Claude 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 Claude’s father fell ill and could not work. A young Claude 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.
Ambitious, Claude 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 », Claude 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, but Claude 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, Claude François’ career continued to blossom. In 1963 he followed the first success with another French adaptation of an American song. This time, doing Trini Lopez’s « If I Had a Hammer » in French as « Si j’avais un marteau ». Claude 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 year Claude François 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, Claude 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, Claude 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 extended beyond copying the works others had made famous, and he wrote songs for himself and displayed a melodic voice doing romantic ballads.
In 1966, François created a complete new stage act using four female dancers as backup. Named « Les Clodettes, » 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 France Gall, another famous French singer. 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 1968, he and Jacques Revaux wrote a song in French called Comme d’habitude, which became a hit in francophone countries. The song was inspired by his recent break-up with France Gall. Canadian singing star Paul Anka reworked it for the English-speaking public into the now legendary hit most famously sung by Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra as « My Way ». Although Claude 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 des choses, » a French version of a Bee Gees hit record.
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 » and performing to large audiences.
After working in Switzerland, on Saturday, March 11, 1978 he returned to his Paris apartment in order to appear the next day on « Rendez-vous du Dimanche » with TV host Michel Drucker. His demise was caused by his obsession with cleanliness and order. He was accidentally electrocuted when he tried to fix a broken light bulb while standing in a filled bathtub. At only 39 years of age, his early death brought a wave of public sympathy for a national French star.
Claude François owned a home near the village of Dannemois in the Essonne departement about 35 miles south of Paris. It was a place where he liked to escape 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.
In 2004 the movie 'Podium' was released. It's a story about a Claude François impersonator (played by Benoît Poelvoorde).
His hits include Alexandrie, Alexandra; Cette Année-la; Je vais à Rio.
Aime Moi Ou Quitte Moi
Claude François Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Aujourd'hui tu dois choisir
Tu comptais trop, sur mon amour
Et sur ton sourire
Etre deux, c'est tout partager
Alors je veux tout ou rien
Les faux espoirs, et les pauvres joies
C'est bien fini ce temps là
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Mais aime-moi, surtout
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Mais aime-moi, surtout
Ni prières ni menaces, je ne dis que nos vérités
Que j'en ris ou que j'en pleure, qu'importe
Décide-toi
Oui c'est vrai, j'ai besoin de toi
Mais aussi reconnais-le
Tes yeux parfois m'en font l'aveu
Alors dis-le-moi ou bien crie-le
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Mais aime-moi, surtout
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi (tu sais que je n'aime que toi)
Mais aime-moi, surtout
Oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Mais aime-moi, surtout
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi (tu sais que je n'aime que toi, je te l'ai prouvé tant de fois)
Mais aime-moi, surtout (je serais fou si tu partais, han)
Et je guette une larme, un rien
Un élan, un mot tendre
En vain
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi (oui aime-moi ou quitte-moi)
Mais aime-moi, surtout (je serais perdu, seul sans toi, han)
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi (je serais fou si tu partais, pourtant j'aime encore mieux ca)
Mais aime-moi, surtout (je n'peux plus vivre comme je le fais)
Han, mais aime-moi
Oh oui aime-moi ou quitte-moi (oui aime-moi ou quitte-moi)
Mais aime-moi
The lyrics to Claude François's song "Aime Moi Ou Quitte Moi" (Love Me or Leave Me) depict a heart torn between two choices: to be loved or to be abandoned. The opening lines describe a wandering heart that beats day by day and now must make a decision. The singer suggests that the heart had relied too much on their love and their smile, indicating that the relationship may have been unbalanced. Being together is portrayed as sharing everything, and the singer expresses their desire for either complete devotion or nothing at all. The lyrics hint at a past filled with false hopes and meager joys, implying that such experiences are now in the past.
The chorus emphasizes the need for love and acceptance, urging the listener to choose either to love the singer or to leave them. The singer insists that they want to be loved above all else. They express a desire for honesty and directness, stating that they only speak the truth, regardless of whether it elicits laughter or tears. The singer acknowledges their own dependency on the listener but also asks them to recognize it. They suggest that the listener's eyes sometimes reveal their own feelings, prompting them to speak or shout their decision.
Throughout the song, the singer's plea becomes increasingly desperate, as they watch for any sign of emotion or tenderness from the listener. They express a sense of futility in their search for a tear, a gesture, a loving word, or any tangible evidence of love. The song ultimately conveys the vulnerability and longing of the singer, seeking reassurance and affirmation from their partner.
Line by Line Meaning
Cœur vagabond, qui bat au jour le jour
My wandering heart, beating day by day
Aujourd'hui tu dois choisir
Today you must choose
Tu comptais trop, sur mon amour
You relied too much on my love
Et sur ton sourire
And on your smile
Etre deux, c'est tout partager
Being two means sharing everything
Alors je veux tout ou rien
So I want everything or nothing
Les faux espoirs, et les pauvres joies
The false hopes and the poor joys
C'est bien fini ce temps là
Those times are well and truly over
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Oh yes, love me or leave me
Mais aime-moi, surtout
But love me, above all
Ni prières ni menaces, je ne dis que nos vérités
No prayers or threats, I only speak the truth
Que j'en ris ou que j'en pleure, qu'importe
Whether I laugh or cry about it, it doesn't matter
Décide-toi
Make up your mind
Oui c'est vrai, j'ai besoin de toi
Yes it's true, I need you
Mais aussi reconnais-le
But also acknowledge it
Tes yeux parfois m'en font l'aveu
Your eyes sometimes confess it to me
Alors dis-le-moi ou bien crie-le
So tell me or shout it out
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Oh yes, love me or leave me
Mais aime-moi, surtout
But love me, above all
Oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Yes, love me or leave me
Mais aime-moi, surtout
But love me, above all
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Oh yes, love me or leave me
Mais aime-moi, surtout
But love me, above all
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi (tu sais que je n'aime que toi)
Oh yes, love me or leave me (you know I only love you)
Mais aime-moi, surtout
But love me, above all
Oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi
Yes, love me or leave me
Mais aime-moi, surtout
But love me, above all
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi (tu sais que je n'aime que toi, je te l'ai prouvé tant de fois)
Oh yes, love me or leave me (you know I only love you, I've proved it to you so many times)
Mais aime-moi, surtout (je serais fou si tu partais, han)
But love me, above all (I would be crazy if you left, han)
Et je guette une larme, un rien
And I watch for a tear, a small thing
Un élan, un mot tendre
An impulse, a tender word
En vain
In vain
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi (oui aime-moi ou quitte-moi)
Oh yes, love me or leave me (yes, love me or leave me)
Mais aime-moi, surtout (je serais perdu, seul sans toi, han)
But love me, above all (I would be lost, alone without you, han)
Oh oui, aime-moi ou quitte-moi (je serais fou si tu partais, pourtant j'aime encore mieux ca)
Oh yes, love me or leave me (I would be crazy if you left, yet I still prefer that)
Mais aime-moi, surtout (je n'peux plus vivre comme je le fais)
But love me, above all (I can't live as I am anymore)
Han, mais aime-moi
Han, but love me
Oh oui aime-moi ou quitte-moi (oui aime-moi ou quitte-moi)
Oh yes, love me or leave me (yes, love me or leave me)
Mais aime-moi
But love me
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing
Written by: Valerie Simpson, Nickolas Ashford
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind