Vilain Pingouin was born in Montreal in 1986 during a boom in Francophone rock music. Along with singer-songwriter Rudy Caya and drummer Michel Vaillancourt, the group included guitarist Rodolphe Fortier, harmonica player Claude Samson and bassist Frédéric Bonicard. A few months after its formation, Vilain Pingouin performed in the spring 1987 Rock en Vol contest and at the first International Rock Festival in Montreal (FIRM). Audiences responded well to the band's enthusiastic, raw, and—above all—original music, which brought Vilain Pingouin to the finals of the L'Empire des Futures Stars contest the following year.