Claude François

Claude François ( born 1 February 1939 in Ismaïlia, Egypt; † 11 March 1978 in Paris ), France often called Cloclo, was a French composer, performer, composer and music producer. In the 1960s and 1970s, he is one of the most popular artists of his country.

Life

Claude François was born in Egypt, where his French -born father, Aimé worked for the French administration of the Suez Canal; his mother, Lucia, also called Chouffa, came from Calabria. Even in Egypt, he learned several instruments ( including drums and violin), and the influence of the local music scene influenced many of his later compositions.

When his family after the nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956 moved to the Côte d' Azur, he quickly found work as a drummer for various jazz ensembles and music clubs in the area, such as in Monaco or in the then high-profile jazz festivals in Juan- les- pins.

End of 1960, François moved to Paris, where he had in 1962 with Belles, Belles, Belles ( its French-language adaptation of Made to Love by the Everly Brothers) his first major success as a singer, which was soon followed by others with their own compositions. In 1963 he first appeared at the Paris 'Olympia' on; the recording was released the following year as an album. In 1966 he established for his stage performances, which consists of four dancers group Les Clodettes that belonged henceforth ( with later changing names ) to its trademark.

Early in 1967 he composed after a failed relationship with singer France Gall, first in English the song For You, from the then came together with Jacques and Gilles Thibault Revaux Comme d' Habitude, one of his most successful songs, which was initially sung by Hervé Vilard, which, however, he himself led the program from the end of 1967. With a new English text by Paul Anka, who had the piece met by a television appearance by François, the song as My Way was founded in 1969 by Frank Sinatra, a worldwide hit, and later, among others, also performed by Elvis Presley and Sid Vicious.

In 1967, François his own record company Flèche ( German: arrow), on which he brought out his album Comme d' Habitude and for 1977 he won a number of other cabaret singer in addition to his own records until the sale of the label, including Patrick Topaloff and Alain Chamfort. By 1967 he had released her albums from Philips.

In May 1970 François suffered in a car accident with severe facial injuries when a tire of his car burst when driving on the highway in the vicinity of Orange.

Also in the 1970s, François remained with his own songs, and above all with a variety of gecoverten from the UK and U.S. markets plays one of the most popular singers in France. His successes this year counts, inter alia La plus belle chose du monde ( his adaptation of the hit Massachusetts by the Bee Gees ). Conversely, about François ' Parce que was Chanson je t'aime, mon enfant (1971 ) by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter translated into English in 1975 as gecovert My Boy by Elvis Presley. François ' Le téléphone pleure album (1974 ) was the biggest commercial success of his career and has sold within a few weeks after the publication of more than two million times. Overall, François has left more than 500 songs.

On 11 March 1978 a Saturday, Claude François died in his Paris apartment in an electric shock when he tried to judge from the bathtub a defective lamp in his bathroom. That same afternoon he had when recording the TV show Rendez -vous du Dimanche ( " Sunday meeting " ) by Michel Drucker its already rehearsed latest single Alexandrie, Alexandra to imagine that then appeared posthumously in the following week. François was buried in the village in the department of Essonne Dannemois, where he had owned a country house.

In March 2000, the square in front of his last apartment in Paris ( 46 Boulevard Exelmans ) was renamed in the 16th arrondissement in his honor in Place Claude François. In 2005, a street was named after him in his hometown of Ismaïlia in Egypt. 2012 filmed Florent- Emilio Siri life François ' under the title My Way - A Life for the chanson with Jérémie Renier in the lead role.

Family

On November 5, 1960 François married the dancer Janet Woolcoot that he had met in Monaco. Already in 1962, the couple separated again; In March 1967, the marriage was officially divorced. In 1967 he met Isabelle Forêt know; from the relationship the children Claude went Junior ( named Coco, born July 8, 1968) and Marc ( * November 15, 1969 ) shows. The couple broke up in 1972. 1972-1976 he was associated with the Finnish Sofia Kiukkonen.

Discography

• Dis - lui ( Fontana, published 1963)
• Si j'avais un marteau (Philips, 1963)
• Claude François à l' Olympia ( Philips, 1964)
• Les choses de la maison (Philips, 1965)
• Le Jouet extraordinaire (1965 )
• Même si tu revenais (Philips, 1965)
• J'attendrai (Philips, 1966)
• Comme d' habitude ( Flèche, 1967)
• Avec la tête avec le coeur ( Flèche, 1968)
• Un monde de musique ( Flèche, 1969)
• Menteur ou cruel ( Flèche, 1969)
• Le monde extraordinaire de Claude François ( Flèche, 1970)
• Si douce à mon souvenir ( Flèche, 1970)
• C'est la même chanson ( Flèche, 1971)
• Il fait beau, il fait bon ( Flèche, 1971)
• Y'a le printemps qui chante ( Flèche, 1972)
• Le lundi au soleil ( Flèche, 1972)
• The viens diner ce soir ( Flèche, 1973)
• Chanson populaire ( Flèche, 1973)
• Claude François sur Scène ( Flèche, 1974)
• Le téléphone pleure ( Flèche, 1974)
• Toi et moi contre le monde entier ( Flèche, 1975)
• Claude François sur Scène - Ete 1975 ( Flèche, 1975)
• Pourquoi pleurer sur un succes d' été ( Flèche, 1975)
• Pour les jeunes de 8 à 88 ans ( Flèche, 1976)
• Le vagabond ( Flèche, 1976)
• Je vais à Rio ( Flèche, 1977)
• Magnolias for ever ( Flèche, 1977)
• Souvenir 1978: Claude François en public ( Flèche / Carrere, 1978)