Dataloungers, please educate me on Connie Francis -- PART II

It's probably already been mentioned but Fallin' is a fucking masterpiece. That's all I know about Connie.

Connie Francine is the greatest selling female recording artist of all time.

Connie experts out there, I've already begun listening to Christmas music. Never too early. I was wondering if Connie ever recorded a Christmas album.

44 years ago tonight, November 8, 1974, Connie appeared at Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, Long Island to a rapturous reception. And then...

This pic was taken that very day, R4.

Of course, R3.

I love Connie, but I found her "LIVE at HoJo's" album deeply disturbing.

What I don't understand about that the Hojo's incident is why she was alone. Didn't her husband Joe Garzilli always travel with her. Where was her family who always seemed to be undertow, and why was the door apparently left ajar?

Why was she at a HoJo's? Even I wouldn't have stayed there.

It's not so much that she was at HoJo's, but why did she leave the door ajar?

That particular Hojo's was right down the road from Westbury Music Fair, now the NYCB Theatre at Westbury. Many performers who used to do week long gigs at Westbury would stay at Hojo's because it was one of the few hotels on LI with room service. In fact, it was one of the few hotels, period. Judy Garland had stayed there in 1967. Many singers didn't want to schlep into Manhattan and then have to sit in traffic for two hours coming back. So Hojo was a convenience. Dealing with well-known performers who played at Westbury, you think they would have had security. Different times.

I think it is in questionable taste for Connie to lie in her bed at HoJo's, with the door ajar, screaming: "Get ya 'All Ya Can Eat Clams' right here, fellas!"

Was the door ajar or was the screen cut and then he broke in?

The door was ajar. And Connie left a trail of fried chicken from the elevator to her bed. WHORE!

She wasn't travelling alone, she had friends staying in another room in the motel. The rapist broken in through the sliding glass doors.

The door locks were defective and it had no charlie bar. The hotel was held responsible and it was a hallmark case that changed hotel security laws. The jury awarded Connie the largest award to that date for that type of crime. Her entourage stayed on the same floor, but her husband was away on business. I am surprised though that a family member was not with her, as someone always seemed to be with her, mother, aunt, etc. It was a vicious attack. Out of this, Connie formulated the Victims Rights Laws and got them passed. She used her award money to do this with the help of President Reagan and a police commissioner in Broward County, Florida.

R3 Connie recorded a Christmas LP at Abbey Road Studios in London. It was a very popular LP. The stand out tracks on the LP are Winter Wonderland and I;ll Be Home For Christmas and Silent Night, IMO. Her Christmas single is one that I do not care for, Baby's First Christmas. She released I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter in January, but I think that should have been her Christmas release. I havr always wondered why, with her affinity for languages, that she never released a Christmas Around The World. That would have been great! Imagine Silent Night in German by her.

It was a horrible, brutal attack. Thank God she survived it but the PTSD must be rough.

What also sealed her case against the hotel, was that 3 months later when her lawyer returned to the room, the hotel still had not fixed the door. The court case was on the news and cameras were allowed into the court room. Today, it is likely that the case would have been broadcast on cable news. Her father tried to prevent the cameras in the court room, but it was deemed that she was a public figure and the cameras were allowed.

R1 Fallin' was the best song that Sedaka, Greenflied, Keller wrote for her. It was used in a few movies and in a Target commercial a few years back for Fall. The B side was Happy Days and Lonely Nights and I believe that that was an old Al Jolson song.

[quote]The B side was Happy Days and Lonely Nights and I believe that that was an old Al Jolson song.

God, I fucking HATE any Al Jolson shit. MAKE IT STOP!

Connie's lawsuit. For the doubters, note that the Federal Court of NY stated as a FACTS:

[quote] The proof showed that Connie Francis was and is an internationally known singer, recording artist and professional entertainer who, prior to her partial retirement in 1971, was earning substantial sums for her personal appearances

[quote] It was undisputed that in the course of her career, which commenced when she was ten years old, she had sold approximately 80 million records

[quote] Connie Francis, then aged 35, was a "superstar" of extraordinary talent and that she would continue to be a leading performer for at least the next 25 years.

[R16]THANK YOU..the hotel door locks were defective which is why Connie won 3 million. I might add Connie Francis was on Ed Sullivan performing in mules.What a super-star. But i see the Dusty Springfield hoes are running in with negative nancy hate.So goodnight. Connie Francis is a legend...that's why they are mad.

Can any of the Connie experts speak about the alleged relationship with Bobby Darin? To this day, Connie speaks about him glowingly, and it's clear he was the great love of her life. But some have suggested that the notion was unrequited on Connie's part and that Darin did not share her feelings. He had been involved with someone else at the time and ultimately married Sandra Dee. But they would have made a delightful singing duo. They looked so perfect together. Does anyone have more info? If George Franconero chased Darin off with a gun, he had to pose some kind of threat!

Bobby never mentioned her in interviews.

When is the feature film of our Connie's extraordinary life going to get made? How this has eluded Hollywood for over two decades is incredible. And what a story there is to tell. Besides legendary music, assorted tragedy, mental illness, pill addiction, rape, spousal abuse, botched nose job, loss of voice, brother's rubout, abuse of father, loss of father, comebacks, success, failure, there is above all, resiliency. Connie is one woman that the industry didn't bury, but empowered. She is the consummate survivor of the all. Gloria Estefan had expressed interest in playing Connie, but there was dispute as to the writer of the screenplay. This is something that needs the expertise of a Martin Scorsese, and what a film it could be in his hands. Who would play Connie throughout her life is the question. Anne Hathaway with the right prosthetics for young to middle aged Connie?

Fuck you, R12. Rape is so funny.

R24 Darin and Connie were close before they were famous. Darin wrote a song called My First Real Love for Connie and he sang backup and was billed as The Blue Jays. The record went nowhere. Both were close. Her conductor and arranger at the time, Joe Mele, would bring them together secretly to avoid Connie;s father';s interference. Connie has said that they planned to elope and that is the debatable part. They achieved fame almost at the same time, and it is my opinion that each forgot about the other with the whirlwind fame, especially Connie. I might be wrong. Ed Sullivan introduced them as lovers when they sang duets together on his show. Connie recently has stated that the marriage if it would have occurred would have failed as Bobby could not commit to one woman. I think everything looks better in hind sight. Bobby introduced her to Don Kirschner and they began life-long friends. Connie introduced Bobby to Wayne Newton whom, according to Wayne, he had emulated. Wayne and Connie remain friends. Bobby had a great deal of problems. He found out that his mother was really his grandmother and his mother was really who he came to know as an aunt. I am not sure of the latter relationship. It might be sister. That overwhelmed him. His marriage to Sandra Dee, who resembled Connie, was short-lived. He eventually was living in the woods. Connie tried to get him to see a specific cardiac surgeon for his congenital heart problem, but he never did. He was supposed to live until 30, but he lived several years longer than that.

R26 Gloria wanted to play Connie and Connie and she and her husband worked on it for several years. However, Connie did not agree to the producer that they wanted to use, and nothing became of the project. Dolly Parton was then interested in producing it, but I think Connie after all of the years and problems with it, lost interest. Dick Clark wanted to produce a made-for TV movie, but Connie did not want it to be made for TV. Valerie Bertenelli expressed interest in playing her and for some time she was favored. Beverly D'Angelo as well. Connie now states that it should be an unknown. Gloria has been encouraging her daughter, who sings, to sing Connie hits. IMO, it does not work.

Ed Sullivan Duet

There was another duet with Bobby on youtube, You Make Me Feel So Young, but it has been removed. The sound quality was much better than the above video.

This might be better audio of the above duet.

LOve letters from Bobby to Connie.

[quote]His marriage to Sandra Dee, who resembled Connie, was short-lived.

LOL. Yeah right. Sandra Dee looked positively Southern Italian!

News Flash: no one is going to make a Connie Francis biopic.

