CONNIE FRANCIS

'Connie Francis' (born December 12, 1938 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American pop singer best known for international hit songs such as "Who's Sorry Now?", "Where The Boys Are", and "Everybody's Somebody's Fool".

Contents

Biography

Personal life

Lawsuits

Biopic

Trivia

US-albums 1958 - 1969

Charted singles

Selected other significant songs

References

External links

Biography

Connie Francis was born 'Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero' in the Italian Down Neck, or Ironbound, neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey. She is considered the most prolific and popular female rock 'n' roll hit-maker of the early rock era — the late 1950s to the early 1960s. After an appearance on ''Ford Startime'', Francis was advised to change her name from Franconero to something more easily pronounceable — as well as to quit the accordion and focus on singing.
Francis' first single, "Freddy", (1955) met with little success. Her next nine singles were also failures, and she began to consider a career in medicine. However, a cover version of the song "Who's Sorry Now?" (1923) by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby launched Francis into super-stardom worldwide. Francis recorded the song at what was to have been her final recording session for MGM; the label was about to drop her due to her previous singles' poor sales. Francis has said that she recorded it at the suggestion of her father, who convinced her it stood a chance of becoming a hit because it was a song adults already knew and that teenagers would dance to if it were released with a more contemporary arrangement.
The gamble paid off. On January 1, 1958, the song debuted on Dick Clark's ''American Bandstand'' television show, and by mid-year over a million copies were sold. In April 1958, "Who's Sorry Now" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and number four in the USA. This was followed by many other hits over the next decade, as Connie Francis became one of the most popular vocalists in the world.
Francis specialized in downbeat ballads (often remakes of old standards) delivered in her trademark "sobbing" style, such as "My Happiness", "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry", "Among My Souveneirs", "Together", "Breakin' In a Brand New Broken Heart", and the Italian song "Mama". However, she also had success with a handful of more upbeat, rock-and-roll-oriented compositions, such as "Stupid Cupid", "Lipstick On Your Collar", and "Vacation".
Among Francis' other notable performances were "In the Summer of His Years" (a tribute to slain U.S. President John F. Kennedy) and Bert Kaempfert's "Strangers In The Night" (although the latter song is more often identified with Frank Sinatra). Both "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" went to number one on the ''Billboard'' music charts in 1960. In 1962, Francis had another number one hit with "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You".
Francis remade many of her hits in foreign languages, including "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and her signature song, "Where the Boys Are". Francis recorded in thirteen languages throughout her career: English, German, Swedish, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian (and its dialect Neapolitan), Hebrew, Yiddish, Japanese, Latin and Hawaiian. During a concert at the Golden Stag Festival in Braşov, Romania in March 1970, Francis performed live in Romanian. Francis' biggest hit album in the U.S. was 1959's ''Italian Favorites''; she followed it with several more albums of Italian songs over the years, as well as collections of Spanish-language and Jewish songs, among others.
"Where The Boys Are", one of many Neil Sedaka/Howard Greenfield compositions Francis recorded during her career (others included "Stupid Cupid" and "Fallin'"), gained wide exposure through its inclusion as the title song in the 1960 motion picture with the same title. In addition to singing the theme, Francis had a role in the film. During the first half of the 1960s, she starred in three additional films; ''Follow the Boys'' (1963) (the title song of which became a No. 17 Billboard single for Francis), ''Looking for Love'' (1964), and ''When the Boys Meet the Girls'' (1965).
In 1960, Francis became the youngest headliner to sing in Las Vegas, where she played 28 days a year for nine years. In 1961, she starred in her own television special on ABC television sponsored by Brylcreem titled ''Kicking Sound Around'', singing and acting alongside Tab Hunter, Eddie Foy Jr. and Art Carney. Francis appeared on the ''Ed Sullivan Show'' on July 1, 1962 with French singing star Johnny Hallyday in a show that was taped at the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris, France. On July 3, 1963, she played a Command performance before Queen Elizabeth II at the Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland. By 1967, Francis had 35 U.S. Top 40 hits, three of which were number ones. During the height of the Vietnam War in 1967, Connie Francis performed for U.S. troops. Francis ended her recording career in 1969. She returned in 1973 with "The Answer", a song written just for her, and soon began performing again.
Francis has always been a great fan of country music and recorded several albums of country standards during her pop career. In 1969, she had a modest country hit with, "The Wedding Cake." She appeared on the country charts again in 1982 with "There's Still a Few Good Love Songs Left in Me." Several country singers found chart success remaking Francis' pop hits for the country market, including Marie Osmond ("Who's Sorry Now" in 1975), Susan Raye ("My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" in 1972), Margo Smith ("Don't Break The Heart That Loves You" in 1978), and Debby Boone.
Francis' autobiography, ''Who's Sorry Now?'' was published in 1984.
In 2000, "Who's Sorry Now" was named one of the Songs of the Century. Her latest CD ''The American Tour'' contains performances from recent shows. In late December 2004, Francis headlined in Las Vegas for the first time since 1989.
In March 2007, Francis performed to a sold-out crowd at the Castro Theater in San Francisco.

