Published on May 7, 2013
Connie Francis (born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, December 12, 1938) is an American pop singer of Italian
heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the late-1950s and
early-1960s.
Although her chart success waned in the second half of the
1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw.
Despite several severe
interruptions in her career, she is still active as a recording and
performing artist.
| Connie Francis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero[1] |
| Born | December 12, 1938 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Schlager music, traditional pop, rock and roll, country pop, vocal jazz |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Accordion, vocals |
| Years active | 1943–present |
| Labels | MGM Records, Polydor, GSF Records, Ivanhoe Records, United Artists Records, Malaco Records, Herzklang, Legacy Recordings, Carlton Music, Concetta Records |
| Associated acts | Bobby Darin, Brenda Lee, Patti Page, Neil Sedaka, Lesley Gore, Carole King, Ricky Nelson |
| Website | Official site |
History
1938–1955: Early life and first appearances
Francis was born in the Italian Down Neck, or Ironbound, neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey, the first child of George Franconero, Sr., and Ida Franconero (née Ferrari-di Vito), spending her first years in a Brooklyn neighborhood on Utica Avenue/St. Marks Avenue before the family moved to New Jersey.[2]Growing up in an Italian-Jewish neighborhood, Francis became fluent in Yiddish, which would lead her to later record songs in Yiddish and Hebrew.[2][3]
In her autobiography Who's Sorry Now?, published in 1984, Francis recalls that she was encouraged by her father, George Franconero, Sr., to appear regularly at talent contests, pageants and other neighborhood festivities from the age of 4 as a singer and accordion player.
Francis attended Newark Arts High School in 1951 and 1952.
She and her family moved to Belleville, New Jersey, where she graduated as salutatorian from Belleville High School Class of 1955.[4][5]
During this time, Francis continued to perform at neighborhood festivities and talent shows (some of which were broadcast on television), appearing alternately as Concetta Franconero and Connie Franconero.
Under the latter name she also appeared on NBC's variety show Startime Kids between 1953 and 1955.[2]
During the rehearsals for her appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, Francis was advised by Godfrey to change her stage name to Connie Francis for the sake of easier pronunciation. Godfrey also told her to drop the accordion – advice she gladly followed, as she had begun to hate the large and heavy instrument.[2]
Around the same time, Francis took a job as a singer on demonstration records, which were brought to the attention of established singers and/or their management who would subsequently choose or decline to record the song for a professional commercial record.[6]
1955–1957: Recording contract and commercial failure
In 1955, Startime Kids went off air.In May that same year,[7] George Franconero Sr. and Francis' manager George Scheck raised the cash for a recording session of four songs which they hoped to sell to a major record under Francis' own name.
The story goes that every record label they tried turned her down, mainly because, as a demo singer, Francis could copy other popular singers of the day like Kitty Kallen or Kay Starr, but had not yet developed a distinctive sound of her own.
Finally, even when MGM Records decided to sign a contract with her, it was basically because one track she had recorded, "Freddy", happened to be the name of the son of a company executive, Harry A. Myerson, who thought of this song as a nice birthday gift.
Hence, "Freddy" was released as Francis' first single, which turned out to be a commercial failure, just as her following eight solo singles.[2]
Despite these failures, Francis was hired to record the vocals for Tuesday Weld's "singing" scenes in the 1956 movie Rock, Rock, Rock, and for Freda Holloway in the 1957 Warner Brothers rock and roll movie Jamboree.
In the fall of 1957, Francis enjoyed her first chart success with a duet single she had recorded with Marvin Rainwater: "The Majesty of Love", b/w "You, My Darlin' You", peaked at # 93 on Billboard's Hot 100.[6]
1957–1959: Last chance and breakthrough
But her minor chart success came too late – Francis' recording contract consisted of ten solo singles and one duet single.Even though success finally had seemed to come with "The Majesty of Love", Francis was informed by MGM Records that her contract would be discontinued after her last solo single.
Francis considered a career in medicine and was about to accept a four-year scholarship offered at New York University.
At what was to have been her final recording session for MGM on October 2, 1957,[7] she recorded a cover version of the 1923 song "Who's Sorry Now?", written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.
Francis has said that she recorded it at the persistence of her father, who was convinced it stood a chance of becoming a hit because it was a song adults already knew and that teenagers would dance to if it had a contemporary arrangement.[8]
Francis, who did not like the song at all and had been arguing about it with her father heatedly, delayed the recording of the three other songs during the session so much, that in her opinion there was no time left on the continuously running recording tape.
But her father insisted, and when the recording "Who's Sorry Now?" was finished, there were only a few seconds left on the tape.[2]
The single seemed to go unnoticed like all previous releases – just as Francis had predicted.
But on January 1, 1958, the song debuted on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.
By mid-year, over a million copies had been sold, and Francis was suddenly launched into worldwide stardom.
In April 1958, "Who's Sorry Now" reached # 1 on the UK Singles Chart and # 4 in the US.
For the next four years, Francis was voted the "Best Female Vocalist" by American Bandstand viewers.[2]
As Connie Francis explains at each of her concerts, she began searching for a new hit immediately after the success of "Who's Sorry Now?", since MGM Records had renewed her contract.
After the relative failure of the follow-up singles "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" (which stalled at No. 36) and "Heartaches" (failing to chart at all), Francis met with Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield who sang a number of ballads they had written for her.
After a few hours, Francis began writing in her diary while the songwriters played the last of their ballads.
Afterwards, Francis told them that she considered their ballads too intellectual and sophisticated for the young generation and requested a more lively song.
Greenfield urged Sedaka to sing a song they had written that morning with The Shepherd Sisters in mind.
Sedaka protested that Francis would be insulted, but Greenfield said that since she hated all the other songs they had performed, they had nothing to lose.
Sedaka played "Stupid Cupid".
When he finished, Francis announced that he had just played her new hit record.
The song reached # 14 on the Billboard chart and was her second # 1 in the UK.
The success of "Stupid Cupid" restored momentum to Francis' chart career, and she reached the U.S. top 40 an additional seven times during the remainder of the 1950s.
She managed to churn out more hits by covering several older songs, such as "My Happiness" (# 2 on the Hot 100) and "Among My Souvenirs" (# 7), as well as performing her own original songs.
In 1959, she gained two gold records for a double-sided hit: on the A-side, "Lipstick on Your Collar" (# 5); on the B-side, "Frankie" (# 9).
Source:Wikipedia
TTFN
CYA Later Taters
Thanks for watching.
Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man
No comments:
Post a Comment