R33 Of course his biopic "Beyond The Sea" completely ignores her. I imagine a lot of these Bobby/Connie stories are completely made up. His career never ebbed. She became irrelevant. It seems that he didn't want to be associated with her... but she just doesn't give up on those stories....how many times do we have to hear them?

And BTW: that Christmas Album is positively dreadful.

"Fallin'" on the other hand is really good. What a shame they made her sing all that other crap when she had the talent to to be so much better.

R35 The biopic also ignored his second wife. It was not a true biopic. It did not present the divorce from Sandra Dee, and by resembling Connie it is meant in stature and features.

Bobby's son has spoken about the relationship between Connie and Bobby on a TV documentary.

Wish I had better copy, but this song is so beautiful.

R35 I see we have our Connie poo-pooer back. Darin never ebbed? Connie became irrelevant? I happen to love Bobby Darin and don't want to make negative comparisons, but he and Connie had a great deal in common as people and as performers. Darin, for your information, only charted 6 top 10 singles in his entire career. Connie had 16 top 10 and international sales that continued for three decades after Darin's death. Both became politically active, both had their share of familial dysfunction and personal tragedy. After the Beatles invasion, both were having difficulty finding hit songs. Darin turned to country, Francis went international. They both were prominent in nightclubs. However, in your 'never ebbed" statement, you might have overlooked that Darin missed many performances, needed oxygen before, after, and during performances and was not expected to surpass the age of 30. He lived til 37. Darin's son spoke at length of the relationship between his father and Connie. The feelings were genuine. They just go to prove that most of us never end up with the person we truly love, for a variety of reasons. But worse is to get stuck with the one we don't.

R39 Beautiful. Just beautiful. Barbra Streusel eat your heart out with pancakes and coffee ice cream!

Fallin' showed what Connie could do outside of her grandfrau music. They just never ran with it.

Christmas In My Heart aka Connie's Christmas

Vacation is fabulous too. Not a trace of grandfrau in that either.

The recording of a WNEW Radio special at Basin Street East. The shot was taken during the warming up period. The radio special was designed to tie in with Connie's then new MGM Records release, "A New Kind of Connie..." which had been arranged and conducted by Marty Paich.

R43 Thanks for noting the Great reviews for her Christmas LP

Amazon Reviews

Connie belongs in the Hall of Fame, no question. Her talent and millions of fans,including me...demand it.Even the haters in this thread,are fascinated by her...as they troll her through many thread's.

Connie in Fiat commercial with cool remix.

Bobby Darin had ups and downs in his career but he was always an A-list star.

He was nominated for an Oscar in '63. Appeared in films through the 60s. Had a major hit in 1966. Wrote "A Simple Song of Freedom". Never stopped his TV appearances. Had his own TV shows in the early 1970s. The TV shows were short lived but the fact that the networks offered him two of them proves that he was still A-list. And he did all of this despite grave heath problems.

Connie Francis on the other hand was irrelevant by the mid 60s. A relic from another era. No TV specials or series. No films. No top 10. No original songs introduced.

About "Vacation". It was the type of music that was a joke just 2 years later.

R39 Unlistenable. That teary vibrato thing she did ruined so many of her recordings. It was so hokey. It made everything sound like "Mama". When she put it aside she sounded so much more modern.

For "Fallin" alone though she deserves recognition from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That was recorded in 1958. There were no other solo female singers doing something like that.

"Eighteen", one of her early rock songs.

R30 I really wish flash-in-the-pan pop stars wouldn't ruin Cole Porter's clever lyrics by making them about themselves.

R53 That is "Rock" in the sense that it sounds like "June Allyson *is* Rock and Roll in MGM's Hep New Beatnik Musical!"

R55, that song is rock in 1957.

R56 No it was not. It was a white, sanitized, pop version of rock.

Connie Francis did "rock" like Pat Boone did "rock."

White Elvis was much better with Jailhouse Rock.

R57 - Oh yes, it was rock, and Connie Francis was the female pioneer of it all and stands as the largest selling female recording artist of the era. No one topped her. And what they fuck did you expect her to sound like? Aretha Franklin?

[quote]No one topped her.

Rufus at the HoJo's might disagree . . .

R55 It does sound like an MGM musical version of what rock was supposed to be. "Fallin'" sounds a lot more genuine. But even so, it's pretty sexy and innovative for the era.

Listen to it again...and image Bjork singing it. Now that would be fun.

"Fallin" does sound more genuine. But maybe because it wasn't a hit, she moved to more Lawrence Welkish arrangements.

She is now a coach.

R39 Whoever You Are...is a beautiful track. I believe she has a few versions of it. Eighteen would have made it to the top of the charts had it been re-released after Who's Sorry Now., her first million seller.

BTW...Whoever You are is from her MGM musical comedy Looking For Love. The music by Claus Ogerman was the best thing about that movie. It co-starred Danny Thomas with whom she did a duet and Johnny Carson, her good friend, made a cameo appearance. He joked about the movie on his show.

It was a bomb. Ended her movie career. Her style of singing... in that whimpering teary way at R39 was awful. The song went nowhere. Easy to understand why.

R65 The song was not released as a single, and Connie is the first to say the movie was bad. It did not end her movie career. She was to do 4 movies according to her contract and she had one more to go after Looking For Love, and it was When The Boys Meet The Girls which she tried to get out of. She herself did not like doing movies.

Connie's movies: Where The Boys Are - a huge hit Follow The Boys filmed at the Italian Riveria Looking For Love When The Boys Meet The Girls

Bob Hope requested that she do a movie for his TV show, and she did A Sister and The Savage.....great music never released. About Follow The boys she has stated, What can be said about a movie in which the ship gives the best performance. She stated that she tried desperately to get out of doing WTBMTG, but MGM insisted. She stated upon viewing the film, the person running the projector left an entire reel out and no one noticed. Connie is so down to earth! Connie stated that she hated the length of time it took to film a short scene, and when she was not in a segment for some time, she ended up in the recording studio. Eithe the Spanish and Latin American LP or Jewish LP was recorded during breaks from the movie Where The Boys Are. She did not attend the premier of the movie at Radio City Music Hall or in Fort Lauderdale as he lacked interest, and did not know what a big movie it woudl become.

R61 Fallin' was a hit, although not a million seller and it should have been.

From Wikapedia:

Fallin'" can be heard in the 1996 film The Craft in which the Helen Shaver character uses the insurance windfall she receives after her abusive husband is dispatched by her daughter's witchcraft to purchase a jukebox stocked with Connie Francis singles. In 1999 Francis sued Universal Music Group – who by then held the MGM catalog – over "Fallin'"'s appearance in The Craft as well as the appearance of her songs in two other films (Postcards From America and Jawbreaker). The suit was dismissed.

In 2008 "Fallin'" was used in the UK in a television commercial for Special K. In September, 2012, Target started using the song in a new commercial.

Wanda Jackson, who also recorded "Stupid Cupid", has recorded "Fallin'". Meanwhile, the song's composer, Neil Sedaka, cut his own version for his 1959 debut album Rock With Sedaka; Sedaka's version served as B-side for his RCA Italiana single "All I Need Is You".

References

Thousands and thousands of songs have been used in films and TV over the years. It's no big deal.

One of my favorite CF live performances, along with Born Free. It is from her popular Never On Sunday LP.

The Never On Sunday LP was Connie's first venture into Nashville. The Jordanaires sang back up for the LP. She was invited to sing Never On Sunday on the Oscars and despite a foreign song never having won, it did win the Oscar. This LP started a long relationship with the Jordanaires and Connie.

[quote] Connie's movies: .... Follow The Boys..... Looking For Love...... When The Boys Meet The Girls

She was nominated for a Laurel Award for each of those films, 3 years in a row.

[quote]She was nominated for a Laurel Award for each of those films, 3 years in a row.

Are these "Laurel Awards" like the "Sizzler Regional Hostess of the Year" awards, only less important?

I've been listening to her old hits on YouTube. The girl could sing! And it's so fun to listen to her songs.

