Claude François (1 February 1939 — 11 March 1978) was a French pop singer and songwriter. He wrote "Comme d'habitude," the original version of "My Way."
Biography
Early life
The son of an Italian (Calabrian) mother and a French father, Claude François was born in Egypt, in the city of Ismailia, where his father, Aimé François, was working as a shipping traffic controller on the Suez Canal. In 1951 the job took the family to the city of Port Tawfik on the Red Sea.
François' mother was very musical and had her son take piano and violin lessons. On his own, the boy learned to play the drums. As a result of the 1956 Suez Crisis, the family returned to live in Monaco, where they struggled financially after François' father fell ill and could not work. A young François found a job as a bank clerk and at night earned extra money playing drums with an orchestra at the luxury hotels along the French Riviera. With a good but untested singing voice, he was offered a chance to sing at a hotel in the fashionable Mediterranean resort town of Juan-les-Pins. His show was well received and eventually he began to perform at the glamorous night-clubs along the Côte d'Azur. While working the clubs, he met Janet Woolcoot, an English dancer whom he married in 1960.
Professional career
Ambitious, François moved to Paris, where there were many more opportunities to pursue his career. At the time, American Rock and Roll was taking hold in France and he took a job as part of a singing group in order to make a living. With the goal of eventually making it as a solo act, he paid the cost to record a 45rpm. Trying to capitalize on the American dance craze "The Twist", François recorded a song titled "Nabout Twist" that proved a resounding failure. Undaunted, in 1962 he recorded a cover version in French of an Everly Brothers song, "Made to Love" (aka Girls Girls Girls). Written by Phil Everly, it had been only a minor hit in America (Eddie Hodges taking the song to number 14 in the Billboard charts in July 1962), but François' rendition titled "Belles Belles Belles" rocked to the top of the French charts, selling close to two million copies and making him an overnight star.
Under a new manager, François' career continued to blossom. In 1963 he followed the first success with another French adaptation of an American song. This time, recording "If I Had a Hammer" in French as "Si j'avais un marteau". François met Michel Bourdais who was working for the well-known French magazine "Salut les Copains" in English as "Hi Buddies". He liked the rigor and the precision of Michel’s drawings and asked him to draw his portrait. This drawing has remained very famous until now. Capitalizing on his blond good looks, he mimicked Elvis Presley's stage style as well as the slicked-back hair. Performing in sequined suits, François gave high-energy stage performances that had hordes of adoring teenage fans racing to the music shops to purchase his latest record or lining up to buy a ticket for his shows.
In 1964 he headlined at the Paris Olympia, a sign that he had arrived. At the end of that yearFrançois created original new dance steps and Michel Bourdais drew them. For the first time, they brought up the idea of setting up a show with female dancers. In January 1965, while returning from a trip to Las Vegas, Francois, fascinated by the American shows, decided to take them as a model, and eventually the project of performing on the stage with a female dancer band became clear in his mind.
A dedicated professional, François worked hard to achieve success, producing a string of massively popular hit songs and touring constantly. With the onslaught of Beatlemania, he covered their hits in French, adjusted the hair style a little and kept his success moving ahead. But his talent for kitsch extended beyond copying the works others had made famous, and he wrote songs for himself and displayed a melodic voice when singing romantic ballads.
In 1966, François created a complete new stage act using four female dancers as backup. Named "Les Claudettes," the sexy girls danced in the background while François did his own energetic work center stage. In a return to the Paris Olympia he added eight musicians and a full orchestra to his backup dancers, putting on a spectacular show that filled every seat in the large theater and left fans standing in the street for lack of tickets.
Divorced from his wife, in 1967 he began a relationship with Eurovision-winning singer France Gall. Their affair was short lived and he soon met Isabelle Forêt, with whom he had two sons in two years. Flushed with enormous success and confidence, he established his own record company. In 1967, he and Jacques Revaux wrote a song in French called Comme d'habitude ("As Usual"), which became a hit in Francophone countries. Canadian singing star Paul Anka reworked it for the English-speaking public into the now legendary hit most famously sung by Frank Sinatra as "My Way".
He also sang the original version of "Parce que je t'aime, mon enfant" (Because I Love You My Child) in 1971, which, while remaining relatively little-known in France, was taken over by Elvis Presley under the title "My Boy".
