Connie Francis

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Connie Francis (1961)

Connie Francis , actually Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937 in Newark , New Jersey ) is an American pop and hit singer . Although her success in the pop charts waned in the second half of the 1960s, she remained successful in the field of adult contemporary music and is still active as a live artist to this day.

Life

1937–1955: childhood and first appearances

Connie Francis was born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in a multi - ethnic working-class neighborhood in Newark , New Jersey called Ironbound (also called Italian Down Neck) . She was the first child of the Italian American George Franconero sen. and his wife Ida Franconero, née Ferrari-di Vito. Francis spent the first years of his life in the New York borough of Brooklyn before the family moved to Newark with their other relatives.

In her autobiography Who’s sorry now? in 1984, Francis recalled her father encouraging her, when she was three years old, to perform at neighborhood parties and talent competitions, where she sang and played the accordion. In 1951 and 1952, Francis first attended Newark Arts High School. Her family later moved to Belleville , New Jersey, where Francis successfully graduated from high school in 1955. During this time, Francis continued to perform at festivals and competitions; some of the latter were broadcast on local television. She appeared on stage alternately as Concetta Franconero or Connie Franconero. Under the latter name, she was engaged between 1951 and 1955 for the Startime Kids , an entertainment show for young people produced by NBC .

During rehearsals for a television show in 1954, the presenter Arthur Godfrey advised her to change her stage name to Connie Francis, because it was easier to pronounce, and to forego the accordion in the future. Around the same time, Francis began working as a singer for demo records . These records were recorded and sent to the management of already established stars to introduce this new musical material.

1955–1957: Record deal and commercial failure

In 1955 the Startime Kids were discontinued. In May of the same year, George Franconero sen. and George Scheck, the manager of Connie Francis, the money for the production of four songs, with which Francis should get a contract as an independent artist with a record company. But every major record company in New York rejected them as untalented or not outstanding from the crowd. This was due to the fact that while she was a singer for demo records, Francis had received instructions to imitate the singing style of the star to whom the respective song was intended, i.e. show greats at the time such as Kitty Kallen or Kay Starr . As a result, Francis had not yet been able to develop an independent style.

Even when MGM Records finally offered her a contract, it only happened because the responsible manager of the record company, Harry A. Myerson, thought the track Freddy, recorded by Connie Francis, was a successful birthday present for his son of the same name. Freddy was released as a single and was a commercial failure - as did the following eight solo singles .

In the fall of 1957 Francis succeeded her first chart success, as The Majesty of Love , a duet she with Marvin Rainwater had taken to choose a week at No. 93 of the Hot 100 music magazine Billboard was able to place.

1957–1959: last chance and breakthrough

However, the humble hit came too late - the contract between Francis and MGM Records consisted of ten solo singles and one duet single. Even if the success with The Majesty of Love seemed to have come to an end, MGM Records announced that the contract would end after the last outstanding solo single.

Francis had already considered studying medicine and successfully applied for a four-year scholarship at New York University. During her supposedly last recording session on October 2, 1957, she recorded a version of the standard Who’s Sorry Now? Written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby . on. In her autobiography, Francis reports that this was only due to the persistence of her father, who was convinced that the song, written as early as 1923, could become a hit if only presented in a modern arrangement.

Francis didn't like this song and had argued heatedly with her father about it. Now she delayed the recording of the other songs so far that, in her opinion, there was not enough time left on the permanently recording tape to record Who's Sorry Now? still to be able to record. But her father was not deterred, so the song was recorded after all, after which there were only a few seconds left on the tape.

Like all previous ones, Who's Sorry Now? to end on a flop - as Francis had predicted. But on January 1, 1958, the presenter Dick Clark first played the record on his daily show American Bandstand , then the most influential music show on American television. By mid-1958, over a million copies of Who's Sorry Now? sold, and Francis had become a global star - the record reached number 4 in the United States and number 1 in the UK .

