Claude François

Songwriter as well as showman, Claude François performed with the Clodettes dancers. Comme d'habitude, written in 1967 with Jacques Revaux and Gilles Thibaut, became My Way with new English lyrics by Paul Anka. Frank Sinatra recorded My Way on 30 December 1968; the album appeared in March 1969. François died in 1978, at thirty-nine. He was born in Ismailia in Egypt in 1939 and worked as a drummer before Belles! Belles! Belles! brought the breakthrough in 1962, after which came the Olympia seasons and the troupe of dancers known as the Clodettes. Le lundi au soleil, Le téléphone pleure, Magnolias for Ever and Alexandrie Alexandra belong to the same catalogue.