Connie Francis, The #76 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Connie Francis (real name Connie Franconero) was born in Newark, New Jersey. Beginning at age four, her father encouraged Connie to perform regularly at talent contests, pageants and other festivities as a singer and accordion player. Francis graduated from Belleville High School in New Jersey and soon afterward, began rehearsals for an appearance on the television show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.

Godfrey advised her to change her stage name to Connie Francis which she did.  She got a job as a singer on demo records, then her manager George Scheck and her father raised the money so Connie could record four songs for her own demo.  Every record label turned her down, because while Francis through her experience as a demo singer could copy other popular singers, she had yet to develop her own distinctive sound.

MGM Records finally signed her, because one track on her demo, "Freddy" happened to be the name of the son of a company executive, Harry Myerson, who thought the song a good idea for a birthday gift.  "Freddy" was thus released as Connie's first single, but it flopped, as did her next eight solo singles.  Francis did record the "singing" scenes for Tuesday Weld in the 1956 movie Rock, Rock, Rock, and for Freda Holloway the following year in the movie Jamboree.

In 1957, a duet with Marvin Rainwater, "The Majesty of Love", gave Francis her first hit.  But it was too little, too late for MGM and they told Connie her contract would end after her next solo single.

Francis thought about her options.  She considered a career in medicine and was about to accept a four-year scholarship offer at New York University.  At what was to be her final recording session for MGM, Connie was set to record some songs.  Her father suggested she record a cover version of the 1923 song "Who's Sorry Now?"

Connie protested, not liking the song.  She recorded several other songs and insisted she didn't have room on the recording tape to record the song her father wanted her to.  Nonetheless, she sang it and finished the song with just seconds to spare on the tape.  "Who's Sorry Now?" was released to the public.

The single was initially ignored like all her previous releases.  But on January 1, 1958 the song debuted on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.  By mid-year, the single had sold over one million copies and hit #1 in the U.K. and #4 in the United States.

For the next four years, Francis was voted Best Female Vocalist by viewers of American Bandstand.  Oh, and MGM, the label that was about to terminate her contract, resigned her.  After two successive singles failed to chart, however, Francis met with songwriters Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, and together, they came up with "Stupid Cupid", which was #14 in the U.S. but gave Francis her second U.K. #1.

The song gave Francis new momentum, and she enjoyed seven more hits in the 1950's, led by "My Happiness", a #2 smash.

"Among My Souvenirs" went to #7 and also was certified Gold.

In 1959, Francis achieved the rare feat of spinning both sides of a single into gold, as the A-side, "Lipstick On Your Collar" went to #5.

The B-side of that single that also sold one million copies was "Frankie", which reached #9.

At the suggestion of her father, Francis traveled to London to record an Italian album at Abbey Road Studios called Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites.  It became her top-selling album, reaching #4 on the album chart and staying on the chart for 81 weeks.  "Mama" was the lead single, which hit #8 in the United States and #2 in the U.K.

Seven more albums of "Favorites" followed between 1960 and 1964, including Jewish, German and Irish Favorites, among others.  This period marked Francis' transition from youth-oriented rock & roll to Easy Listening.  In 1960, she released "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", which became her biggest hit with a #1 song and gold record.  

"My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own" gave Connie another #1 song later in the year.

Connie wrapped up an excellent year with the #7 song "Many Tears Ago", which also went Gold.

Francis saw potential in the German market, and recorded a song that lyricist Ralph Maria Siegel had written ("Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel".  The song went to #1 in Germany, and Francis would have six more German #1's.

After that success, Francis began to record cover versions of her own songs in foreign languages besides German, expanding her portfolio to 15 languages over the next few years.  Soon, Francis was voted the #1 singer in over ten countries.  She starred in television specials all over the world, including England, Germany, Spain, and Italy.  

Francis continued her Easy Listening theme with her first release in 1961 that was the theme to Connie's first movie.  It reached #4 and is arguably her best song.  It too went Gold.

But Francis still recorded songs aimed at the younger market.  "Breakin' In A Brand New Broken Heart" reached #7.

"Together" at #6 followed close behind.

In 1962, Francis scored her third career #1 with "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You".  Her great success gave her the freedom as an artist to choose which songs to record.  She performed for Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland and performed for U.S. troops in Vietnam.  

As hot as Connie was, a phenomenon was about to occur that would change music forever.  The Beatles had already scored big in the U.K. and they were about to conquer America like no one had ever done before.  Francis and many other similar artists had enjoyed huge success singing ballads while the Rock Era was in its infancy.  After the Beatles, these type of songs were largely pushed aside in favor of more up-tempo numbers.

Francis never had another Top 10 hit after Beatlemania, with 23 consecutive releases failing to make it big.  She continued to record through the 1990's and still appears live on stage at age 74. 

Connie's hometown of Belleville, New Jersey erected the street sign "Connie Francis Court" at the corner of Greylock Parkway and Forest Street, near the house in which she grew up.   

Just one of Francis' albums has gone gold, despite the fact that 55 years have gone by since her first release.  She had 56 hits in her career, with 16 of those going Top 10 and three #1's.  But as explained above, the onset of Beatlemania and the huge effect it had on the music business and culture in general has made nearly all of the Easy Listening songs of the 50's and early 60's, including most of Connie's, obsolete.

The truth is that the new sound was so great that many, many artists couldn't compete with it, and many of the early Rock Era hits haven't stood up to time.  But Connie definitely had her day.