Claude François: why is his name not on the cover of his first record?

Despite his popularity, some details about the life of Claude François remain unknown to the French. Especially on his early career.

Before knowing the glory, Claude François knew anonymity . By the way, did you know why? the singer didn't want his name on his very first record e ? We reveal everything and much more in this article.

A book on the life of Claude François

Claude François is undoubtedly one of the most essential icons of the French variety . Despite this, his fans only know him very little . It is to remedy this that Olivier Delavault had the idea of ​​a book on the star .

This book entitled 'Claude François, intelligence in songs' contains countless unpublished information about the singer died in 1978. The author invites readers to immerse themselves in the discography and life of Cloclo.

Thus, we learn more about the risky beginnings of the artist e years yeyes. In a recent article from Télé-Loisirs, who read the book before its release, we got a glimpse of the contents of the book.

“Author of several books on Claude François, the author analyzes his life and his work as a specialist, far from the scandals over his hidden daughter, his toxic love affair with his wife Janet Woollacott, or his fits of jealousy in the face of success. of Sylvie Vartan or Alain Chamfort whom he considered “an enemy””, we can read.

Among these new revelations, we learn in particular why Claude François refused to have his name appear on his first record .

The difficult beginnings of Claude François

In 'Claude François, intelligence in songs', the author dwells on the childhood that the singer spent in Egypt . This before talking about his arrival in France and of course his beginnings in the music industry.

As a reminder, it was in the South that Claude François received his first professional commitments in increasingly prestigious orchestras. It was around the same time as the budding artist meeting stars like Sacha Distel or Brigitte Bardot .

If the first became his close friend, the second gave him decisive advice for his career. Anyway, Claude Francois went to Paris in the early 60s with his wife , Janet.

The couple had lived in a small, unsanitary studio apartment on rue de Clichy. Suffice to say that the first weeks were complicated . Moreover, these difficulties eventually got the better of her couple. Janet leaves Cloclo for Gilbert Bécaud .

Despite this painful break that he lived very badly , Claude François clings to his dream of becoming a singer. Thanks to his tenacity and no doubt his talent, he was able to get an appointment with Jean-Jacques Tilché .

The latter was the artistic director of the prestigious record company Philips. Although this meeting was clearly a failure , the interpreter of 'That year' has not given up. He returned a month later.

During this second meeting, the artist played his song “El Nabout '. The artistic director appreciated it and makes Claude François sign his very first contract for recording a disc.

He didn't use his real name

After recording the song, the question of the photo is posed . Indeed, to release the 45 rpm, it was necessary to have a correct photo of Claude François. However, there were none that were likely to appear on the cover.

It is therefore in an emergency that Jean-Jacques contact a model maker to make an illustration . The result, however, did not suit Claude François who, although still anonymous at the time, knew what he wanted.

Therefore, he refuses to have his name appear on the record cover . This is why, on March 19, 1962, when “Le Nabout twist” was released, we can read that the song was created “by the famous Kôkô”.

As for the back of the disc, where the author and composer is indicated, we read the name of “Cl. François” . Thus, the first name of the singer does not appear anywhere. If not, how did the public receive this song? Well, it was not a success .

Still, the machine was already running. Far from being defeated by this, Claude François bounces back six months later . Indeed, in September 1962, Cloclo releases its first great success: “Belles, belles, belles” .

Then followed a successful career until his sudden and tragic disappearance on March 11, 1978 . The star died by electrocution in his bathroom when he was only 39 years old.

Source : Tele-Leisure