MGM Records immediately offered her a new contract, which she signed despite other more lucrative offers, because MGM offered her unique working conditions thanks to the negotiating skills of her manager. Since MGM was not authorized to issue instructions to her, Francis had sole control over her record productions, had the sole right to decide whether or not to publish her recordings and was allowed to choose song material, recording studios and participating musicians himself. This made her the most independent record artist in the world.

The follow-up single I'm Sorry I Made You Cry ' was only a moderate success with a top rating at number 36, while the next single, Heartaches , completely missed the charts. It wasn't until the single Stupid Cupid , written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, that Francis returned to success: No. 14 in the United States and No. 1 in Great Britain. During the remainder of the 1950s, seven other singles made the top 40 in the United States. Modern versions of older songs alternated - such as B. My Happiness , which reached number 2 - and new material such as Lipstick On Your Collar (place 5) or Frankie (place 9).

1959–1973: International star

Following another suggestion from her father, Connie Francis recorded the album Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites in August 1959 , which was released in November 1959, reached number 4 on the album charts and is Francis' most successful album to date. The resulting single Mama reached number 8 in the United States and number 2 in Great Britain.

This album, which included both classics of Italian music like Santa Lucia and modern hits like Volare , marked the transition for Francis from teenage-oriented and fast-paced rock 'n' roll to more consistent adult entertainment, which her father thought was appropriate if she did aspired to a lasting career in the music business.

Still, Francis continued to record singles for the teenage market. Her big hits in the United States include Breakin 'in a Brand New Broken Heart (1961, 7th place), When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart) (1961, 10th place), Second Hand Love (1962, 9th place) and Where the Boys Are (1961, 4th place). The latter song became her trademark in English-speaking countries and was also the theme song of the first feature film in which she took part. Although she appeared in three other feature films, Francis never saw herself as a serious actress and turned down further offers after a last appearance in a television movie in 1966.

The success of Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites and the follow-up albums Connie Francis sings Spanish and Latin American Favorites , Connie Francis sings Jewish Favorites and More Italian Favorites (all 1960) resulted in Connie Francis alongside Eartha Kitt ( C'est si bon , Johnny If it's your birthday , Rosenkyssar) was one of the first American artists to record regularly in several languages. Other stars like Brenda Lee , Peggy March and Wanda Jackson should follow her. In her autobiography, Francis stated that in the early years of her career she struggled to be successful with her records in some countries because they preferred to hear music in their own language. As an example, she cited Germany, where Freddy Quinn regularly sold up to three million copies of a single, which corresponded to about twelve million on the US market.

With this in mind, Francis recorded the song Everybody's Somebody's Fool in April 1960 . It was clearly based on Guy Mitchell's hit Heartaches By the Number from 1959, the German version of which I count my worries daily was a huge success for Peter Alexander . But although Everybody's Somebody's Fool became Francis' first number 1 hit in the United States, the single didn't leave a lasting impression in Germany.

Francis had a German text written for him, and after a few disagreements between Francis himself and the responsible managers on both sides of the Atlantic, who considered the company to be a “career suicide”, the German recording Die Liebe ist ein Strangespiel was finally published and advanced to Germany most successful single of the year.

Contrary to popular belief, Francis has not recorded any other foreign language versions of Everybody's Somebody's Fool . The German version is the only one that comes from herself, even if other artists wrote the song in z. B. have included Swedish, Portuguese and Finnish languages.

Only with Many Tears Ago (number 7 in the US charts) and the subsequent cover versions (German: I never come back from you / Italian: Piangere per te mai più / Spanish: Dime que paso ) later in the year In 1960 Connie Francis began regularly recording foreign language cover versions of her own US hits. In the course of the following years, she expanded her recording portfolio to a total of fifteen languages: German , English , French , Greek , Hawaiian , Hebrew , Italian , Japanese , Yiddish , Latin , Neapolitan , Dutch , Portuguese , Swedish and Spanish .

She also sang and presented live in Romanian in 1970 during a concert at the “Cerbul de Aur” festival in Kronstadt .