Personal life

Francis was married four times. She married Dick Kanellis against her father's wishes on August 15, 1964. She divorced him three months later after he abused her. She then married hairdresser Izadore "Izzy" Marion on January 16, 1971. They divorced the following year. She then married Joseph Garzilli in September 1973. Together they adopted a son, Joseph Garzilli Jr, "Joey," born in 1974. After the marriage ended, she later married television producer Bob Parkinson, on June 27, 1985. She later divorced him also. She had a brief affair with a man named Maxwell J. Odenthal in June of 1986.
Early in her career, Francis dated singer Bobby Darin, much to the displeasure of Connie's father. When Darin suggested the two elope, Francis' father chased after him with a gun telling him to never see his daughter again. The two broke up shortly thereafter. Francis still says that not marrying Darin was the biggest mistake of her life.
On November 8, 1974 Francis was raped for two hours in the Jericho Turnpike Howard Johnson's Lodge following a performance at the Westbury Music Fair in New York. After returning to the room some time after the attack she discovered the broken lock and torn screen had not been repaired by facility management. She subsequently sued the motel chain for failing to provide adequate security. She reportedly won a $3 million judgment, at the time one of the largest such judgments in history. She did not perform again for seven years thereafter^[1]. She has stated that it was because of the rape that she divorced Joseph Garzilli.
Nasal surgery to correct previous surgery caused a sensitivity to air conditioning and deprived her of her ability to sing professionally for four years.
In 1978, she attempted a comeback by appearing with her friend Dick Clark on his ABC-TV variety show ''Dick Clark's Live Wednesday''. Unbeknown to the audience, the still-fragile Francis lip-synched to a pre-recorded medley of her hits.
Her brother was murdered in 1981.
Francis was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She has long suffered from ongoing mental impairments that developed as a result of her rape, including drug dependencies and suicide attempts. She uses lithium to treat the illness.
She resumed her career in 1989.

Lawsuits

Francis brought suit alleging that UMG took advantage of her condition and stopped paying royalties. It was dismissed. On November 27, 2002, she filed a second suit against UMG alleging the label had "synchronized" two of her songs into movies without her permission. This suit was also dismissed.
She also sued the producers of the 1999 film ''Jawbreaker'', in which her song "Lollipop Lips" is heard during a sex scene. ^[2]

Biopic

Singer Gloria Estefan has completed a screenplay for a movie based on Francis' life, titled ''Who's Sorry Now?''; filming is anticipated in 2007. Estefan will produce and play the lead. Estefan said, "She [Francis] isn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and yet she was the first pop star worldwide, and has recorded in nine languages. She has done a lot of things for victims' rights since her rape in the '70s . . . There's a major story there." The "long gestating biopic" will begin pre-production within a few months, according to a story published in March 2007 in the ''Bay Area Reporter''.

Trivia

★ ''Billboard'' chart historian Joel Whitburn ranks Connie Francis as the top female vocalist on the Adult Contemporary chart during the 1960s. In 1961, Francis was the first female artist to score a No. 1 Billboard AC single, with "Together," and she topped the AC chart again the following year with "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You."

★ In 2005 "Connie Fucking Francis" was formed in Oakland, California. Their sets and recordings consist of punk covers of Connie Francis songs.

