F. R. David

Career

Robert Fitoussi started his music career in Paris, first performing with the French garage band Les Trèfles. After one EP, they expanded and were renamed Les Boots, but achieved very little commercial success. Adopting the stage name F.R. David — with the initials standing for the first letters of his real name and surname, and "David" referencing the myth of David and Goliath because he is Jewish — he went solo in 1967. He recorded orchestral psychedelic pop with Michel Colombier, including a version of the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" ("Il Est Plus Facile").

He enjoyed minor hits with the Éric Charden-penned "Symphonie" and a cover of the Bee Gees' "Sir Geoffrey Saved the World", but this success did not last. He then created Aztec Records with Sonopress & Carrer and started working with Michael Haubrich, writing and producing for several small groups: Cockpit, David Cast, Doc & Prohibition Group, Ragga, Alain Maria, Freddy Meyer, and DD Daughterdydawn with Vangelis Papathanassiou. During the early 1970s, F.R. David formed the progressive rock group David Explosion, but their one album was not a success.

He was a guitarist for Vangelis in the early 1970s and appeared as vocalist on some of Vangelis's early albums. David's voice is also heard on the 1974 single "Who" by Vangelis under the name 'Odyssey'. David then joined French rock band Les Variations, appearing on their final album Café De Paris (1975), which featured an early rock-disco crossover "Superman, Superman". When the band broke up, he went solo again.

His personal trademarks are his sunglasses and his guitar (a white Fender Stratocaster). His most recognised song was "Words", which sold eight million records worldwide and topped various charts throughout Europe in late 1982.

The song reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in spring 1983, surpassing a rival version by the Tremeloes, and went on to become the 22nd best-selling single in the UK during 1983. The song appears in the Oscar-nominated film Call Me by Your Name. It is a catchy, slightly melancholy ballad led by synths and sung in a slender, high-pitched voice.