Although François continued his successful formula of adapting English and American rock and roll hits for the French market, by the 1970s the market had changed and the disco craze that swept North America took root in France. For the versatile François, this was not a problem. He simply re-invented himself as the king of French disco, recording "La plus belle chose du monde," a French version of the Bee Gees hit record, Massachusetts.
Looking for new talent, he came across a singing family of two sisters and their cousins. These ladies became known as "Les Flêchettes" (named after "Flêche", the production label he owned.) He produced a couple of albums for them before his death. The ladies went on to sing for some of the major stars in European music.
He worked non-stop, touring across Europe, Africa and at major venues in Quebec in Canada. However, his workload caught up with him in 1971 when he collapsed on stage from exhaustion. After a brief period off, he returned to the recording studios, releasing several best-selling hits throughout the early 1970s. He expanded from owning his own record company to acquiring a celebrity magazine and a modeling agency. Although driven to achieve financial success, in 1974 he organized a concert to raise funds for a charity for handicapped children and the following year he participated in a Paris concert to raise funds for medical research. By the mid-1970s he was single again, dating several well-known European stars. He continued to perform while overseeing his numerous business interests. In 1975, while in London, he narrowly escaped death when an IRA bomb exploded and two years later a fan tried to shoot him. In 1977 and 1978, more than 15 years after his first hit record, he was still topping the musical charts with multi-million sales from hits such as "Alexandrie Alexandra" (this one was issued on the exact day of his burial) and performing to large audiences.
Death
After working in Switzerland, on Saturday, March 11, 1978 he returned to his Paris apartment in order to appear, the next day, on "Les Rendez-vous du Dimanche" with TV host Michel Drucker. While standing in a filled bath, he noticed a light bulb that wasn't straight, tried to straighten it and was accidentally electrocuted. That was the official version. There are those, who believe other accounts including foul play. Whichever is true, with François having died at only 39 years of age, his death brought a wave of public sympathy for a French "national treasure'.
François owned a home near the village of Dannemois in the Essonne department about 35 miles south of Paris. It was a place to which he liked to escape in order to relax in the quiet countryside, and it was there that he was interred in the local cemetery.
On March 11, 2000, on the 22nd anniversary of his death, Place Claude-François in Paris was named in his memory, right in front of the building where he died.
Partial list of songs he covered
- Reach Out I'll Be There (The Four Tops): J'Attendrai
- It's The Same Old Song (The Four Tops): C'est la même chanson
- Bernadette (The Four Tops): Bernadette
- Baby I Need Your Loving (The Four Tops)
- If I Had a Hammer (Pete Seeger)
- Stop in the Name of Love (Diana Ross and the Supremes)
- You keep me hanging on
- You can't hurry love
- A little bit of soap: Ne t'en fais mon vieux (Recorded as "Koko", on his first record)
- Made to love (The Everly Brothers): Belles! Belles! Belles!, his first hit
- Venus in Blue Jeans (Mark Wynter): Ma venus en blue Jeans
- I'll Be Around (The Spinners): Soudain il ne reste qu'une chanson.
- I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash): Toi et le soleil
- Guava Jelly (Johnny Nash, a song from Bob Marley): Rubis
- Tears on My Pillow (Johnny Nash): Des pleurs sur l'oreiller
- Who do you think you are (Candelwick Green): On est qui on est quoi?
- Chicago (Crosby Stills & Nash): Et je ne pense plus à toi
- Terry (Twinkle): Terry
- I Want to Hold Your Hand (The Beatles): Laisse-moi tenir ta main
- Telephone line (Electric light orchestra): Sacrée chanson
- Ease on Down the Road (Michael Jackson): Doucement sur la route
- Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver): J'ai encore ma maison
- Freedom Come Freedom Go (The Fortunes): Il fait beau, il fait bon
- You've Got Your Troubles (The Fortunes): Tu as tes problèmes j'ai les miens
- A Kind of Hush (Herman's Hermits): Qu'est-ce que tu deviens?
- Silhouettes (Herman's Hermits): Silhouette
- Daydreamer (David Cassidy): Le mal aimé
- Baby Now that I Found You (The Foundations): Pourquoi?