★ Second City Television did several Connie Francis parodies, such as a commercial for the album "50 Depressing Hits with Connie Francis" featuring titles like "I'm losing my hearing/ I've lost sight in one eye/ sorry I didn't hear you/ did you really say goodbye?" and "Stop slapping my face, dear"

US-albums 1958 - 1969

MGM E- = mono release
MGM SE- = stereo release
(US = Billboard Hot 200 LPs Chart, C= Cashbox LPS chart, CM = Cashbox Mono LPS chart, CS = Cashbox Stereo LPS chart)

★ MGM E-3686: ''Who's Sorry Now?'' (released April 1958)

★ MGM E-/SE-3761: ''The Exciting Connie Francis'' (released March 1959)

★ MGM E-/SE-3776: ''My Thanks To You'' (released August 1959)

★ MGM E-/SE-3791: ''Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites'' (released November 1959) US #4, CM # 5, CS # 7

★ MGM E-/SE-3792: ''Christmas In My Heart'' (released November 1959)

★ MGM E-/SE-3793: ''Connie's Greatest Hits'' (released November 1959) US #17 / UK #16, CM # 19

★ MGM E-/SE-3794: ''Rock 'n' Roll Million Sellers'' (released November 1959) UK #12

★ MGM E-/SE-3795: ''Country And Western Golden Hits'' (released November 1959)

★ Lion Records L 70126: ''Connie Francis Sings Fun Songs For Children'' (released November 1959)

★ MGM E-/SE-3853: ''Connie Francis Sings Spanish And Latin American Favorites'' (released July 1960) CM # 23, CS #25

★ MGM E-/SE-3869: ''Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites'' (released October 1960) US #69, CM #33

★ MGM E-/SE-3871: ''More Italian Favorites'' (released October 1960) US #9, CM # 39

★ MGM E-/SE-3893: ''Songs To A Swingin' Band'' (released February 1961)

★ MGM E-/SE-3913: ''Connie At The Copa'' (released January 1961) US #65

★ MGM E-/SE-3942: ''More Greatest Hits'' (released May 1961) US #39, CM # 16, CS # 24

★ MGM E-/SE-3965: ''Connie Francis Sings "Never On Sunday"'' (released October 1961) US #11, CM # 10, CS # 18

★ MGM E-/SE-3969: ''Connie Francis Sings Folk Song Favorites'' (released November 1961)

★ Mati-Mor Superecords M 8002: ''Sing Along With Connie Francis'' (released November 1961)

★ MGM E-/SE-4013: ''Connie Francis Sings Irish Favorites'' (released March 1962)

★ MGM E-/SE-4022: ''Do The Twist'' (released March 1962, retitled ''Dance Party'' and repackaged in July 1962) US #47 CM # 48

★ MGM E-4023: ''Connie Francis Sings Fun Songs For Children'' (released March 1962, re-release of Lion Records L 70126)

★ MGM E-/SE-4048: ''Connie Francis Sings Award Winning Motion Picture Hits'' (released March 1963) US #108, CS #22, CM #33

★ MGM E-/SE-4049: ''Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love'' (released May 1962) US #111

★ MGM E-/SE-4079: ''Country Music Connie Style'' (released August 1962) US #22 CM # 23

★ MGM E-/SE-4102: ''Connie Francis Sings Modern Italian Hits'' (released December 1962) US #103, CM # 43

★ MGM E-/SE-4123: ''Follow The Boys'' (released February 1963) US #66 CS # 32 CM # 29

★ MGM E-/SE-4124: ''Connie Francis Sings German Favorites'' (released January 1964)

★ MGM E-/SE-4145: ''Great American Waltzes'' (released July 1963) US #94 CS #42, CM # 72

★ MGM E-/SE-4161: ''"Mala Femmena" And Connie's Big Hits From Italy'' (released August 1963) US #70

★ MGM E-/SE-4167: ''The Very Best Of Connie Francis'' (released September 1963) US #68, CM # 73

★ MGM E-/SE-4210: ''In The Summer Of His Years'' (released December 1963) US #126 CS # 47

★ MGM E-/SE-4229: ''Looking For Love'' (released June 1964) US #122 CM # 43

★ MGM E-/SE-4251: ''Connie Francis & Hank Williams, jr. Sing Great Country Favorites'' (released November 1964)

★ MGM E-/SE-4253: ''A New Kind Of Connie'' (released September 1964) US #149, CM # 73

★ MGM E-/SE-4294: ''Connie Francis Sings "For Mama"'' (released March 1965) US #78, C #89

★ MGM E-/SE-4298: ''Connie Francis Sings All Time International Hits'' (released July 1965)

★ MGM E-/SE-4334: ''When The Boys Meet The Girls'' (released November 1965) US #61

★ MGM E-/SE-4355: ''Jealous Heart'' (released January 1966)

★ MGM E-/SE-4382: ''Movie Greats Of The Sixties'' (released July 1966)

★ MGM E-/SE-4399: ''Connie's Christmas'' (released November 1966, re-release of MGM E-/SE-3792)