Hardly, R74. Other Laurel Award winners: Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Andrews, Katharine Hepburn

A live medley (Where The Boys Are/ I'm So Excited/ Yesterday) performance when featured for an hour on On Stage America.

Concetta named this as the worst song she's ever recorded. It's certainly no masterpiece, but I kind of like it.

R71 more of her teary eyed whimpering. Just dreadful. A perfect example of why she was soon old-hat. It sounds exactly like the Andrea Martin parody.

R77 second rate singing. For some who by then had been singing for years she sounds amateurish.

Cute opening song to her movie.

Her elocution of lyrics in R78 makes Patti LuPone sound like Julie Andrews.

It's difficult to understand why she wasn't a huge movie star. She isn't stiff or awkward in R80 at all. No, not one bit.

I haven't been following these threads.

Does Connie Francis really have this big of a following on the DL, or are these threads populated by just a few posters?

R83 These threads are full of people enjoying the grand Datalounge tradition of getting under the skin of a few fanatical, gushing fans.

[quote]Cute opening song to her movie.

Cute? She's dressed like a nun and doing the latest moves from 1961.

Meanwhile the Beatles had taken over and the Supremes were singing "Baby Love" and "Come See About Me".

She was by now a joke.

Just google the bitch.

Great Joe Mazzu arrangement medley Exodus.Havah Nagilah

[quote] She's dressed like a nun and doing the latest moves from 1961.

This version better, R85?

Nothing amateur like about it. SHe sounded great, especially on Yesterday.

On Sullivan.....

She had a surprisingly good voice for gospel. I wouldn't have thought it.

R88 She is the Brenda Dickson of lyric reading.

Why is she dressed like someone in her late 40s in R90's clip?

She really needed better stylists.

CF on her dresses.

R94 She sounds D R U N K!

R95She hardly sounds drunk. She sounds hoarse though.

Notorious alcoholic.

R97 You must be nuts!

Connie, messed up on booze and lithium, famously soiled herself at the London Palladium.

Several audience members in the orchestra who stayed were sick to their stomachs from the vile smell.

If in 1970 Warren Beatty had followed through with his plan to co-star with Connie in a remake of "A Star is Born," it would have completely made Barbra's version unnecessary and opened up a whole new career for Connie. But problems with the script doomed the project from the get-go. Just imagine what other roles she could have gone on to play. I can definitely see her in "Coming Home, "Klute" and "The Exorcist." And if she'd stayed busy in Hollywood, Howard Johnson's would never have happened.

If Connie's life story were ever made into a feature film, imagine what a director like Martin Scorsese would do with the night at Howard Johnson's. It could really make some fantastic film, there is so much drama, tragedy, loss. I don't blame Connie for holding out. She did not want her story to be a made for TV film, which is what Gloria Estefan was looking to do. First of all, Estefan would be completely wrong to play Connie, and it's good the opportunity fell through. Anne Hathaway could do an awesome job with the right makeup and prosthetics. In the right hands, the project could be an Oscar winner for some actress and really bring Connie's legacy into a new generation. Of course, you ask, what would the point of it all be? She's a has been. She's irrelevant. No one under 60 cares. Well, guess what, bitches? A quality film can make them care. It could teach them about resiliency, survival, and the ability to ease away from the spotlight with grace and dignity. Connie's own quote: "I would rather be known for the depths from which I rose than the heights I achieved."

R101 Don't be taken. Connie continues to have millions of fans the world-over, but you are right! The right director/studio would create a blockbuster film similar to What's Love Got To Do With It.

I have no idea if she is drunk or not in R94, but she is hilarious.

She was Cricket on "Hawaiian Eye." Cute as a button!

They are often confused. Both NJ Italians born the same year.

[quote]If in 1970 Warren Beatty had followed through with his plan to co-star with Connie in a remake of "A Star is Born," it would have completely made Barbra's version unnecessary and opened up a whole new career0 for Connie.

Fans are so adorable.

By 1970, NOBODY was going to cast Connie Francis in a movie, especially in A Star is Born. The whole point of the female role is that she is an up-and-coming to contrast with the man, who is a has-been. By 1970 Connie was the has-been.

Maybe if they were re-doing Sunset Boulevard, and were looking for an "actress" with no charisma...

I always confuse her with Annette Funicello

R106 YOU have no charisma. Get off this fucking thread!

R107 Connie Francis is an international legend. Annette Funicello is known for Mickey Mouse Club, the other half of Frankie, Skippy Peanut Butter, and MS. R102 - And speaking of Funicello, a very cheesy movie of the week was done about her life. I remember Linda Lavin played her mother. It was bad, and that's just the type of mistake Connie has to avoid. There is a major movie. The reason I mention Scorsese as director is that he could convey the 1950s, 60s, 70s period with stunning accuracy and bringing the Italian American Mafia-esque New Jersey sensibility to the film. He could recreate scenes of violence and tension and confrontation better than anybody. George chasing Bobby Darin off with a gun; Connie trying to sing in her basement but can't and then burns all her albums in 3 garbage cans; her brother's assassination; the ventures into and out the institutions. But this movie would also need a fair share of sentimentality and longing. The torch she carried for Bobby Darin should be ever present as the great love of her life who she never ended up with, another tragedy. I know Scorsese was toying with doing Sinatra's life as a feature, but then it got nixed by his estate. Apparently, he wanted to portray the darker side of Frank. Well, now he has the next best singer and performer. I even have the title of the film and it's not "Who's Sorry Now." That suggests bitterness and cynicism, not necessarily survival, resiliency, and serenity. There's a line that Connie sings in "If I Should Never Sing Another a Song." It's "Once Upon a Song." That would be the title. "Once Upon a Song." The life of Connie Francis.

Connie Francis was hitting the bottle really hard by 1970.

The stories are legendary -- and sad.

R110 I think you have been hitting the bottle.

No, no, R106. Warren wanted Connie STEVENS for A Star Is Born.

r106, I think r100 sort of made that up. Connie was not an actress and nobody would have seriously considered her for any of those roles.

r109, Connie's brother wasn't "assassinated." He was a member of the Mafia and the victim of a mob hit.

No one is ever going to make a movie of Connie's story because there is no real ending. Has-been singer gets raped at cheap motel. Suffers from mental illness. Gives series of disastrous performances. Retires. Lives out life as recluse except for a few scattered public appearances. There was no triumphant comeback. No personal victories. It's nice that she's done some victims advocacy and volunteer work, and that she survived, but it doesn't have the makings of a movie.

Also problemmatic: Francis doesn't have many signature songs. Most of her records were covers of other people's hits, or were, frankly, unforgettable. When was her last hit record? Early '60s? Francis' fans might say, "Look at Patsy Cline! She hasn't had a hit since the '50s!" But Cline had some amazing work behind her when she died, and the promise of more. Connie Francis has had the long life that was denied Patsy Cline, and did nothing with it.

And for the record, singing in many foreign languages for foreign distribution seems the action of someone who would do anything to make a buck, not a star secure in her career.

Who knew Connie did pinup shoots as well?! She had a pretty nice ass.

Werk that leopard pole, queen!

Yaassss queen!

Vintage pics of Connie always remind me of a young Nancy Reagan. Well-scrubbed but no great beauty. Connie probably sucked at giving blow jobs, though.

[quote] Warren wanted Connie STEVENS for A Star Is Born.

No, Warren wanted Connie CHUNG for A Star Is Born.

You are all idiots. Beatty wanted ANN Francis.

I think it's appalling how her record label exploited her personal tragedies.

Beatty was planning on changing the story so that a handsome young MALE ingenue would marry an older, drab FEMALE has-been, so Connie would have been perfect for that. Of course, Beatty is older than Connie but she's always looked older than her age, and certainly sings like it, so it would have been perfectly believable.

Instead, he went on to make Shampoo. He wanted Connie as his co-star but she wasn't comfortable with the idea of simulating going underneath a table to give him a blow-job. What would her fans think? So the role was handed down to Julie Christie. Oh, what might have been!