Languages ​​such as Latin (e.g. on their 1959 Christmas album Christmas In My Heart ) and Romanian were used by Francis for cultural reasons and as a show of respect for their fans, while other languages ​​were mainly used to boost their record sales for the reasons stated above . In some of these languages, however, the recordings did not go beyond an experimental stage of at most three songs. Francis celebrated her greatest successes in Italy, Spain, Germany and Japan, which is why the languages ​​of these countries take up most of their language repertoire in addition to English. She only speaks English, Spanish and Italian fluently. For the rest, she always works closely with interpreters and language teachers who ensure that the pronunciation is as correct as possible.

Due to changing trends, Connie Francis' chart success on the Hot 100 began to decline in late 1962. Her last top ten hit was in the summer of 1962 with VACATION . Their singles reached the top 40 until 1964, after which they were only to be found in the lower ranks of the Hot 100 or missed the entry there entirely. On the other hand, it continued to land Top Ten hits on the increasingly important Adult Contemporary Charts and occasionally the Top 40 on the Country Charts. As a result, Francis remained continuously in the US charts throughout the 1960s, and she also remained successful abroad. In addition, she was still a sought-after live artist in the show temples of Las Vegas and New York City and made guest appearances in important international concert halls such as the London Palladium and the Olympia in Paris.

At the end of 1969, the contract with MGM Records expired, and Francis decided not to commit to their long-standing label. Tired of almost fifteen years, which she had continuously spent recording records, concert tours, filming, television appearances and traveling, she largely withdrew into private life in March 1970 after she had fulfilled the obligation of two last German-speaking singles and only occasionally stepped as Guest star at special events and TV shows.

In 1973, however, Francis returned to the recording studio and took (Should I) Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree? on GSF Records. This song was a so-called "answer song" ("answer song") to Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree by Tony Orlando & Dawn and just missed the entry into the charts. The project of a German version under the title The Answer remained unfinished. Another 1973 single, I Don't Want to Walk Without You , failed to hit the charts.

1974–1981: tragedy and return

After the modest success with (Should I) Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree? Connie Francis began performing regularly again. During an engagement at Westbury Music Fair in New York, she was brutally raped after a concert on November 8, 1974 in her motel room and almost suffocated under the weight of a heavy mattress that the attacker had thrown on her after his attack. Connie Francis sued the motel chain for damages after learning about a year later that the defective door lock that made the attacker's entry possible had not been repaired. Francis was awarded $ 2.5 million, which she used to set up a victim support group. In 1977, Francis lost her voice after a failed nose operation. Further operations followed to correct the condition, but even after that she had to take voice lessons; something she had never needed before in her life.

Nevertheless, Francis returned to the recording studio in 1978 and recorded the album Who's Happy Now? For United Artists Records . on. The standout recording of this album was a disc version of Where the Boys Are . She recorded this song - like the original version in 1960 - in Japanese, Italian and Spanish. More songs from the Who's Happy Now? were later recorded in Spanish and German and were released as separate albums under the titles Connie Francis En Español and Was ich bin, respectively .

In 1981 Francis recorded the two tracks Comme çi, comme ça and I'm Me Again . The latter song also became the title track of a subsequent album, which, in addition to the two new songs, mainly contained previously unreleased material from 1959 to 1969. The single I'm Me Again brought Connie Francis her last listing on the Adult Contemporary Charts. Both the single and the album were Connie Francis' last original releases on MGM Records before the label was discontinued in 1982 by PolyGram - which bought MGM Records in 1972.

1981–1988: Further strokes of fate

Her life was overshadowed by another tragedy in 1981 when her brother George Franconero Jr. was shot by the mafia.

Despite these new blows of fate, Francis continued her series of live performances and even performed again in Westbury. But influenced by the traumatic events of the past few years, she was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder , as a result of which she was forcibly admitted to eleven different psychiatric hospitals within four years. Connie Francis himself described these facilities as depressing and confessed to having almost committed suicide as a result of these experiences .

Still, Francis was able to complete her autobiography Who's Sorry Now? to write and publish in 1984. Furthermore, she worked again in the recording studio, but despite her success in the country charts in 1982 with the single There's Still a Few Good Love Songs Left in Me , many other recordings did not go beyond the pure recording stage.

