The Parisian rock band Phoenix mixes '80s rock, '70s disco grooves, modern-day studio polish and endearing French accents to create jagged, danceable pop songs. Singer Thomas Mars and bassist Deck D'Arcy had been playing together for some time before being joined by guitarists Christian Mozzalai and Laurent Broncowitz; the quartet started out playing Hank Williams and Prince covers in local bars.
From there, it didn't take too long for Phoenix to land a slot as a backing band for its labelmates in Air. More than a decade later, Phoenix is one of the biggest pop bands in the world, thanks to the critically acclaimed Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and its singles "Lisztomania" and "1901."
This World Cafe segment originally aired Nov. 6, 2009.
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