R113 What an idiot fuck you are, and a true pompous ass who knows nothing about filmmaking, music, the makings of a successful career, and even less about the caliber of entertainer who gave everything and all. I'd guess that you're a shit in your thirties or early 40s raised on a healthy dose of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Bette Midler. First off, is there a difference between assassination and mafia rubout? He was murdered. Pre-school assessment. Don't try to make yourself sound sophisticated in analyzing the choice of terminology. You're a jerk. Secondly, does a happy fucking ending or glorious comeback constitute a successful biopic? Did Judy Garland have a happy ending? Did Loretta Lynn have a happy ending? Did Patsy Cline have a happy ending? And with regards to Patsy Cline, Connie had exponentially outsold her by 1963 and remained on the charts somewhere in the world well into the 1990s. She had 16 motherfucking # 1 hits in the US alone, and that is fact that you could verify if you got up off your lazy fat ass. And that is not to knock Patsy Cline, but her appeal was more geared to the country music sensibilities. If her short career and life could be the makings of a successful film, don't you think, you lint-headed angular turnip, that a dramatic rendering a fascinating study in character, tragedy, wealth. music, fame, unrequited love, failed marriages, rape, mental illness, paternal abuse, loss of voice, could be equally as viable? When the well-executed film about Patsy Cline came out, many people hadn't even heard of her. But a whole new generation LEARNED. As for Connie's "happy ending," she's probably happier than most, because she survived a life that would have finished off most of her contemporaries and she's still here to talk about it. In addition, she is honest enough to self-critique and disparages her career misfires as well as taking pride in her successes. For an irrelevant windbag, she sits on a $30,000,000 fortune; of course, from her "forgettable" hits and "disastrous" performances. Not bad for someone insignificant. She pioneered the practice of recording in foreign languages, which many, many celebrities such as Andy Williams, Eydie Gorme, and Barbra fucking Streisand followed. Yes, it was a way of augmenting popularity and sales. And what the fuck is wrong with that? I admire her for making a smart business move and having the vision to see that the musical landscape is not just domestic, but global. She was also the first female artist to have complete creative control at MGM records, something which Streisand took credit for and was NOT TRUE. No celebrity in history has had a more dramatic and dynamic life than Connie Francis and a triumphant comeback is far less commendable and than a sound landing with both feet on the ground and an inspiration for millions of people affected by mental illness and violent crimes, not to mention the countless efforts she has performed with the veterans of three major wars, largely forgotten by people like yourself who obviously only identifies with the stereotypical "winner." This is a masterpiece waiting to be made, but needs to be done with the right director and writer, and a top notch actress. Unfortunately, it is likely Hollywood, which hasn't been known for creative judgment in decades, that would be in agreement with your arrogant and myopic vision and sentiment. You should all be on a plane headed directly for the Alps.

This was her only R&B album. I thought it was quite good.

[quote]she sits on a $30,000,000 fortune

R124 - Off by $5 million, but I back up everything I say. Suck my dick, asshole.

Those Net Worth sites are ADORABLE!

Connie at r122, you are adorable! Welcome to Datalounge! But seriously, you don't need to talk about yourself in the third person. No sane, rational person could ever begin to care that much about you to start spitting in outrage all over his computer screen like that, so it has to be you! So, questions for you:

When are you going to stop sending Brenda Lee hate mail?

Does your adoptive son still have that protective order in place against you?

Why didn't you just tell your dad to fuck off?

Didn't you really want to know where the GIRLS were?

R113 That's a good summary of the "career" of Connie Francis. Few signature songs that have held up. Ho-hum to disasterous performances in her latter years. A few forgettable films. Years out of the spotlight. Lithium. Not ONE Grammy award???? No RR Hall of Fame. No artistic direction. Records sales that were buoyed by phonetically singing in foreign languages. A fan base that is now comprised of few people under the age of 70.

Who would want to invest in a story about that?

A biopic of a weepy, drug-addled, third-tier songstress? I'm smelling a comeback!

"Jersey Girl," a jukebox musical based on Connie's life and hits, had a brief tryout at the Barn Dinner Theater in Wildwood, Missouri back in the '90s but critics felt that the songlist needed more than "Mama" and "Where the Boys Are" just repeated 16 times. And then along came Frankie Valli to steal her thunder!

I posted at r113 and I need to apologize. I made a mistake. I said her songs were "unforgettable" when what I meant was "forgettable."

The Brenda Lee and Barbara Streisand sycophants are out. It's really disheartening to see a bunch of gay men missing the entire point about Connie's life and career. They would rather poke fun at rape, mental illness, and the assorted tragedies that they would have had them turn their car on in the garage years ago. R127 You colossal upstart asshat, I am not Connie. But I wish I were, because I'd make a phone call and have you filleted. R130 who is probably the same person , Frankie Valli is more than worthy of his success. Some great music, a lot of mediocre songs as well, and not a hit since Grease in 1978. That's 40 years ago. His life isn't HALF as interesting as Connie's, and the Clint Eastwood "Jersey Boys" was frankly a dud. Not even the Bob Gaudio tunes could save it. Scorsese was contemplating making the film in the early 2000s, but chose the Howard Hughes biopic instead. Mistake! Gloria Estefan spent 10 years trying to get this film made, but had artistic differences with Connie, and truthfully, was as wrong to play Connie as anyone. Talk about a mediocre singer and actress. Yes, there were no Grammys. Nat King Cole had never won a Grammy. His daughter Natalie fought for years to get him a lifetime achievement recognition. No R&R Hall of Fame recognition, that's true, and it's a heresy. It still may yet come to pass, because the fans are demanding it. Say whatever the fuck you're gonna say, but she was the FIRST and most successful female rock artist in the business. She EARNED the title of best selling female recording artist of all time. Do the research, retard. That's no small undertaking. Demi Lovato and the rest of today's whores will be forgotten much sooner than you think. Connie Francis has her place in rock history, and the truth hurts. So take the cucumber out of your snatch, and leave this fucking thread to those who understand and appreciate Connie's talent, resiliency, and contribution to music.

Connie, Dearest, your meds are off again. It's just not good for you to get so riled up. Remember what happened last time? You didn't like the way you looked in the strait jacket, remember? And Sweetie, your mobster brother died long ago. So thinking you can make a phone call and get someone "filleted" is just sad. Unless you meant fellated?

R132, you're obviously posting from 1964, the last time Connie had a hit record. Connie is way down the list now of best-selling female recording artists. But if it helps, why don't you put your scratchy recording of "Mama" on repeat and go have yourself a good cry.

[quote]Frankie Valli is more than worthy of his success. Some great music, a lot of mediocre songs as well, and not a hit since Grease in 1978. That's 40 years ago. His life isn't HALF as interesting as Connie's,

Jersey Boys was a smash hit on Bway.

Frankie Valli and his group had hits through the 1960s and 1970s. He withstood the British invasion. And later disco. Connie Francis was finished by 1965.

“Jersey Boys” was a smash hit on Bway. A biopic about a singer must be, in the end, about great music.

Please list the post-1964 songs of Connie Francis that equal the popularity of Frankie Valli’s recordings of:

"Let's Hang On!", "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right”, "Working My Way Back to You", "Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Beggin'", "Tell It to the Rain", "C'mon Marianne", "Silence Is Golden”, "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)”, "My Eyes Adored You”, "Who Loves You”, "Swearin' to God”, "Our Day Will Come”, "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”, "Grease...

Please list them.

Thanks in advance.

R135 You're very welcome. And by no means am I trying to compare Connie to Frankie Valli who I think is wonderful also. But read thoroughly.

R136 I asked: "Please list the post-1964 songs of Connie Francis that equal the popularity of Frankie Valli’s recordings of:"Let's Hang On!", "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right”, "Working My Way Back to You", "Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Beggin'", "Tell It to the Rain", "C'mon Marianne", "Silence Is Golden”, "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)”, "My Eyes Adored You”, "Who Loves You”, "Swearin' to God”, "Our Day Will Come”, "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”, "Grease...