- Simon Says (1910 Fruitgum Company): Jacques a dit
- D.I.V.O.R.C.E. (Dolly Parton): Les mots secrets
- Nasty Dan (Johnny Cash): Sale Bonhomme
- Yesterday Once More (The Carpenters): Sha la la (Hier est près de moi)
- Wild World (Cat Stevens) : Fleur sauvage
- Wonderful World, Beautiful People (Jimmy Cliff): Le monde est grand, les gens sont beaux.
- By the Devil I Was Tempted (Blue Mink): A part ça la vie est belle
- Winchester Cathedral (The New Vaudeville Band)
- The Reason Why (The Byrds): Toute la vie
- It Takes Two (Marvin Gaye): Il faut être deux
- Carrie-Ann (The Hollies): L'homme au traineau
- My Guy (Mary Wells): Ma fille
- In the Country (Cliff Richard and The Shadows): A la campagne
- Bend Me, Shape Me (The American Breed / Amen Corner): Serre-moi, griffe-moi
- Young Girl (Gary Puckett & The Union Gap): Prend garde, petite fille
- Eloïse (Barry Ryan / The Damned): Eloïse
- Daydream (Wallace Collection): Rêveries
- Proud Mary (Creedence Clearwater Revival): Roule
- Games People Play (Joe South): Jeux dangereux
- Beggin' (Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons): Reste
- Oh What a Night (December '63) (Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons): Cette année-là
- Show Me (Joe Tex): Cherche
- Torn Between Two Lovers (Mary MacGregor): Drame entre deux amours
- Every Face Tells a Story (Olivia Newton-John / Cliff Richard): Chaque visage dit une histoire
- Statues without Hearts (Larry Galtin): Statues sans coeur
- Mandy (Barry Manilow / Westlife): Mandy, toutes les filles de ton age
- Now is the Time (Jimmy James & the Vagabonds): Laisse une chance à notre amour
- I Go to Rio (Peter Allen): Je vais à Rio
- At Seventeen (Janis Ian): 17 ans
- I Write the Songs (Barry Manilow): Je chante des chansons
- Don't Let the Good Times Fool You (Melba Montgomery): Combien de temps faut-il donc?
- Please Mr Please (Olivia Newton-John): Pourquoi pleurer (sur un succès d'été)
- Reggae Tune (Andy Fairweather-Low): Où s'en aller?
- I'm Leaving It up to You (Dale and Grace): Il ne me reste qu'à partir
- You Are Everything (The Stylistics / Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross): Tu es tout pour moi
- Our Last Song Together (Neil Sedaka): Notre dernière chanson ensemble
- Brother Louie (Hot Chocolate): Dis-lui pour moi
- I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (Diana Ross & The Supremes): Où tu veux, quand tu veux
- Breaking Up is Hard to Do (Neil Sedaka): Moi, je pense encore à toi
- Tell him (The Exciters): Dis-lui
- Walk Right In (Rooftop singers): Marche tout droit
- Language of Love (John D Loudermilk): Langage d'amour
- Bachelor Boy (Cliff Richard and The Shadows): Moi je voudrais bien me marier
- From Me to You (The Beatles): Des bises de moi pour toi
- How do You Do (Gerry & The Pacemakers): Comment fais-tu?
- 24 Hours from Tulsa (Gene Pitney): Maman chérie
- Gentle on My Mind (John Hartford / Dean Martin / Elvis Presley): Si douce à mon souvenir
- American Pie (Don McLean): Feu de paille
- Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves (Cher): Voleurs bohémiens
- I Got You Babe (Sonny & Cher): Je t'aime trop toi
- Jesus Christ Superstar (Murray Head): Jésus-Christ superstar
- By the Time I Get to Phoenix (Glen Campbell): Le temps que j'arrive à Marseille
- Puff, the Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul and Mary): Le Dragon magique
- Rose Garden (Lynn Anderson): Je te demande pardon
- You’ve Got a Friend (Dusty Springfield, Carole King): Un jardin dans mon cœur
- River Deep, Mountain High (Ike & Tina Turner): Combien de rivière
- Another Saturday Night (Cat Stevens): La Vie d'un homme
- Reggae Like It Used to Be (Paul Nicholas): C'est le reggae
- Surrender (Diana Ross): Aime-moi ou quitte-moi
- Sugar, Sugar (The Archies): Douce Candy
External links
Adapted from the article Claude François from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
