Les Poppys is a French musical group of 17 children founded 1946 in Asnières,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

by Jean Amoureux as '' Les Petits Chanteurs d'Asnières'' and renamed to ''Les Poppys'' in 1970. Francois Bernheim, former singer of the group Les Roche-Martin and artistic director for the record company Barclay, discovered the singers in 1970 and decided to create a group called ''Les Poppys'', named after the word 'Pop Music'. Les Poppys originated from the

Hippie movement The hippie subculture began its development as a youth movement in the United States during the early 1960s and then developed around the world. Its origins may be traced to European social movements in the 19th and early 20th century such as B ...

and made songs against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Seventeen boys from the choir were then selected and recorded their first single: 'Noel 70'. The success came very quickly and 600,000 copies were sold. This first single was then followed by other hits during the 70's: 'Isabelle, je t'aime' (500,000 copies sold). The most successful

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic so ...

was ''Non, non, rien n'a changé'', for which Bruno Polius was the lead solo singer, and which sold 1,200,000 copies and was a number one hit in

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and stayed in the Dutch Top 40 for 25 weeks. Les Poppys became the first child stars in French music history and were quickly invited by other countries to sing in galas, concerts and TV shows. In

and in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, they even sold more records than the Beatles. In 4 years, Les Poppys sold more than 5 million records and produced four albums and 20 singles from 1970 to 1977. Their success inspired the New Poppys and other groups such as Mercredi Libre from members of
Les Petits Chanteurs D'Asnières
'. The small singers of Asnières, as they were, consisted of the first generation of Poppys: Bruno Polius, Harry Trowbridge, Philippe and Gabriel Képéklian, Thierry and Philippe Sellier, Philippe and Jean-Pierre Herman, Philippe Magnan, Jean-Jacques Gallard, Pascal Buffenoir, Pierre Puyhardy, Olivier Dubrez, Benoit Cabane, Christophe Normand, Bernard Carayon, Olivier Antignac. Some among them left since 1971 to yield to the second generation of Poppys which included Gérald Meunier, Pascal Oubrayrie, Alain Drexler, Pascal Réali and Daniel Danglard. The group ended in 1978 but Les Petits Chanteurs d'Asnières kept on recording, making backgrounds vocals for famous singers. They also sang in 1983 for a TV musical covering songs by

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

called Abbacadabra. Their 2 albums made were called:
Abbacadabra
' and

'. They also had a one off success with the song " Il faudra leur dire" sung with

Francis Cabrel Francis Christian Cabrel (; born 23 November 1953) is a French singer-songwriter, composer and guitarist. Considered one of the most influential French musical artists of all time, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the real ...

which went gold in 1987. They have since tried a comeback firstly in the late eighties under the name The New Poppys and in 1992 as ''Mercredi Libre''. Although these last recordings were not commercially successful the album ''La ballade des p'tits anges'' has become highly praised and sought after. Although it has been suggested that the singing is better on this CD it is most likely due to the new songs included on this CD. The music to ''Commandant de la Calypso'', ''La ballade des p'tits anges'', ''Je te demande pas'' and other popular songs from this album was written by Francois Bernheim. The Poppys still go on tour occasionally.

