A Different Tune

I WAS THOROUGHLY ENJOYING the Christmas Gala hosted by The Monegasque™ magazine when the evening’s emcee, resplendent and camp in top hat and tails, launched into that old chestnut My Way.

To be fair, the iconic song made famous by Frank Sinatra is the No. 1 tune requested for funerals in the UK, but I really tire of hearing it at countless piano bars and karaoke parties in the Principality. Turning to the guest on my right, I rolled my eyes and whispered, “I wished that Paul Anka had never written this international anthem to narcissists everywhere.”

My table mate responded with a perfectly matched eye roll of their own, “You Americans take credit for everything! The song was originally called Comme d’habitude and was written by a Frenchman, Claude François.”

It turns out that the guest, a native Monegasque, had not only trashed my music IQ but then informed me that François, the celebrated French pop singer from the 1960s-1970s, had actually gone to the Lycée Albert I in Monaco and had been a drummer at le Sporting, SBM’s flagship entertainment venue.

OMG. A slice of Monaco celebrity history had completely escaped me! I knew immediately that I had to trace the unlikely path from Monaco’s cabaret stages to the birth of one of the world’s most recognizable songs.

And here’s what I found out.

Claude François, “Cloclo” to his fans, was born on February 1, 1939, in Ismailia, Egypt, to a French father and an Italian mother. In 1956, after the nationalization of the Suez Canal and the resulting international crisis, his family was forced to leave his homeland. They first landed in Marseille, then settled in Monaco where Claude’s older sister generously offered to share her tiny apartment.

When his father fell ill and could no longer work, 17-year-old Claude became the family breadwinner, reluctantly taking a day-job as a bank clerk.

By night, Claude played drums in orchestras at luxury hotels along the Riviera but it was his mother, a music teacher, who talked Louis Frosio, SBM’s orchestra conductor for 51 years, into hiring him as an “extra.”

The 5-foot-4 (162.5 cm) musician had, remarkably, an athletic build, flawlessly groomed blond hair and intense, magnetic charisma. With a growing confidence and stage presence, Claude gradually moved from percussion to occasional backing singer, and eventually to solo artist at the Cabaret in winter and at the Sporting in summer, where one regular became a big fan. According to Frosio, Maria Callas would arrive on the arm of Aristotle Onassis for a show and tell the conductor to “Fai cantare il Piccolino.” (Let the little one sing.)

It was at the Sporting that Claude would meet his first - and only - wife, Janet Wollacott, a dancer in the Cabaret. The two married in Monaco in 1960 and moved to Paris the following year (divorcing in 1967). From there, Claude François would become a legend of French pop music, but he would never again perform on stage in the Principality.

In Paris, Claude released a succession of hits including a string of brilliantly adapted French versions of English-language songs, including Belles! Belles! Belles! (a cover of Made to Love by the Everly Brothers); Cette année-là (Oh, What a Night by the Four Seasons); and Je vais à Rio (I Go to Rio by Barry Manilow).

In 1967, Claude co-wrote and recorded THAT song, the moody ballad and My Way precursor - Comme d’habitude. Replete with melancholy lyrics and a steady, mournful melody, the song describes the slow death of a relationship. Comme d’habitude was a departure from Claude’s upbeat, dance-oriented hits and only sold 350,000 copies, barely half of his first Top 40 song.

Enter Paul Anka.

A former American teen idol, Anka heard the song while vacationing in France. He liked the tune (hated the lyrics) and he bought the adaptation, recording, and publishing rights for a nominal one dollar. He soon rewrote the lyrics as a tribute to Frank Sinatra who was considering retirement. “And now the end is near”… The new lyrics were an anthem of defiance, nostalgia, and personal triumph - frequent Sinatra themes. (Sinatra wouldn’t retire from singing for another 30 years.)

Sinatra recorded My Way in 1968 but it only reached No. 27 on the U.S. Billboard Top 100 chart. Nevertheless, Sinatra performed the song in every subsequent concert, including four appearances in Monaco, as well as featuring it in six albums. Ironically, Sinatra disliked the song which even he found self-indulgent.

My Way went on to become one of the most covered and karaoke songs in history, recorded by artists across genres and generations, including Elvis, Miley Cyrus, Shirley Bassey, Sid Vicious, David Bowie, and metal band Limp Bizkit.

Adopted at funerals, weddings, and milestone celebrations worldwide, the song’s reflective, defiant tone resonated deeply with audiences, embedding it in film, television, and collective memory.

Claude François would not live to see the global ascent of his original ballad to iconic 20th century anthem. At the age of 39 he was electrocuted when he accidentally touched a live wire in a faulty light fixture while standing in the shower.

Claude never commented publicly on the success of My Way. He surely would not have foreseen ex-Prime Minister David Cameron choosing it as his karaoke party piece, nor Donald and Melania Trump dancing to it at their inaugural ball. And, certainly, he would not have guessed that it would be his ubiquitous legacy in the Principality of Monaco.

For that I blame Paul Anka.

By Annette Anderson

Contributor

Annette Anderson is the president of the MonacoUSA Association and a key figure behind the iconic Stars’N’Bars, now transformed into the Marius restaurant. A Forbes contributor and writer for The Monegasque, she’s known for her vibrant leadership, advocacy for inclusivity, and fostering U.S.-Monaco relations, notably through events honoring Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly’s legacy.