Les Champions
Formed in Paris in 1961, the French rock'n'roll group Les Champions was launched
by Eddie Barclay, who signed them to his Bel Air label. Originally made up of
Jean-Claude Chane (Jean-Claude Champon) on vocals, Claude Ciari, Alain
Santamaria (guitars) and Willy Lewis (drums, ex-Les Chats Sauvages), the group
recorded "Le Rock du bagne", based on Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock", and
accompanied the French tours of Vince Taylor, Chuck Berry at the Fête de
l'Humanité and Gene Vincent at the Théâtre de l'Étoile in 1962. With the release
of the EPs Petit Gonzales, Vénus en Blue-Jeans,...
