As pioneering feminine artists go, Connie Francis continues to set the tempo. Born Concetta Rose Maria Franconero in Newark, New Jersey in 1937, she displayed precocious expertise as a singer as a toddler and she or he was already a veteran of native expertise exhibits by the point she adopted her stage title within the early 1950. Signing to MGM in 1955, Francis went on to take pleasure in a very stellar profession, changing into the primary girl to achieve No. 1 on the Billboard Scorching 100 (with 1960’s “Everybody’s Someone’s Fool”) and ultimately happening to promote an estimated 200 million information worldwide. A flexible and dextrous performer, she mastered every part from orchestral ballads to rock ‘n’ roll and jazz and this collection of the most effective Connie Francis songs displays the enduring high quality of her work.
Take heed to the worldwide variations of the Connie Francis smash “Pretty Little Baby” now.
Fairly Little Child
“Pretty Baby” was initially a spotlight of 1962’s Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love. A playful, upbeat and fascinating love music, it’s a well-established fan favourite that ranks extremely among the many finest Connie Francis songs, so it’s barely curious to find it wasn’t chosen as a single. Way more lately, although, “Pretty Little Baby” has loved a protracted overdue season within the solar on the heart of a viral TikTok pattern the place creators are lip-syncing the music’s lyric whereas sporting all method of fashionable outfits.
Who’s Sorry Now?
Connie Francis secured a recording contract with MGM earlier than she turned 18, however success initially proved elusive, along with her preliminary run of singles solely yielding one minor hit courtesy of her Marvin Rainwater duet “The Majesty Of Love” in 1957. Certainly, Francis had even begun to contemplate a profession outdoors music when she scored her first main hit with a slow-burning, blues-y cowl of “Who’s Sorry Now?”: a music initially composed in waltz time by Ted Snyder in 1923. Her personal recording of “Who’s Sorry Now?” took some time to take off, however after it debuted on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in January 1958, it raced as much as No. 4 on the Billboard Scorching 100, spending a complete of twenty-two weeks on the charts and setting Connie Francis on the trail to mainstream stardom.
Silly Cupid
Regardless of an preliminary breakthrough with “Who’s Sorry Now?,” Connie Francis solely grew to become a U.S. chart common after she returned to the High 20 of the Billboard 200 with 1958’s “Stupid Cupid,” penned by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka. Sedaka, specifically, had reservations in regards to the music’s suitability, however Francis had different concepts and felt it was successful as quickly as she heard the demo. Her intuition was sound, for her feisty efficiency of this neat, Buddy Holly-esque pop music not solely went High 20 in North America, but additionally spent 6 weeks atop the U.Ok. Singles chart.
My Happiness
Although its melody was first composed in 1933, “My Happiness” solely grew to become a pop music normal within the fast post-war years, when rival variations recorded by Jon & Sondra Steele, the Pied Pipers and Ella Fitzgerald’s a cappella take of the observe all made the High 10 of the Billboard Scorching 100 throughout 1948. Connie Francis favored the Jon & Sondra Steele recording and lower her personal model with assist of a full orchestra performed by David Rose. Francis’ poised take of “My Happiness” was solely stored off the Scorching 100’s prime spot by The Platters’ recording of the present tune “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” early in 1959.
Lipstick On Your Collar
Her ballads and romantic love songs are inclined to catch the plaudits, however among the finest Connie Francis songs are very a lot rock ‘n’ roll songs. Certainly, one important inclusion of this nature is 1959’s “Lipstick On Your Collar”: a sturdy and sprightly exercise that includes a dynamite solo by legendary American jazz guitarist George Barnes that gave Francis her first up-tempo U.S. High 10 hit. The music had initially been slated because the flip for Francis’ recording of Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka’s “Frankie,” however MGM have been so happy with each tracks they launched the pair as a double A-side which ultimately offered over one million copies in North America alone.
Mama
Having grown up in a blended Italian-Jewish neighborhood in her native New Jersey, Connie Francis grew to become fluent in each Italian and Yiddish from an early age and her linguistic fluency enabled her to file profitable albums in languages as disparate as German and Irish all through the Nineteen Sixties and past. This pattern started with 1959’s massively profitable Connie Francis Sings Italian Favourites, that includes the luxurious Anglo-Italian ballad “Mama” which rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Scorching 100 and helped its dad or mum album to remain on the U.S. album charts for 81 weeks in all.
Everyone’s Anyone’s Idiot
Connie Francis’ multi-lingual expertise ensured her polka-style German language recording of “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” (“Die Liebt ist ein seltsames Spiel”) topped the West German singles chart in 1960. Nevertheless, her traditional English language recording of the music is arguably essentially the most vital observe in her canon. By itself deserves, the music’s a stand-out – the intro’s memorable seaside organ half leads right into a perky, blues-imbued music adopted by an irresistible refrain – however “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” additionally marked two extraordinarily notable milestones. It was Francis’ first ever U.S. No 1 and it additionally grew to become the primary music by a feminine artist ever to prime the Billboard Scorching 100.
My Coronary heart Has A Thoughts Of Its Personal
Having penned Connie Francis’ first U.S. No. 1 in “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” songwriters Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller once more struck gold with “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own.” The recording ultimately unfold throughout three classes at Hollywood’s Radio Recorders and it proved just a little tough to nail the music, however it was price it in the long run, for “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own” was (and nonetheless is) a nice, lovelorn music with a rustic taste accentuated by an incredible guitar hook and Francis’ charismatic vocal. Its high quality once more informed in industrial phrases, with the music once more quickly climbing the Billboard Scorching 100 and supplying Francis along with her second U.S. chart-topper within the fall of 1960.
The place The Boys Are
Along with her singing profession, Connie Francis starred in 4 feature-length movies through the early-to-mid 60s. Arguably the most effective of the bunch, 1960’s The place The Boys Are featured Francis as Angie, one in all a quartet of feminine college students on a spring break in Fort Lauderdale, FLA, however whereas the visuals garnered acclaim (it received a Laurel Award for Greatest Comedy Of The Yr) Francis once more excelled musically with the theme tune. A craving, widescreen ballad, the music was additional elevated by one in all her most impassioned vocal performances and whereas it didn’t make the highest of the U.S. charts (it peaked at No. 4), it grew to become an immediate fan favourite which many nonetheless confer with as her signature tune.
Don’t Break The Coronary heart That Loves You
Benny Davis and Murray Mencher (normally credited as Ted Murry) penned a clutch of songs such “Follow The Boys” and the stunning, country-tinged ballad “The Biggest Sin Of All” which wouldn’t be misplaced among the many finest Connie Francis songs. Nevertheless, their most necessary inclusion right here is definitely “Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You.” A sluggish, seductive, blues-etched ballad recorded by Francis in two-part concord with a spoken phrase bridge, this triumphant set piece rewarded her with a well-deserved third and last U.S. No. 1 smash within the spring of 1962.
