PUT AWAY THE BOOKS, WE'RE OUT OF SCHOOLTHE WEATHER'S WARM BUT WE'LL PLAY IT COOLWE'RE ON VACATION HAVIN' LOTS OF FUNV-A-C-A-T-I-O-N IN THE SUMMER SUN
>>130206174"What is less funky than a Connie Francis movie? The answer, in all its depressing splendor, can be found on this compilation."
>Francis was the first girl singer to achieve back-to-back #1 hits on the Billboard and she would have three total. She was the biggest-selling singer of the late '50s and early '60s with dozens of hits. "Stupid Cupid", penned by Neil Sedaka, was the first original, non-cover rock-and-roll hit sung by a girl singer. For all that, Francis is not in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Why is that? Perhaps the Hall thought she simply wasn't rock enough. Most of her biggest hits were melodramatic ballads and her first and breakout hit in January '58 was "Who's Sorry Now?", a song originally written in 1923. As time went on, Francis's hits grew soppier and she developed a nasal problem that dovetailed with personal problems that made her sound jittery and uncomfortable. Most Hall of Fame voting members wrote off her melodramatic hits, recorded in multiple languages. Like most of her early '60s peers, Francis quickly fell from the charts when the Beatles came. That Francis was popular in non-Anglosphere countries can not have helped her reputation, rock being an essentially American music format that has only been performed adequately in the English-speaking world.>Her arch-competitor Brenda Lee, who vied with her for the Billboard Top 10 over the early '60s, is in the Hall of Fame. So is Madonna, Carole King, and a few girl groups. Wanda Jackson was inducted in 2009 as an "early influence."
>She came into the world on December 12, 1937 and grew up in the mostly Italian section of Newark, New Jersey as Concetta Franconero. For her fourth birthday, she was given an accordion and learned how to play it. Concetta was soon performing at weddings and parties. At the age of 11, her father auditioned her for the local TV show Ford Startime, but the room was practically packed with aspiring singers so they doubted they had a chance. George Franconero explained that his daughter sang and played the accordion, which she did, but it wasn't enough to be noticed. A year later, Concetta won an audition on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts--here, Godfrey suggested Anglicizing her name to be more marketable/easy to remember. From that day forward she was Connie Francis.>Her career didn't go anywhere for the time being. She continued performing locally and attending high school, graduating in 1955 at age 17 at the top of her class and being made salutorian, and got a scholarship to New York University. Shortly afterwards, Francis showed up at Columbia's studio in Manhattan with the hope of a record contract. The eccentric Mitch Miller saw no potential there and turned her down. MGM gave her a chance and signed her to a four year deal. This did not result in immediate success as Francis struggled for the next three years as she recorded disc after disc without one charting at all. She appeared and sang in three low budget rock-and-roll movies but it didn't help. Francis figured if pop music didn't work out she could go back to school and perhaps study medicine.
>MGM were nothing short of patient with Francis, but they were prepared to drop her as soon as her contract ran out in 1959. It wasn't that her records charted poorly, they didn't chart at all. George suggested to his frustrated daughter that she record the old 1920s standard "Who's Sorry Now?", originally performed by Sophie Tucker way back in the long ago. The elder Franconeco was cagey enough to suppose the lyrics to the song were pretty timeless, parents would recognize it, and MGM were free to give it whatever hip, modern arrangement they liked to appeal to the kids. It worked, the song put Francis on the map overnight, and the disc was certified gold by June 1958.
>>130206502>Francis showed up at Columbia's studio in Manhattan with the hope of a record contract. The eccentric Mitch Miller saw no potential there and turned her downand thank God for that
>>130206502the early couple of records really didn't have any hooks, that's why they didn't chart
>>130206174