Still waiting.

Did the Connie Francis Troll actually compare Connie's life with Judy Garland's up there somewhere? Fucking delusional. Francis was a Jersey guidette who only knew how to sing a song one way. Yes, her life had some hardships but the worst thing about it was that she never did anything more with it. Garland died at 47. Francis is 81 but has done nothing musically for decades. If she were truly worthy of the worship her trolls here think she is, she would have gotten off her ass and made some memorable recordings. And I'm not thinking of bullshit novelties like "Jive Connie Jive." As it is, her trove of easy listening music from the '60s, which was all sung better by other performers, is nothing but a sad legacy of cheesiness.

Speaking of biopics, there are few celebrities who were done justice in these movies, most of which were mediocre; Just to name a few: Elvis with Kurt Russell and Shelley Winters Rita Hayworth with Linda Carter Lucy and Desi with Frances Fisher and Maurice Benard Karen Carpenter with Cynthia Gibb Patty Duke Rock Hudson Elizabeth Taylor Frank Sinatra's miniseries The Good: Judy Garland Me and My Shadows Johnny Cash Walk The Line Coalminer's Daughter Loretta Lynn

R138 At least she has a legacy, which is more than can be said for you. Go take a fucking Xanax.

With only one or two exceptions, those songs are forgotten today, r136. And with good reason. Connie may have sold records but just because something is popular doesn't make it good.

R141 Good advice. Which can be applied to many other singers as well. Mem'ries.

What Hollywood IS musing over is a feature film of none other than Anita Bryant. What a musical and dramatic legacy that is. Another masterwork to go along with Ed Wood, Charles Manson, and Florence Foster Jenkins. And you put Connie Francis who has adored and supported the gays for decades up on the cross and deny her well-deserved achievements . Smh.

What's your point, r139? That Connie deserves a mediocre biopic, too?

Here's what we need to do: get Streep involved. After all, she's already done a movie about a forgotten warbler, Florence Foster Jenkins. The whole thing could be Meryl as Connie today, pretty much housebound, lost in her memories of Bobby, until one of those old-time autograph shows calls and she gets her wig and makeup on. Then there could be flashbacks to the more active times of her life. But still...there's no ending. She hasn't really done anything for 30 years. Forget it.

Bryant's bio will not be focusing on her music career. Duh.

I would like to know exactly how Connie has adored and supported the gays for decades. Really.

Also in the pipeline are major movie musicals about the lives of Little Peggy March, Sue Thompson, Little Eva, Millie Small, Dodie Stevens and Joanie Sommers.

But no Connie Francis. It's criminal.

R144 You are so cognitively dissonant that you fail to get the point of a biopic. Foster Jenkins was insanity, and that shows you the ineptitude of Hollywood in a nutshell, appealing to the lowest common denominator and the stupidity of people. The same with Ed Wood who was a Godawful horrifically bad director. Not "so bad, it's good," not a "guilty pleasure." Bad. Inept. Incompetent. No one can argue or name a performer who has had a more dynamic and challenging life than Connie Francis. Again, with obstacles that would have buried most of your sorry asses. A movie wouldn't necessarily be about the music alone, but the character, the events, the people, and the resiliency. She helped destigmatize the plight of bipolar disorder along with Patty Duke. Just consider the quantity of celebs who have the same problem and wouldn't dare vocalize. Lithium for years was the only significant treatment. It's a sodium and liver toxic compound that desiccates the speaking voice, let alone the singing voice. "Getting up off her ass" wasn't the problem, but having to cycle off this medication in order to perform was. The dangers in doing so include severe relapse and suicidal tendencies. Just imagine if you're able to do so if you were in her predicament, wanting, needing to perform, but unable, because the meds that are essentially saving your life and impairing your vocal ability. You're an insensitive and mindless clod. You have no idea what you're talking about, and I know I'm addressing the same ignoramus. The fact was that this movie was under consideration for over 2 decades and knew many permutations. Movie of the week, HBO, Showtime, feature. It was finally slated to go before the cameras in 2009 with Gloria Estefan, but stopped by Connie who disagreed with elements of the script. She has been very cautious as to how her story is to be told. And some story it is. It needs to be told not just as a celebration of a period in music history, but in the many events that can happen to anyone of us, the depths one can be pummeled into, and the will and the wish and the resiliency to pick yourself up and continue. Just because it obviously your personal taste doesn't give you the authority to condemn someone who has achieved more than you could ever begin to. Connie might be remembered, and she might not. But one thing I am certain of is that you will not be, because you're a nothing and a nobody.

Now, Connie @ r147, there's no need for name-calling. What would Daddy say? So Sweetie, the reason we know it's you is because if anyone else had their head so far up your ass to, first of all, know that much about you, and secondly, to spend their time defending you so vehemently, he would have suffocated long ago.

Butseriously, since you have such a dedicated fan base, why not get your act together and take it on the road? You don't have to sing (and definitely shouldn't), just put together some reminiscings about your life and career and splice in some clips from concerts, TV shows and your movies. It would remind people who you are and you could even donate some of the profits to the gay groups you've been supporting for so long. Who knows? The increased visibility might even get you into the RRHOF.

R122 I agree, Connie did have a triumphant comeback. I was there. The audience was sold out and sold out for many future concerts. The Vegas comeback was extraordinary and Wayne Newton ran to the stage to congratulate her. The problem was that she could not sustain it and be consistent due to her problems. But it was there. Her comeback at Resorts in AC was so crowded that I had to crawl under the tables to get to my seat. The stairs had people standing on them. Her initial comeback concert was attended by people from all over the world as shown on 20/20 in a full hour feature of her comeback. As for her wealth, she is wealthy and would be even more wealthy if she did not go on million dollar spending sprees in the mid 80s and marry loser husbands that took her money., Her second husband was a notorious gambler and Connie paid off his debts. Her last husband was a producer whom Connie help finance. She put her third husband in the travel agency business for stars. She entered the 80s as a wealthy star even after not performing for 8 yrs., spent millions on sprees and nonsense due to her problems, threw money away for her husbands, and was taken advantage of by investors and other business people. She became nearly bankrupt. She amassed her current fortune from her performances from the late 80s onward and from her royalties. To call her a survivor is an understatement. She has survived and maintained her dignity and ability to help others. Connie lives very much like a star and is treated like a star, and she does not venture out now and then, but she is fully active in simply making appearances and being kind and interactive with others. She is well-loved. She never has a bad thing to say about any other star. She attends functions for her charity events and functions in her honor such as her recent 80th birthday party given to her by the Seminole Casino , and the Friar's Club honor of Connie.. and an honor by the Italian American Society of America. She continues to live her life as a star, and she is genuinely interested in people, and not simply herself. She is a great woman. She is a legend not just for her career,, but also for the significant changes she has made for society.

R6, thanks for the recording, though I was expecting "O Holy Night" at the end.

R149, does you keyboard not have the ability to create paragraphs?

In addition, Connie is a very witty and funny person, and she has maintained this throughout her tribulations. She is also extremely bright and graduated second in her high school class and received a full NYU scholarship to study pre-med.

R122, chill out, Connie.

The Spellings wanted her to play Alexis on Dynasty.

Abraham Zapruder wanted her to play Kennedy.

R149 Beautifully said. And yes her A/C performances were packed to the rafters and she commanded and received top ticket prices. I remember her in Vegas, the place went wild. Truly standing room only. Had the bipolar disorder not been such a thorn in her side requiring her to cycle off Lithium in order to sing, the comeback would have been extraordinary. This often caused vocal and performance inconsistencies, but the potential burned. Maybe that's the greatest tragedy. Still, as you said she amassed great wealth in the 1980s, notably from these concert appearances and international royalties. Our 'sure Jan" cunt disbelieved that Connie was today worth $25 to 30 million dollars, but that's just a fact of life. She earned it and more than deserves it. And R148, Connie has retired from singing, but the following clip suggests she's been taking your advice. How prescient and wise art thou.