1989 – today: late work

It was not until 1989 that Connie Francis was able to devote more time to her career. For Malaco Records she recorded the double album Where the Hits Are , which contained re-recordings of eighteen of her greatest hits as well as six pop classics by other artists who were particularly close to Francis.

In 1992, Francis made a comeback in Germany when five of their greatest German hits were combined into a dance medley, accompanied by a modern dance rhythm and released as " Jive Connie ". This medley immediately reached the top of the German charts and gave Francis, among other things, the award for “Best Comeback of the Year”. She subsequently recorded two duets for the Herzklang label with Peter Kraus , with whom she had already worked several times between 1959 and 1962.

In 1996, The Return Concert live at Trump's Castle followed, the first live album since Connie Francis at The Sahara in Las Vegas in 1966, and with Love to Buddy , a tribute album with songs by Buddy Holly, who died in 1959, followed in 1997 .

Since then, there has been no further original release by a major record label, but Francis occasionally publishes limited-edition CD albums and EPs with previously unpublished material from her private archive on her own label Concetta Records .

As a live artist, Francis remained active, so in 2004 she had her first engagement as the main act of one of the show temples of Las Vegas since 1989, in 2007 she gave several sold-out concerts in the Castro Theater in San Francisco , and in 2008 she undertook a small tour of Asia. In 2010 she performed again in Las Vegas with Dionne Warwick under the announcement "Eric Floyd's Grand Divas of Stage".

plant

Singing style and stage presence

Connie Francis is best known for her ballad- style recordings , which she performed in a "sob" way. On stage, Connie Francis accompanies her emotional presentation with dramatic gestures.

Musical genres

While Connie Francis' singles concentrated almost exclusively on commerce and followed the then current sounds such as rock 'n' roll, twist or the girl group sound founded by Ellie Greenwich , among others , she presented herself on her albums in a wealth of styles, such as rhythm and blues , vocal jazz , country music , musical melodies , children's songs, sacred music, traditionals from various ethnic groups represented in the United States to film soundtracks and portraits of contemporary composers such as Burt Bacharach or Hal David .

Discography

Filmography (cinema)

Original title German distribution title year role Contributors Director producer Remarks
Rock, rock, rock! Rock, rock, rock 1956 Dori Graham
(vocals only) 		Tuesday Weld , Valerie Harper , Chuck Berry , LaVern Baker Will Price Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky Connie Francis sang the songs that Tuesday Weld presented in their scenes on full playback
jamboree - 1957 Honey Winn
(vocals only) 		Freda Holloway, Paul Carr, Dick Clark Roy Lockwood Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky Connie Francis sang the songs that Freda Holloway presented in her scenes on full playback
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw Reluctant sheriff 1958 Miss Kate
(vocals only) 		Jayne Mansfield , Kenneth More , Bruce Cabot , Sid James Raoul Walsh David M. Angel Connie Francis sang the songs that Jayne Mansfield presented in her scenes on full playback
Where the Boys Are This ... includes two
(even at night when I'm dreaming ) 		1961 Angie Paula Prentiss , Yvette Mimieux , Dolores Hart , George Hamilton , Jim Hutton Henry Levin Joe Pasternak -
Follow the boys My ship goes to you 1963 Bonnie Pulaski Paula Prentiss, Janis Paige , Russ Tamblyn Richard Thorpe Lawrence P. Bachmann -
Looking for love I would love to be in love 1964 Libby Caruso Johnny Carson , Pat Priest , Jim Hutton Don Weis Joe Pasternak -
When the Boys Meet the Girls Boy of my dreams 1965 Ginger Gray Harve Presnell , Louis Armstrong , Herman's Hermits , Liberace Alvin Ganzer Sam Kazman -

Filmography (television)

title year role Contributors Director producer
The Sister and the Savage 1966 Sister Mary Clare James Farentino , Steve Carlson Gerald Mayer unknown

bibliography

title Year of publication publishing company ISBN
For Every Young Heart 1963 Prentice Hall None
(Note: The ISBN was only introduced in 1966)
Who's Sorry Now? 1984 St. Martin's Press ISBN 0-312-87088-4

Private life

Bobby in it

In 1956 Connie Francis met the then unknown artist Bobby Darin . A romance developed between the two and they planned to get married. George Franconero Sr. however, he broke the link by threatening Darin with a gun in front of witnesses in a television studio. This ended the relationship between Francis and Bobby Darin, who later married Sandra Dee . To this day, Connie Francis calls Bobby Darin the love of her life.

