool!) whose ‘Sur Ma Musique’ has its own character but naturally harks back to the previous disco era despite the abundance of synths.

Opening the second half, the moody ‘Amour Combat’ by Tangui recalls German songstress Sandra’s ‘Stop For A Minute’ which also came out in 1987. Technology was moving at an unbelievable pace in this era and the amusing ‘Meteo’ by Praline Et Toni captures a love connection between an Apple Mac speech synthesizer and an amorous lady. Another duet and first released in 1984 by French disco label Carrere, the sweaty eponymous ‘Generation Egoiste’ combines deep male vocals with a Jane Birkin-like wispiness over a “Relax-ing” rhythmic pump and a DMX snap that is all very “Tout Tout D’Suite”!

From that best year in pop music, 1981’s ‘Vacances A Deux’ by Kira is the most synthpop track on the compilation and fans of Elli & Jacno or Lio’s ‘Amoureux Solitaires’ which was written by the duo will love this. An outlier comes from actress Geraldine Danon who plays synths on her own instrumental ‘Electric Eyes’ and it is her that adorns the album front cover of this collection; incidentally it was the B-side to her single ‘Dans Mes Yeux’ which was co-written by Italian singer Roberto Zanetti aka Savage which also deserved inclusion… maybe for Volume 2? Closing with ‘Faites Vos Jeux’, Nani Antoni gives it the full melodramatics over the smoky synthetic backing.

It would appear most of these tracks have been transferred from the original vinyl singles so crackles abound but this was before the mass takeover of CD, so likely to have been how these songs would have been heard for the first time. However, this does not spoil the enjoyment and there is a warm nostalgic listening vibe that is the antithesis of the fake deliberate “in the box” distortion that many modern synth acts employ to sound edgy but who end up unlistenable!

More “Euro-Bomb” than “Synth-Pop”, if you enjoyed the Ace Records compilation ‘C’est Chic! – French Girl Singers Of The 1960s’, then ‘Histoire De Coeur – Lost French Synth-Pop 7’ers & Euro-Bombs (1980-89)’ will appeal in its gathering of some charming electronically-driven takes on that elegant chanson style.

‘Histoire De Coeur – Lost French Synth-Pop 7’ers & Euro-Bombs (1980-89)’ is available as a vinyl LP and CD via Caroline True Records from https://carolinetruerecords.com/collections/frontpage/products/histoire-de-coeur-lost-french-synth-pop-7-ers-euro-bombs-1980-89 or https://ctrmusic.bandcamp.com/album/histoire-de-coeur-lost-french-synth-pop-7-ers-euro-bombs-1980-89

Text by Chi Ming Lai
29th July 2025