The Frenchies

The Frenchies, sometimes called Les Frenchies, or abbreviated Frenchies , is a group of French glam rock , originally from the Parisian suburbs . The group is well received by the local specialist press. He was formed in 1973 and has only one studio album called Lola Cola . After the departure of singer Chrissie Hynde and its founder, Michaël Memmi, the group separated in 1975.

Biography
The group was formed around 1973 in the Paris suburbs around Michaël Memmi, Morgan Davis and Linn Lingreën, who joined Olivier Legrand, known as Kiss Olivier, and Jean-Marie Poiré, known as Martin Dun. The group bought a house in Villejuif, in the Val-de-Marne, where they began to rehearse. During an interview, Memmi explains that “the Frenchies system was then running at full speed. We had set up a hive around this house which allowed the shop to turn! Almost everything was funded by motorcycle thefts, some cam traffic, fake check stories, etc. Every Friday evening, one of our friends came from London by train with a packet of coke in his bag, which we divided into lots of small packets when we got home. It was not really profitable since we put half of it each time! More than twenty people lived there and we had all the necessary equipment as well as roadies to assemble a credible group. "

A reputation is built over the concerts on their look and their approach, encouraged by the protopunk fringe of French rock critics like Alain Pacadis. In 1973, the magazine Rock & Folk devoted several pages to him, considering it as "the first French group which dares to present itself as a rock group. "

The group signs with Harvest Records, a subsidiary of EMI. From then on they entered the Boulogne-Billancourt studio alongside the British producer John Leckie to record their one and only album. Recorded in 24 hours, Lola Cola was published in 1974 by Pathé-Marconi but received only minimal promotion. It includes pieces such as Lana Turner Cheap Dreams and Incestuous Child.

In the midst of the glowing reception from the local specialist press, Martin Dune (future director Jean-Marie Poiré ) left the group to devote himself to cinema in 1975. Taken by time, and ready to play in the first part of the Flamin 'Groovies at the Olympia, the group decides to audition several substitutes. They finally set their sights on Chrissie Hynde, who had meanwhile traveled to the United States before finding Michaël Memmi at the door of his apartment in Paris. Hynde settles down with two friends, a few steps from Memmi's, and begins to rehearse with the group. They then cover songs like You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover by Bo Diddley.

They start playing on stage again and are even joined by guitarist Sean Tyla (who formed the group Tyla Gang in late 1975). Hynde starts singing for a few concerts. The group is announced for October 18 and 19, 1975 in the halls of La Villette, Porte de Pantin, for the Red Festival, a communist event, notably alongside Dr. Feelgood , Captain Beefheart , and John Cale. They are assisted in the public by Mick Farren, editor of the British magazine NME who will quote the group in his article of October 25, 1975.

The group splits following the departure of Hynde, and that of Memmi for London, in the United Kingdom. Lola Cola was reissued in 1999 by the Jurassic Punk / FGL Productions label.

Members

 * Jean-Marie Poiré (Martin Dune) - voice (1973-1975)
 * Michaël Memmi - bass
 * Morgan Davis - guitar
 * Linn Lingreën - guitar
 * "Kiss" Olivier Legrand - drums
 * Chrissie Hynde - vocals (1975)

Discography
1974 : Lola Cola ( Pathé-Marconi ; reissued in 1999 by Jurassic Punk / FGL Productions)