★ MGM E-/SE-4411: ''Live At The Sahara In Las Vegas'' (released October 1966)

★ King Leo Records LES 903: ''Connie Francis And The Kids Next Door'' (released October 1966, originally scheduled as MGM E-/SE-4412)

★ MGM E-/SE-4448: ''Love Italian Style'' (released January 1967)

★ MGM E-/SE-4472: ''Happiness - Connie Francis on Broadway today'' (released April 1967)

★ MGM E-/SE-4474: ''Grandes Exitos Del Cine De Los Años 60'' (released July 1967)

★ MGM E-/SE-4487: ''My Heart Cries For You'' (released July 1967)

★ MGM E-/SE-4522: ''Hawaii Connie'' (released October 1968)

★ MGM E-/SE-4573: ''Connie And Clyde'' (released May 1968)

★ MGM E-/SE-4585: ''Connie Sings Bacharach & David'' (released October 1968)

★ MGM SE-4637: ''The Wedding Cake'' (released May 1969)

★ MGM SE-4655: ''Connie Francis Sings The Songs Of Les Reed'' (released November 1969)

Charted singles

Year	Song Title	US Pop	US AC	US C&W	UK
1957	"The Majesty of Love" (with Marvin Rainwater)	93	-	-	-
1958	"Who's Sorry Now?"	4	-	-	'1'
1958	"I'm Sorry I Made You Cry"	36	-	-	11
1958	"Stupid Cupid" / "Carolina Moon"	15	-	-	'1'
1958	"Fallin'"	30	-	-	20
1958	"I'll Get By"	-	-	-	19
1959	"My Happiness"	2	-	-	4
1959	"You Always Hurt the One You Love"	-	-	-	13
1959	"If I Didn't Care"	22	-	-	-
1959	"Lipstick On Your Collar"	5	-	-	3
1959	"Frankie"	9	-	-	-
1959	"You're Gonna Miss Me"	22	-	-	-
1959	"Plenty Good Lovin'"	69	-	-	18
1959	"Among My Souvenirs"	7	-	-	11
1959	"God Bless America"	36	-	-	-
1960	"Mama" / "Robot Man"	8	-	-	2
1960	"Everybody's Somebody's Fool"	'1'	-	24	5
1960	"Jealous of You (Tango Della Gelosia)"	19	-	-	-
1960	"My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own"	'1'	-	-	3
1960	"Malagueña"	42	-	-	-
1960	"Many Tears Ago"	7	-	-	12
1960	"Senza Mamma (With No One)"	87	-	-	-
1961	"Where the Boys Are"	4	-	-	5
1961	"No One"	34	-	-	-
1961	"Breakin' In a Brand New Broken Heart"	7	-	-	12
1961	"Together"	6	'1'	-	6
1961	"Too Many Rules"	72	-	-	-
1961	"(He's My) Dreamboat"	14	-	-	-
1961	"Hollywood"	42	-	-	-
1961	"When the Boy In Your Arms (Is the Boy In Your Heart)"	10	2	-	-
1961	"Baby's First Christmas"	26	7	-	30
1962	"Don't Break the Heart That Loves You"	'1'	'1'	-	39
1962	"Second Hand Love"	7	3	-	-
1962	"Vacation"	9	-	-	10
1962	"I Was Such a Fool (To Fall In Love With You"	24	8	-	-
1962	"He Thinks I Still Care"	57	18	-	-
1962	"I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter"	18	19	-	48
1962	"Al Di La"	90	-	-	-
1963	"Follow the Boys"	17	7	-	-
1963	"If My Pillow Could Talk"	23	-	-	-
1963	"Drownin' My Sorrows"	36	-	-	-
1963	"Your Other Love"	28	10	-	-
1963	"In the Summer of His Years"	46	-	-	-
1964	"Blue Winter"	24	8	-	-
1964	"Be Anything (But Be Mine)"	25	9	-	-
1964	"Looking for Love"	45	-	-	-
1964	"Don't Ever Leave Me"	42	-	-	-
1965	"Whose Heart Are You Breaking Tonight?"	43	7	-	-
1965	"For Mama (La Mamma)"	48	12	-	-
1965	"Wishing It Was You"	57	14	-	-
1965	"My Child"	-	-	-	26
1965	"Forget Domani"	79	16	-	-
1965	"Roundabout"	80	10	-	-
1965	"Jealous Heart"	47	10	-	44
1966	"Love Is Me, Love Is You"	66	28	-	-
1966	"So Nice (Summer Samba)"	-	17	-	-
1966	"Spanish Nights and You"	99	15	-	-
1967	"Time Alone Will Tell"	94	14	-	-
1967	"My Heart Cries for You"	118	12	-	-
1967	"Lonely Again"	-	22	-	-
1968	"My World Is Slipping Away"	-	35	-	-
1968	"Why Say Goodbye (A Comme Amour)"	132	27	-	-
1968	"I Don't Wanna Play House"	-	40	-	-
1969	"The Wedding Cake"	91	19	33	-
1981	"I'm Me Again"	-	40	-	-
1982	"There's Still a Few Good Love Songs Left In Me"	-	-	60	-