Nice version done by Connie.

Tammy is a beautiful recording by Connie. I like the entire Never On Sunday LP. It is one of her biggest selling LPs. It was a different sound for her. She was invited to sing the song on the Oscars and it has become associated with her. Despite all factors against it, it won. Up until that time, a foreign recording never won the Oscars. Her performance of the song was stellar and the visual added so much more than the audio recording. She knew she had to sell it.

Her Spanish is perfecto.

R156 Connie seems "special"

Connie may have sung "Never On sunday" at the Oscars, but it didn't win because of her and to suggest that she had anything to do with its popularity is crazy. No one thinks of that song today in connection with Connie. Many other artists recorded the song but the original version is the iconic one.

Look at the Connie haters,mad she looks better then they do in drag.Mad Connie drives cadillac's. Mad she could have had Bobby Darrin.Get over it,Connie is Queen.....you all are merely princess's,especially if your ugly mothers are still living.

Bobby Darrin dumped Connie and married someone else. Twice. The truth is, he never saw her as anything more than a flirtation. If they had been so madly in love, they could have gotten together at any time, but they didn't. And if the reason for their "breakup" was that Connie's father chased away Bobby with a gun, she should have fired him as her manager and told him to butt out. She was a grown woman. But that's always been the problem with Connie Francis. She never took control of her career or her life, always playing the victim and letting other people make the decisions. Pathetic.

[quote]She was invited to sing the song on the Oscars and it has become associated with her.

More bullshit.

"Never On A Sunday" is no way connected with Connie Francis. The 1962 hit was sung by the Chordettes.

Connie Francis did not introduce one durable quality song during the 1960s.

[quote]I agree, Connie did have a triumphant comeback.

No she did not.

A few concert performances at an Atlantic City hotel do not equal a comeback....let alone a "triumphant" one.

A comeback would be a new album. A new hit. TV appearances. A concert tour.

Those did happen. Not even close.

*Those did not happen.

R164 R165 Read the statement of R149 in regard to the comebacks of the 1980s. No, they were not comebacks in the style of Tina Turner's or Judy Garland's, She was however one of the highest paid entertainers of the era in both Vegas and A/C and played to packed houses everywhere she went. Those are facts that you can verify. Sorry if you don't like it, but they're facts. The makings of the comeback were thwarted by the need to cycle of the Lithium in order to sing, and thus, a multi-city or international concert tour was not going to be feasible. I agree, however, with your stance regarding Connie's father who she should have fired as her manager early on. She calls him the "great architect" of her career, as his Mama Rose tenacity launched her into orbit and helped land her a recording deal at MGM records with full creative control. But at the same token, she had no artistic direction and no guidance. Most of her arrangements were saccharine, contract orchestrators who failed to understand Connie's talents and fashion arrangements that would have complemented and enhanced her vocals. The greatest misstep of her career was refusing Frank Sinatra's offer to sign her to Reprise records. Her father would not allow it because he knew he'd have met his match with the chairman of the board. Just the same, Sinatra could have aligned her with first rate composers, the greatest arrangers of all time such as Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Don Costa, who might have taken the raw adolescent talent and cultivated it into a first class act. Essentially they would have taken what was good and made it great. Connie herself has acknowledged this. As for Bobby Darin, he was clearly not the kind of guy who was going to be a good loyal Italian husband to any woman and wasn't. His son, however, offered reminiscences of his father that suggest he was contrite about the breakup of him and Connie and might have lost what could have been the love of his life. Connie displays letters written to her by Bobby in her book "Among My Souvenirs.," Perhaps, she was just another conquest on Bobby's scoreboard, perhaps, not. But it's not so unusual. How many of us end up with the person we really loved? Damn few.

More coulda... woulda... shoulda... perhaps....maybe... thwarted by... misstep... failed to understand....if only...

[quote]Read the statement of [R149] in regard to the comebacks of the 1980s. No, they were not comebacks in the style of Tina Turner's or Judy Garland's...

Connie Francis did not have a comeback in any way, shape or form. A comeback means a revitalized career.

And BTW: no one cares about excuses and behind the scenes troubles.

Who is this person who has studied every aspect of Connie Francis' life and career? He has essentially let his obsession take over his own life so that he feels the need to rush to her defense every time someone refuses to believe his fawning anecdotes about her. Does she have some long-time publicist she sends a few dollars to every month to keep on retainer? It doesn't sound like her son has much to do with her so it's probably not him. I just can't imagine being so invested in some minor celebrity whose best times were 50-60 years ago. It would be like some frantic queen in 1980 insisting that an aged recluse from the silent movie era was still relevant then and had fans clamoring for her triumphant return to the screen.

[quote]The Vegas comeback was extraordinary and Wayne Newton ran to the stage to congratulate her.

The Vegas concert is horrible. Horrible strained vocals. Antiquated, cloying style. Yes, maybe her old fans eat it up and can turn a blind eye to the flaws and make excuses... but the wider public has no time for this.

Go to 6:41 for the full effect. 3-rate airport lounge singer.

Nothing says boffo like Wayne Newton storming the stage. Was Loni Anderson there, too?

[quote]Mad Connie drives cadillac's.

Yes, we're also jealous that Connie can afford one of them new 17-inch color TVs!

^Oh, I thought 'mad' was a descriptor for Connie. Like 'crazy.' Which makes much more sense.

Wow....she drives a Cadillac! A Cadillac!!

Connie also owns a vacuum!

Jealous, bitches?

I would like to address this to the OP who apparently started both thread one and thread two. You stated the need for education on Connie Francis. Well, after two threads and nearly 800 posts ranging from those canonizing her, empathizing with her, respecting her, mocking her, deriding her, belittling her, and cutting her from cunt to ass with such virulence and animosity that these individuals are positively frightening, what is your opinion now? Between the divergence of sentiment, there must lie the truth. So I encourage you to respond, assuming of course that you're a real person and not some shit stirring DL employee.

She's a national treasure, ya miserable queens. I love Connie. Love that she has a fabulous legacy to leave, love that she's still with us and still bright, funny, grounded and a glamourous old broad who loves the gays.

How do we know she "loves the gays"? What has she done for "the gays"?

I think this all began when someone started a thread about Connie Francis auctioning off some of her mementos and made the mistake of calling her a "DL fave." That was news to some, who in true DL tradition were not about to grant that status lightly.

I don't consider her "fabulous," don't care for her questionable legacy, don't see her as any champion of gay rights, but would appreciate knowing if she ever donated money to a gay cause or spoke up about gay issues. If she truly loved the gays, she would have supported us and stood up for us at some point publicly.

Anyone who knows Connie knows she loves the gays. She has many gay friends with whom she regularly socialises.

R147,/149 Unless the ENTER is not on your keyboard, is there a reason for not using paragraphs?

Like the vast majority of the people in the world, I don't know Connie so I don't know that she loves the gays. Has she ever done anything publicly in support of gay people? To suggest that because she socializes with gay people she is a supporter is ridiculous. Trump claims to have gay friends, too.

R180 Here's just one, you contrary Mary. There'll be more.

In an interview, Connie said her father tried to fix her up with someone who was gay, but he didn't know it.

R180 And another, Louise.

Acting as a deluded press agent and posting concert reviews for some of her performances over a decade ago is hardly compelling evidence, Pumpkin. So Francis made money off gay audiences who were into fading nostalgia acts. Did she use any of that money to support gay causes? Did she ever voice her support of gay issues?

R161 She definitely is associated with Never On Sunday. Look at the youtube videos. Her LP Never On Sunday was a million seller plus. She is better associated with it than is the Chordettes.

She has dome charity appearances and raised money for gay causes, including AIDS, in LV, AC, and SF. She was well-known for this. She entered Studio Six in AC and raised money for the cause several times. There was a CF look a like contest for charity for which the Joey Josephs entered. he has played her in Legends.

R178..an international treasure. She has had many tribulations, but what a career she had.

