It is rare to hear listeners to this station known for its exceptional musical programming and the sensual and mischievous voices of its hosts.
And yet, from 7 am this Tuesday, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, Fip opens its antenna to them, before broadcasting at 5 pm three very special programs, including the famous "Club Jazz à Fip", hosted by its creator today. hui retired, Julien Delli Fiori.
A look back at a seductive, seductive, pioneering and historical medium.
From France Inter Paris to Fip
Nothing to do with the generalist radio station of Radio France from which it nevertheless borrows the beginning of its name.
From January 5, 1971, France Inter Paris intends to differentiate itself from the existing offer.
"It is an anti-radio which does not speak and passes from classical, modern music and variety", deciphers at the time, in a TV report, Pierre Codou, one of the creators of the concept with his colleague Jean Garretto, producer like him, and Roland Dhordain, the director of radio and television.
The co-creators of Fip Pierre Codou and Jean Garretto (in the foreground, on the left) with the Fip team, in the 1970s / Roger Picard
Another innovation: the short interventions, often practical, indicating formerly the traffic conditions or the weather, are only provided by female voices, in a universe where then still dominated the men.
“As at its beginnings, Fip's watchwords are still relaxation and well-being, two values that have become fashionable much later,” emphasizes Bérénice Ravache, at the head of this branch.
An attitude which seems to explain that the station displays, after France Inter and RTL, the longest daily listening time, 2 hours on average.
Mythical stamps
Who spoke the very first words on 514 medium wave?
The honor went to Kriss.
This legendary host, also an actress and fine interviewer, will then officiate on Inter from 1980 until her death in 2009. She was the first of these hosts to be called "fipette" (diminutive little tasted by Bérénice Ravache), for their voice sweet and smiling.
Paris, December 21, 2020. The host Frédérique Labussière, who has worked at Fip for twenty years.
/ LP / Philippe Lavieille
Installed in the studio for the afternoon, Frédérique Labussière, also “fipette”, always amused by this nickname, tells, between two sweet and warm interventions, her passion for this antenna where she has been officiating since 2001. If some colleagues like to improvise , "Me, I write all my microphones, with humor, fantasy and lightness, without forgetting a dose of self-mockery", tells this fifty-year-old with a bewitching organ ".
Also an actress, Frédérique also lends her voice to advertisements and movie trailers.
She adores "this antenna where the freedom of tone and expression is unique in the world", she slips.
In the secrecy of the programs
In 2017, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, proclaimed his love for the small so Frenchy channel.
“Best radio in the world: @fipradio”, he wrote, before getting the three magic letters tattooed.
Has he, like us, been able to admire, behind the console, the “silversmiths of sound” who offer his colors on the air?
In order not to distract these magicians with questions, Bérénice Ravache gives us the subtitles, once the glass door is closed.
“Our technicians and engineers are notably great artists of the sequence between pieces, either full of humor or unexpected, but who surprise each time.
"It must be said that they draw their almost unlimited choices in the giant discotheque of Radio France," the largest in the world ", specifies the director.
The programmer Frédérique Bignet is creating a playlist.
/ LP / Philippe Lavieille
Big names more than learned work hard on these elaborate programming in “their room”, with walls lined with records.
This is also what one of the great (male) voices of the station did for a long time, from 1971 onwards, Julien Delli Fiori, a true encyclopedist of black and Latin music, with a strong baritone voice.
"Me, I hate purists, those who only talk to initiates.
Did you know ?
I entered Fip by chance, through a certain Pierre Bachelet ”, he recalls of the popular singer of“ Corons ”.
Pioneer and daring
The firsts or innovations can no longer be counted at Fip.
Paving the way for musical radios in Paris and with specific regional antennas, it was also one of the first to be broadcast in stereo and on FM.
The station also quickly went digital, launching Internet radios.
While Fip's “locals” have almost all disappeared, as have news flashes, in 2018 radio inaugurated its switch to DAB + standards, a system that will allow it to cover 85% of France this year.
And its Fip 360 podcasts, recently offered in immersive sound, are popular.
"Fip is now identified as a national media present in France and abroad, the 5th most listened to digital radio in the country, and appearing in the top 10 on the airwaves in the regions", underlines Bérénice Ravache.
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All year round, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her birth, on Tuesday January 5, 1971, the seductive and seductive music radio station will delight her audience with the launch of podcasts, including one dedicated to special and unpublished content. Champagne!