Selected other significant songs

★ "Freddy" (1955)
The A-Side of Francis' first ever published single (1955, MGM Records K 12015). Although the single's B-Side "Didn't I love you enough" would've been the better choice from the artistic point of view, "Freddy" was given the A-Side status because MGM's president, Harry Meyerson, had a son named Freddy and Meyerson thought of this song as a suitable birthday gift. A version recorded by Eartha Kitt and Perez Prado was released at the same time as the Francis version. Although it also failed to chart, it still sold better than the Francis version because of its exciting mambo arrangement, which was part of the current sound of the day.

★ "My first real love" (1956)
Bobby Darin wrote this song for Francis, which led to their first encounter. Darin was "The Jaybirds", who were credited as background vocals. The choir effect was reached by Darin recording his part several times in different keys. Despite the teaming up of those two great talents, the single failed to chart.

★ "Never On Sunday" (1961)
Francis was invited to the 1961 Academy Awards Ceremony to present one of the songs nominated for an Academy Award. She was offered "The second time around" from the movie "High Time" starring Bing Crosby. She turned that song down in favour of "Never on Sunday", even singing a few bars of the original Greek lyrics during the ceremony. Francis never considered releasing a recording of the song as a single, because The Chordettes had already taken their version to # 1 of the charts. But in August 1961, Francis recorded the song for an album with motion picture songs.

★ "Al di là" (1962)
Contrary to popular belief, this song did ''not'' originate in the 1962 movie "Rome Adventure" where it was presented by Emilio Pericoli. The song was actually written as an entry for the San Remo Festival. Originally recorded and performed by Betty Curtis, it became the winning song of the 1961 edition of the festival. Francis included it on her album "Connie Francis sings Modern Italian hits" (MGM Records SE-4102), which was recorded in November 1962. Several versions of the Francis version exist: 1.) Bilingual Italian/English, running time 3'17", released in the US on both the album and MGM single K 13116, 2.) Pure Italian, running time 3'30", released in Mexico on MGM Records EP EXPL 1034, 3.) Pure Italian, alternate take, running time 3'46", released in Spain on MGM Records EP 63-025.

★ "Mala Femmena" (1963)
Francis created a phenomenon by recording this song, because the lyrics were actually written for a male singer. The original lyrics tell about a man who finds out that his woman is cheating on him. Francis had the song rewritten, which told now the story of a woman telling "the other woman" to leave her man alone.

★ "Tommy" (1964)
Between late 1962 and late 1964, Francis recorded and released several songs which dabbled with the Girl group sound, which was created by successful acts such as The Shangri-Las, The Ronettes or Lesley Gore. Popular writers and producers of that sound were Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich. The latter two wrote an co-produced several songs for Francis. One of them was "Tommy". Recorded during an extensive session on April 8, 1964, this song, which would eventually be released as the flip side of "Blue Winter" on MGM Records Single K 13237, featured Ellie Greenwich and The Tokens as special guest backup vocals.

★ "Somewhere, my love (Lara's Theme)" (1966)
The lyrics for a vocal version of the best known theme from the Doctor Zhivago sound track were written by Academy Award winning lyricist Paul Francis Webster after a special request from Francis herself. But Francis rejected the lyrics at first because she thought of them as too corny. When she finally realized the song's potential, The Ray Conniff Singers had recorded it and taken to # 1 of the charts. Francis' version became a hit nonetheless, becoming a # 1 in several Asian countries and Scandinavia. The Italian recording, "Dove non so", became her last # 1 hit in Italy.

References

1. http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0203/11/lkl.00.html
2. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2002_April_16/ai_84669421/

External links

★

★ Official Site

★ The Work of Claus Ogerman - a pictorial discography showing albums and singles, along with studio photos and complete liner notes which document Francis' work in the 1960s with this arranger/conductor.

★ Full Discography with Catalog Number Info