Piloting an ocean liner

In June 1994, I arrived at NRJ Paris, at the legendary address of 39, Avenue d’Iéna. The first time I laid my hands on the old Neve console, soon to be replaced by the beautiful Pacific Series 3, I felt like I was piloting an ocean liner. For a few years, I presented weekend shows, then in weekday afternoons. At the same time, I travelled the world interviewing artists for the Génération X programme. These artists included: Oasis, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Prince, Jodie Foster among others.

NRJ, the star is the station, not the DJ !

I had the pleasure of running into a team of great professionals: Julien Courbet (leaving for RTL), Éric Jean-Jean, Bruno Robles, Pascal Gigot, Sam Z, Philippe Despont, Alexandre Debanne, Mitsou, Marc Scalia, Mike, Stéphane Gabarre, Dimitri From Paris, Olivier Pin, Cocto, David Alcalay. During this period and with this team, NRJ became the third largest French radio station, after RTL and France Inter. As a result, it became France’s second-largest commercial radio station. For the first time in the history of radio, an FM music network overtook the general-interest station Europe 1. In 1996, I joined Gilles Verlant’s team to write Hit Machine on M6.