Biography
1 February 1939, Ismaïlia, Egypt, d. 11 March 1978, Paris, France. François inherited musical skills from his parents who, with worsening political antagonism in the East, returned him to France where, on leaving school, he drummed in a Monte Carlo jazz combo before ambition drove him to Paris where, demonstrating the Twist, Mashed Potato and similar dance crazes in the Caramel Club, he was noticed by record company talent scouts. Steve Lawrence’s ‘Girls Girls Girls’ was, in 1961, the first of many swift translations of US hits for home consumers by François. His strategy was best exemplified by a version of ‘If I Had A Hammer’, in the shops a mere week after Trini Lopez’s 1963 original. More idiosyncratic smashes included ‘Marche Tout Troit’ and an up-tempo revival of Noël Coward’s ‘Poor Little Rich Girl’. Adored as ‘Clo-Clo’ by teenagers, Francois next...
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