Selected discography

*'' Noël 70'' (''Christmas 70'') (1970) *'' Non, je ne veux pas faire la guerre...'' (''No, I don't want to make war... '') (1970) *'' Non, non, rien n´a changé'' (''No, no, nothing has changed'') (1971) *'' Des chansons pop'' (''Pop songs'') (1971) *'' Love, lioubov, amour'' (''Love, love, love'') (1971) *'' Non, ne criez pas...'' (''No, don't shout...'') (1971) *'' Laissez entrer le soleil'' (''Let the sunshine in'') (1971) *'' Des chansons pop'' (''Pop songs'') (1972) *'' Jésus revolution'' (''Jesus revolution'') (1972) *'' L'Enfant do'' (''The child do'') (1972) *'' Liberté'' (''Liberty'') (1972) *'' Pénélopie'' (''Penelope'') (1972) *'' L´école est finie'' (''School's out'') (1972) *'' Septembre noir, Decembre blanc'' (''Black September, white December'') (1972) *''Non, non rien n'a changé'' (''No, no, nothing has changed'') (1973) *''American Trilogie'' (''American Trilogy'') (1973) *'' Au nom de l'amour'' (''In the name of love'') (1973) *'' Isabelle, je t'aime'' (''Isabelle, I love you'') (1973) *'' Isabelle, je t'aime'' (''Isabelle, I love you'') (1974) *'' Des chansons pop'' (''Pop songs'') (1974) *'' Glory Alleluia'' (''Glory Glory Hallelujah'') (1974) *'' En l'an 300 000 000 '') (1975) *'' Il faut une fleur pour faire le monde'' (''One needs a flower to make the world'') (1976) *'' Juste une question '' (''Just one question'') (1976) *'' Demain c´est un autre jour'' (''Tomorrow is another day'') (1977) *'' Quelqu´un viendra'' (''Someone will come'') (1977) *'' Le mini minimum'' (''The mini minimum'') (1977) *''Non, non rien n'a changé'' (''No, no, nothing has changed'') (1977) *'' Visite'' (''Visit'') (1980) with

Lenny Kuhr Helena Hubertina Johanna "Lenny" Kuhr (born 22 February 1950) is a Dutch singer-songwriter. Career In 1967, she started a singing career in the Netherlands, performing songs in the French chanson tradition. In 1969, she represented the Neth ...

*'' Supercalifragilisticexpidelilicieux'' (''

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" ( ) is a song and single from the 1964 Disney musical film ''Mary Poppins''. It was written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It also appears in the 2004 stage show ver ...

'') (1981) *'' Tous les enfants ont les yeux bleus'' (''All the children have blue eyes'') (1990) *'' Si le monde appartenait au''] (''If the world belonged to'') (1991) *
Les Années Barclay
' (''The Barclay Years'') (2000) *''Madame je t'aime'' (''Madam I love you'') (2002) *
Poppys:Master Serie
' (''Poppys:Master Set'') (2003) *'' Bing-Bang'' (''Bing-Bang'') (2003) *'' Les enfants'' (''The children'') (2003) *'' La chanson de Gavroche'' (''The song of Gavroche'') (2003) *'' Vous avez été des enfants'' (''You were children'') (2003) *'' Le mendiant de l'amour'' (''The beggar of love '') (2004) *'' S'il suffisait d'aimer...'' (''If loving was enough...'') (2004) *'' La planète amour'' (''The love planet'') (2004) *'' Les trois cloches'' (''All the Chapel Bells Were Ringing'') (2005) *''L'oiseau'' (''The Bird'') (2005) *'' Les jardins du ciel'' (''Gardens of the sky'') (2005) *'' Non, non rien n'a changé'' (''No, no, nothing has changed'') (2005) *''Est-ce qu on sera chinois'' (''Will we be Chinese'') (2005) *'' Il ' N'y a Plus D'etoiles de Mer'' (''There are no more starfish'') (2005) *'' Gala 60 ans Petits Chanteurs d'Asnières'' (''Extract of the 60 years official reception of the choral society of the Small Singers of Asnières'') (2006) *

' (''Will celebrate the 60th birthday of the choral society, the singers of Asnières, known under the name of "Poppys"...'') (2006) *''Il ' N'y a Plus D'etoiles de Mer'' (''There are no more starfish'') (2007)

External links

Les Petits Chanteurs d'Asnières et les POPPYSPetits Chanteurs d´Asnières, les PoppysLes Poppys, le siteThe Boy Choir & Soloist DirectoryCHOREOLIAFan des Poppys et des PcaifForum Les Poppys - Le SiteAndreas FuchsLa presseLa presse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poppys, Les Choirs of children Child musical groups Musical groups from Île-de-France Musical groups established in 1970