French punk is punk rock from

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 ...

. Punk rock developed in France in the mid-1970s, strongly influenced by the scenes in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, but also influencing the latter. The first European Punk Rock Festival took place at

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Military installations The French Air and Space Force operates the '' Constantin Roza ...

in France in August 1976.

History

The 1970s

By the early 1970s, ''Les punks'', a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

ian subculture of Lou Reed fans, had already become well established.Roger Sabin, ''Punk Rock, So What? The Cultural Legacy of Punk'', 1999, London: Routledge, Initially, two central figures were

Marc Zermati Marc Zermati (21 June 1945

, who had founded Skydog Records in Paris in 1972, owned the Open Market record shop, and promoted American and British bands in France; and

Michel Esteban Michel Antoine Gaston Esteban (born 7 May 1951) is a French record producer, record company executive, cultural center director and former magazine editor, who founded the Paris shop Harry Cover in 1973, was influential in the early development ...

, the owner of the Harry Cover rock merchandise shop and founder of ''Rock News'' magazine, who had associated with leading punk and new wave musicians in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The first European Punk Rock Festival, organised by Zermati, took place at

on 21 August 1976, and featured French bands Bijou, Il Biaritz and Shakin’ Street, as well as The Damned.Rockfort: Vive Le Punk
/ref> Zermati later said: "The real punk movement started in New York, and Paris came before the UK because we were really connected to New York... it was exciting because we thought we were conspiring against the establishment." He also claimed that he persuaded Malcolm McLaren to call the movement "punk" rather than McLaren's preferred term, "new wave". An important influence on the style and content of the movement in the UK was the French

Situationist The Situationist International (SI) was an Proletarian internationalism, international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and Political philosophy, political theorists. It was prominent in Eu ...

movement, led by Guy Debord.Geoff Bird, ''How France gave punk rock its meaning'', BBC, 3 March 2011
/ref> Formed in 1976, Métal Urbain and Stinky Toys were two of the first French punk bands, although at the time most French punk fans preferred English or American punk. Generally regarded as the most original of the early French punk bands, Métal Urbain gave their first performance in December 1976. In August 1977, Asphalt Jungle played at the second Mont-de-Marsan punk festival.George Gimarc, ''Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970–1982'', 2005, San Francisco: Backbeat, Stinky Toys' debut single, "Boozy Creed", came out in September 1977 and was perhaps the first non-English-language punk rock record. The following month, Métal Urbain's first 45, "Panik", appeared. After the release of their minimalist punk debut, "Rien à dire", Marie et les Garçons became involved in New York's mutant disco scene, encouraged by Esteban at

ZE Records ZE Records was originally a New York-based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban. It was reestablished by Esteban in 2003. History Michael Zilkha (b. 1954) is a British-born Oxford graduate of Iraqi descent, the s ...

. Asphalt Jungle's "Deconnection" (feat. ''Best'' Magazine critic Patrick Eudeline on vocals), Gasoline's "Killer Man", and Factory's "Flesh" also came out before the end of 1977, and other French punk acts such as Oberkampf and Starshooter soon formed."French Punk New Wave 1975–1985"
''Francomix'', January 20, 2005. Retrieved on November 25, 2007. Other French groups formed, such as Abject and Dentist in Nice, Strychnine in Bordeaux, Starshooter in Lyon. In London, French all-girl group The Lou's were part of the scene, as well as Private Vices, who featured three French members out of four, including ''

Bruno Blum Bruno Blum (born October 4, 1960, Vichy, France) is a French singer songwriter, guitar player, music producer and musicologist sometimes nicknamed "Doc Reggae". He is mostly known for his work in the reggae, Caribbean music, rock music and Afric ...

'', who at the time wrote for influential French rock magazine ''Best''. Most of these early groups, including Les Olivensteins and The Dogs, can be heard on the 1984 ''Les Plus Grands Succès du Punk'' (Skydog) double CD anthology.

The 1980s and later

More and more punk rock groups appeared in

during the 1980s, such as

Ludwig von 88 Ludwig von 88 is a French punk rock and alternative rock band mostly active in the 1980s and 1990s, celebrated in the French underground scene. The band has not released any new material since 2019 but has not officially disbanded. Their music i ...

and

Bérurier Noir Bérurier noir is a French punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk ro ...

. These bands are two of the most famous punk rock groups in

. Les Wampas appeared during the 1980s but had more success in the 2000s. During the 1990s

Noir Désir Noir Désir (, "Black Desire") was a French rock band from Bordeaux. They were active during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, and have had two albums certified double platinum in France and three certified gold. They have been an influence on n ...

became one of the most famous bands in

French rock French rock is a form of rock music produced in France, primarily with lyrics in the French language. French rock was born as early as mid-1950s, when writer, songwriter and jazz player Boris Vian wrote parody rock songs for Magali Noël or Hen ...

. Their style is a mix between punk rock and grunge. The band Mano Negra also had worldwide success. During the 2000s there became more and more

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

groups, like Guerilla Poubelle or Tagada Jones. The most successful group from the 2000s is Les Wampas with the songs ''Manu Chao'' and ''Chirac en Prison''.

French Punk Bands

In the 1970s

* Asphalt Jungle * Edith Nylon * Fatsy Wataire * Les Olivensteins * Marie et les Garçons * Métal Urbain * Starshooter * Stinky Toys * Dentist *Private Vices *Extrabelle

In the 1980s

* Les Garçons Bouchers *

Lucrate Milk Lucrate Milk (short for Lucrative Milk) were a French art punk and No Wave band from Paris, France. The band lasted from 1979 to 1983. The group has retained a certain aura to this day in France's punk circles due to their complete lack of compr ...

* Gogol Premier *

* Oberkampf * OTH * Les Sheriffs * La Souris Déglinguée * Les Thugs * Les Wampas * Tulaviok * Parabellum *

* Camera Silens

In the 1990s

* La Ruda Salska * Les Sales Majestés * Les Vieilles Salopes * Tagada Jones *

Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 mi ...

In the 2000s

* The Decline! * Uncommonmenfrommars * Nina'School *

Cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

* Justin(e) * Guerilla Poubelle * Charly Fiasco *

Paris Violence Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

* Wank For Peace * Maladroit * Dirty Fonzy *

Goat Cheese Goat cheese, or chèvre ( or ; from French ''fromage de chèvre'' 'goat cheese'), is cheese made from goat's milk. Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated for producing food. Goat cheese is made around the world with a variety ...

* Dissidence Radio * Topsy Turvy's * The Helltons *

Mind The Gap "Mind the gap" () or sometimes "watch the gap" is an audible or visual warning phrase issued to rail passengers to take caution while crossing the horizontal, and in some cases vertical, spatial gap between the train door and the station ...

* Serie Z

In the 2010s

* Hightower *Intenable

References

{{Punk Punk by country French youth culture Punk rock