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 Originally made up of Jean-Claude Chane (Jean-Claude Champon) on vocals, Claude Ciari, Alain Santamaria (guitars) and Willy Lewis (drums, ex-Les Chats Sauvages), the group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, Bye-Bye Mon Amour and Ma Mélodie in 1962, the band underwent a series of changes. The departure of the singer at the end of 1962 meant that Les Champions became an instrumental group, accompanying Danyel Gérard and continuing to record under his name, as evidenced by the album Pan dans le 1000 ! (1963), with guitarist Jean-Louis Licart (ex-Les Pirates), until the final reorganization in 1964, with the arrival of guitarist and singer Tony Harvey, former accompanist to Vince Taylor, and André Ceccarelli on drums. The new Champions accompanied Dick Rivers in 1965, before disbanding. In 2004, Les Champions announced their return with original members Claude Ciari, Alain Santamaria and Willy Lewis.

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