R173 That's a funny comment or concern as to a car that a performer drives. Some well known performers drive VWs. ! Connie does or did have a Caddy, and she also had a Lincoln, a white Rolls with Connie written on one window, Jags, and now has Lexuses. She always tends to buy white cars. However, at least one Jag was blie.

R183 There were many rave reviews of her comeback performances, especially the LV ones. She did several returns to the Castro Theater, and at times, down the street at another venue, someone was paying tribute to her, either performing as her in a show or singing her music.

This looks like the Babs thread I just got off of! Too much!

[quote] I would like to address this to the OP who apparently started both thread one and thread two

R175, not true. I am not the OP of the original thread, but I started this second one only because the other one filled up. I used his same title just to avoid confusion (plus I thought it was a funny Datalounge worthy title).

[quote]She definitely is associated with Never On Sunday. Look at the youtube videos. Her LP Never On Sunday was a million seller plus. She is better associated with it than is the Chordettes.

Bullshit.

First of all, the orchestral version hit #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. The song was a hit with the public long before the Oscar broadcast. The orchestral version hit the top 40 again a year later.

The version with lyrics...recorded by the Chordettes... hit #13 Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961.

Those are the versions that were the hits and got constant airplay.

Connie Francis is only one of many singers that covered the song...it's not hers and she had nothing to do with it's success.

R191 She may not have had anything to do with the chart success, but the LP was so popular that the title song became associated with her, and it was she who was invited to sing it on the Oscars. No one remembers The Chordette version or that they sang it. Most people recall that CF sang it as read on the youtube comments.

R192 No...once again you're completely wrong. The song dominated the airwaves in 1960-61. And it was not Connie Francis' version. Also: she did not release a singles version. The market back then was about singles.... not albums.

As far as the Oscars go: no one remembers who sang what from year to year. And the song was already a hit before the Oscar broadcast.

R193 You keep missing the point! As a rsult of her million selling LP Never On Sunday, the song became associated with her! Her version was the version played on WPEN radio in the 90s. Her version is the one people return to on youtube and comment on. You conveniently dodge any thing that goes against your view.

Boys, stop fighting... Let's just sit back and enjoy it, shall we?

Jesus, just look at the party photos at Connie's home. Gay, Gay, GAY.

[quote]Her version was the version played on WPEN radio in the 90s.

LOL.

Elton John quotes: Interesting quote: "I'm the Connie Francis of rock 'n' roll" — Elton John Add Category or Author

R197 Nothing funny about it. The LP sold millions and made her a great deal of money,. and through the lP and her performance on the Oscars and through the youtube visits, the song has become associated with her. The lP for the most part was bought because of the title song.

R195 The comments to this Never On Sunday video and the other Never On Sunday videos on youtube SAY IT ALL!

R198 When questioned about this CF quote, Elton stated that by this he meant that she could sing it all...she can sing anything..l...she can sing the best ballad in the world...she's a survivor...a comeback kid. He admires her.

Fabulous YouTube comments on the Petula Clark version of Never On Sunday. And so?

R201 Link please.

The link is right above. I am the CF of rock and roll! In a TV interview he explained. Brian May of Queen also adores her and he stated that he bought that Session TV set. Chris Isaak, as well. Boy George, as well . The Boy George/CF diuet should be released, but it probably will not as Connie keeps things tight.

[quote]When questioned about this CF quote, Elton stated that by this he meant that she could sing it all...she can sing anything..l...she can sing the best ballad in the world...she's a survivor...a comeback kid.

Link please.

R 204 The link is above. He explained it on a TV interview...and now that I read the other quotes, it is separated and above the quote I am the CF or rock and roll. He has said this quote a number of times.

The quote does not contain her name. "She can sing anything..she can sing the best ballad in the world...she's a survivor...a comeback kid." He was probably speaking about Judy Garland.

He's the Connie Francis of Rock&Roll because he had mental issues and a drug problem too.

Another quote by Elton John about the music that influenced him

'We spent all our money on records. We used to go to Music Land in Berwick Street and listen to Joni Mitchell, Hendrix, Dylan, the Beatles. Both of us with headphones on, lying on the floor looking at the gatefold sleeves. It's a lovely, sweet image...'

No mention of Connie Francis

R 207 The quote is there!

I fucking love Connie Francis.

Elton John: "modern music stars lack the ‘soul and humanity’ of singers such as Judy Garland and Nina Simone."

No mention of Connie Francis. "

Rock History from BillBoard:

"In 1960, Connie Francis Became the First Woman to Top the Billboard Hot 100"

She still had some nice tits in that vegas concert.

Hi boys! I'm fine. I send my love.

R210 Again! The quote is there. He did not mean that Connie influenced him. He identifies with her because of her singing ability. and versatility.

R194 Bravo. And don't waste your time trying to explain or validate your findings to this same motherfucking Connie dissident who needs a swift kick in the ass. "Links, please, quotes, please!" "no such thing as a comeback, no top album, no Grammy, no Oscar." Fuck you! The woman was raped for Christ's sake and couldn't leave her fucking house for 7 years. It's a wonder she's even here to talk about it.. Her live performances in the 80s and 90s were SOLD OUT, PACKED, and extraordinary given the obstacles that Connie surmounted. We give you links, quotes, stats, reviews, documented facts, and you have nothing to offer but your contrary antagonistic cuntiness. Do yourself and US a favor and get the fuck off this thread and stay off. Go support whatever your performer tickles your fancy, and leave those of us who admire, appreciate, and support Connie's musical legacy, character, charitable contributions and resiliency the fuck alone. We don't need you here and we don't want you here. GOT IT???!!!

"still challenges Madonna as the biggest selling female recording artist of ALL TIME."

I for one welcome the Connie Francis troll. Leave Connie alone. Jeez. I'm the Cowboy Junkies troll. I'd hate to know what you think of them.

I know I’m in the minority, but I prefer the Post-HoJo’s Connie voice.

It was deeper and more resonant. I think because it was sore from that enormous, black dick.

R215 BRAVO to you, too. The Connie dissident troll LIVES to diss her. That says a great deal!

R218 Which you yourself need desperately. In every orifice.

R220 Oh, honey! From your mouth to God's ear!

I think this hate is all over Bobby Darrin,the trollop trolls are mad they could never have him.That their refrigerator shaped bodies look a hundred times worse standing next to 80 yr old Connie who looks half their age. An very upset...Ms.Francis has a cadillac

Petunia Clark vs. Connie Francis....oh you all are hilarious. What next Dusty Springfield vs. Dirt.

Half the fun of this thread is reading the outlandish claims the CFT makes about his idol and marveling at how much of his life he has spent memorizing her 50-60 year old sales records and watching youtube clips of her overwrought performances in Atlantic City. Seriously, who the fuck would care that much or devote so much of his life to her? You'd almost think it was Connie herself one-finger typing away at the keyboard, her Big Gulp cup filled with Beefeaters and tonic, furious at the insolence of her doubters.

But seriously, anyone who thinks that the theme from Never on Sunday is a song remembered because of Connie Francis is a nutjob..

[quote]Petunia Clark vs. Connie Francis....oh you all are hilarious. What next Dusty Springfield vs. Dirt.

True. The solo female artists that ruled the 1960s with memorable hit after hit were Dusty, Petula, Dionne, Diana, Aretha, Cher, Barbra and a few others like Nancy, Leslie, Linda...but certainly not Connie Francis, no matter how many gazillion records she sold. Those ladies introduced original songs that have been covered over and over through the years...songs that truly are the soundtrack of the decade.

And let's remember that the woman (solo) with the biggest selling record of the 1960s is Brenda Lee. In fact she's the only solo female act in the top 20 biggest selling songs of the '60s.

And she and her fans make no

And she and her fans make no make no outlandish claims or try to convince others.

[quote]I fucking love Connie Francis.

I love fucking Connie Francis.

In the early '70s, "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney and Wings was performed at the Oscars by Miss Ann Reinking and ever since, it has been known as "an Ann Reinking song."