Marriages

Connie Francis was married four times. Her first marriage to Richard "Dick" Kannellis ended in 1964 after three months; Francis cited domestic violence as the reason for divorce.

In 1971 she married Izadore Marion, from whom she divorced in 1972 because of "insurmountable differences".

His marriage to Joseph Garzilli in 1973 failed in 1975 due to the long-term consequences of the rape in the previous year (see also section Tragedy and Return ).

From 1985 to 1986 Connie Francis was married to television producer Bob Parkinson, from whom she also divorced because of "insurmountable differences".

children

Connie Francis is the adoptive mother of Joseph “Joey” Garzilli Jr., born in 1974.

Politics and activism

Presence in popular culture

  • When the character Amber von Tussle in the film Hairspray chooses the song Shake a Tail Feather by the African American group The Five Du-Tones as a dance number for an appearance on a television show, she is reprimanded for it by her racist mother Velma von Tussle , whereby she asks, "Do you have something against Connie Francis?" (1988).
  • Connie Francis' Hit Lipstick on your Collar from 1959 served as the theme song for the British television series Lipstick on Your Collar (1993)
  • The Connie Francis recorded version of I Will Wait For You from the film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg appeared in the Stone Age episode of the television series Futurama (2002).
  • The Connie Francis recorded version of Mama can be heard in the film Mambo Italiano (2003).

literature

  • Gerrit Jan Appel (Ed.): Among Our Souvenirs - Memories of Connie Francis. LULU Enterprises, Morrisville (North Carolina), 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-025163-4 .
  • Connie Francis: For Every Young Heart. Prentice Hall, 1963. (autobiography)
  • Charlotte Greig: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Girl bands from the 50s to today. German translation by Markus Schröder. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1991, ISBN 3-499-18854-6 .
  • Bernd Matheja: A thousand pinpricks. British and Americans sing in German. Bear Family Records, Hambergen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89916-282-0 .

Web links

Commons : Connie Francis  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Roller Coaster Life of Connie Francis , Boomer Magazine, December 1, 2017
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Connie Francis: Who's Sorry Now? St. Martin's Press, 1984, ISBN 0-312-87088-4 . ( Autobiography )
  3. ^ A b c d e f William Ruhlmann: Connie Francis 1955-1959. Book accompanying the 5-CD retrospective White Sox, Pink Lipstick… and Stupid Cupid . Bear Family Records BCD 16 616 EI, Hambergen 1993.
  4. ^ A b c Ron Roberts: Connie Francis Discography 1955–1973. Fan club project from 1973, revised and expanded editions 1979 and 1983.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Connie Francis u. a .: souvenirs. Book accompanying the 4-CD retrospective souvenirs . Polydor, New York 1995, cat. No. 314 533 382-2.
  6. ↑ a b c d Interview with Larry King (transcription; English)
  7. ↑ a b History and US album discography of the MGM Records label
  8. ^ A b Jan Feddersen: Connie Francis. Book accompanying the 5-CD retrospective Let me have the colorful dreams . Bear Family Records BCD 15 786 EI, Hambergen 1994.
  9. ^ A b Richard Weize: Connie Francis. Book accompanying the 8 LP retrospective Connie Francis in Germany . Bear Family Records BFX 15 305, Hambergen / Vollersode 1988.
  10. ^ Website about the history of R.SH
  11. ↑ Connie Francis - Sweetheart of Song , television documentary about the life of Connie Francis, production of the American TV station Biography Channel
personal data
SURNAME Francis, Connie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Franconero, Concetta Rosa Maria (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Newark , New Jersey , United States