Long hair, XXL blow-dry, dressed in leather and lycra: in 1986, France discovered the metal group Europe

No distorted vocals. No angry lyrics. Not even a distorted guitar riff. That spring of 1986, a few futuristic notes from Yamaha TX-816 and Roland JX-8P synthesizers would propel the band Europe onto the international scene and make the five natives of Upplands Väsby, near Stockholm, the stars of what was then called hard FM. A new style of hard rock , massively broadcast on the airwaves, based on catchy melodies and pop sounds embodied by photogenic good-looking guys. This was evidenced, at the same time, by the commercial success of the albums Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi and Hysteria by Def Leppard, for whom Europe would open during a US tour in 1988.

That summer of 1986, The Final Countdown , thanks to its catchy keyboard, became number one in the charts in around thirty countries. In France, the song occupied Marc Toesca 's "Top 50" for twenty-seven weeks, broadcast in the clear on Canal+, beating Boule de flipper