Les Poppys are a group of 17 french boys who were famous in Europe during the 70’s and the war in Viet Nam for their songs denouncing war and violence caused by the grow-ups, and celebrating love and peace.
Les Poppys came from a boys choir founded in Asnières-sur-Seine in 1946 and directed by Jean Amoureux: Les Petits Chanteurs d’Asnieres.
Francois Bernheim, former singer in the group Les Roche-Martin and artistic director for the record company Barclay, discovered Les Petits Chanteurs d’Asnières in 1970 and decided to create a group called ‘Les Poppys’, named after the word ‘Pop Music’.
17 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), ‘Non non rien n’a changé’ (1,200,000 copies sold - their biggest hit), ‘Des Chansons Pop’ (400,000 copies sold), …
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 the Netherlands and in Germany, they even sold more records than the Beatles!
In 4 years, les Poppys sold more than 5 millions of records.
The group ended in 1978 but Les Petits Chanteurs d’Asnières keep on recording, making backgrounds vocals for famous singers like Francis Cabrel (‘Il Faudra Leur Dire’), Mireille Mathieu, Francois Feldman, Daniel Balavoine, Céline Dion, Roch Voisine, Enrico Macias, Pascal Obispo, Charles Aznavour… sometimes credited under the name ‘Newpopies’.
They also sang in 1983 for a TV musical covering songs by Abba and called ‘Abbacadabra’. 2 albums were made: ‘Abbacadabra’ and ‘La Fusée de Noé’.
