Les Surfs were four brothers (Dave, Rocky, Coco and Pat) and two sisters (Nicole and Monique). Their family name is Rabaraona and were the eldest of a brood of twelve. Les Surfs were from Antananarivo, Madagascar. They started out as Les Beryls and became Les Surfs after moving to France where they enjoyed a lot of success as part of the Ye-Ye movement between 1963 and 1971. The Ye-ye was a 1960’s music inspired by American and British Pop but sung in French.

Les Surfs sing in a very pure French, rare amongst the French, and have a classy sound to go with an adorable stage presence. They cover American hits. They also sing in Italian & Spanish. Monique Rabaraona, the lead singer, has one of the best voices of all Ye-Ye singers.

More at Les Surfs

Par Jack de Nijs pour Anefo / Anefo — Nationaal Archief, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33065955

Madagascar is the large island off the East Coast of Africa. The people of Madagascar are a mix of African bantus and Malay people from Borneo, with African genes more common on the West Coast and genes from Asia more common on the east Coast.