I grew up in the '60s but only remember Connie Francis as somewhat of a novelty act. Lots of overemotive phrasing and clinging vibrato. "Where the Boys Are" was a campy movie and a kitschy song, hardly the makings of a legacy. I really don't remember her for anything else. Lots of artists did cover versions those days but they usually had some of their own hits, too. I'm thinking of someone like an Andy Williams, who had some great songs but made anything he sang memorable as well. Connie Francis, not so much.

But Connie sang them best.

R229 Novelty act? Tiny Tim was a novelty act. Connie Francine is a legend. Go back for your GED.

Connie Francis ranks #'12 according t Billboard, and would be w/i the top 5 if her 4 pre-Hot 100 chart hits are counted! She is the top charter of the 50s and 60s for females.

Connie was far from a novelty act.....what with making millions in LV and elsewhere and performing with the biggest stars of that era, meeting kings and queens and Presidents. She was a top act and the top female act of the 50s and 60s.

I am curious....does this hater move from the Connie thread to the Babs thread. The posts are almost identical.

R224 et al has to be the biggest, obsessed, crazy CF and Babs fan around! He LIVES to bash them.

[quote]Connie was far from a novelty act.....what with making millions in LV and elsewhere and performing with the biggest stars of that era, meeting kings and queens and Presidents. She was a top act and the top female act of the 50s and 60s.

Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross were the top female female acts of the 1960s demanding and getting the highest salaries in Vegas.

Streisand was getting 100,000 a week at the International plus stock. She earned about 1 million from her 5 year contract.

A top act means concerts, films, TV: Streisand had 3 Emmy winning TV specials. A televised concert in Central Park. Big budget movie musicals. An Academy award.

THAT was the top female act of the '60s. Don't be ridiculous. Stop trying to rewrite history. You sound nuts.

And in the 1950s Marlene Dietrich was the highest paid female act in LV.

Fior all of your nonsense, you are the biggest CF fan. On the Babs thread, you take the same view as on this thread. They even know that you go from thread to thread to bash. Connie had the highest record contract monetary value and LV contract in the 60s with a 10 yr. contract with the Sahara, and top fee when others wanted her in LV. She was the female act to see. Babs hardly went to the stage to perform live and she was never an entertainer.

Sales has nothing to do with quality. Connie Francis sold lots of records with her saccharine singing for a few years in the '50s-'60s when people bought records and her cloying style was popular. The public obviously deserted her before the mid-'60s for singers with more compelling stories to tell through their music. The truth is, she had the same opportunities as her contemporaries to stay current and adapt with the times but she didn't. She was off learning Swahili phonetically so she could unleash "Mama" on unsuspecting foreigners. And sad to say, but if she had remained vital and popular, she would have been nowhere near a Howard Johnson's motor lodge in 1973.

RIDICULOUSNESS defines 236.

R238 Everyone who performed at Westbury stayed at Howard Johnson's as it was just down the road and quite convenient. That was her first concert in 8 yrs. after the reclusive period.

Correction....it was her first concert after 4 yrs of not performing after a mis-carriage and failed marriages.

In 1974 Barbra Streisand, Cher, Diana Ross, Eydie Gorme would not have been staying at a Howard Johnson's.

Yeah right: the biggest act in show business!

R242 What I don;t get is that if you care so little for CF, why do you continue to occupy this thread. Go to a thread that in pleasing to you. But, of course, you are the jerk who likes to denigrate people they are obsessed over. I think this has been said on this thread and on Bab's thread. It's really true! No one who did not care, would spend so much time here.

私を嫌う人は私のお尻にキスをすることができます！

Was that revenge for Pearl Harbor, r244? Those poor, unsuspecting Japanese!

r242, where do you think you are, Snowflake? If you want to impress someone with your inexhaustible supply of Connie anecdotes and overblown estimates of her popularity, go to a fan forum or even better, have a Connie coffee klatsch at your retirement home. Maybe people will appreciate you there, especially if you spring for refreshments.

It's 1974...Barbra releases "The Way We Were".... Diana Ross had finished " Lady Sings the Blues", Cher was starring in her own TV show, Bette Midler won a Tony.... meanwhile Connie Francis was playing the Westbury Music Fair, sleeping at a HoJo's and recording dreck like: "(Should I) Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree".

But she was the biggest act in show business!

The biggest act in show business singing her big pre-rape hit "(Should I) Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree". (peaked at #108).

Listen to those orchestrations...the singing style...the diction...the phrasing....the lyrics! And the thoroughly contemporary cover photo!

^And even now, people associate that song with Connie. Tony Orlando and who?

"She was also the first female artist to have complete creative control at MGM records."

And did nothing with it. Her career tanked because she had no creativity, drive or vision. Or discrimination. She sang whatever sappy song someone put in front of her in the same sappy way. Oh, but poor Connie was a victim of this or that or the other thing! Actually, she was a victim of her own limitations.

[quote] But she was the biggest act in show business!

R247, see R22. One of the highest courts in the U.S. says she was, as a matter of law.

R251 Continue to celebrate Connie's success and do not dignify this troll bitch with any kind of response. Ignore her. We know Connie's stats, we know her achievements, and let us continue to celebrate her unencumbered. Also, for the genuine people on this thread, virtually every performer, singer, musicians, comedians, who worked Westbury lodged at Howard Johnson's from the opening of Westbury Music Fair as an indoor non-tent theatre in 1966 up until Connie's assault in late 1974. That roster included Johnny Mathis, Eydie Gorme AND Steve Lawrence, the Carpenters, Englebert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Judy Garland, Rodney Dangerfield, George Carlin, Frankie Valli, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Dionne Warwick, just to name a few. These are performers who were used to life on the road, sleeping in buses, small crappy dressing rooms (if you've ever been backstage at Westbury) and plenty of Howard Johnsons across the US. That's the way things were, and no one complained. BTW, even Sonny and Cher stayed there in the late 1960s!

FR252 You are absolutely right about ignoring. Also, when the rape did occur, it was noted that, as you said, the motel did house many major stars who appeared at Westbury. Furthermore, this was Connie's first appearance in a few years after divorce, marriage, and miscarriage, and she was just beginning to renew her career. She was met with a packed house and all tickets for appearances were sold out. Likewise, when stars appeared at the Valley Forge Music Fair, they stayed at the nearby motel. BTW...many friends and relatives, young and old listened to and continue to listen to CF. The programs that feature her weekly and daily are very popular and have existed for several years.

R242. Agreed. Barbra Streisand would not have stayed at Howard Johnson's. She would have eaten there.

After the assault, Walter Winchell printed simply a black page in his gossip page. She was supported by her show biz friends (Sinatras, Dean, Sammy, Clark, Totie Fields, Newton, and Rickles, etc.), but also Dinah Shore, Peggy Lee Steve and Eydie (who later became close friends), Joan Rivers, and others. Dinah invited her to spend a couple opf weeks at he ranch. Dinah was an unusually nice person in the business. ,,,,and yes, ignoring is best.

The entertainment industry was devastated by the rape, as were the public. Today with horrific crimes that are commonplace in the news, no one would bat an eye at a rape story. In 1974, it was shocking and horrifying, especially involving a celebrity. My parents were lucky enough to see the Wednesday night performance at Westbury. Connie had opened on Tuesday Nov 5 and was booked thru Sunday of that week. The entire week was sold out well in advance, and the Wednesday night house was packed, absolute standing room only. When she came down the aisle to the stage, it was a standing O that went on for more than 5 minutes. The audiences adored her and they really want her back. Talk of a major comeback was already circling. No one could imagine that after the following night's performance, Thursday November 7th, 1974, such a tragedy would occur. Melba Moore replaced Connie and didn't fill half the house..

Is there a way to nominate Miss Francis?

The rape and loss of voice in Connie's own words.

I wonder what it would be like to be so wrapped up in someone's life who didn't even know you existed. Well, I guess we know the answer. Haunting the Datalounge and God knows where else in case anyone dares to slight your obsession. But why not pick someone really incredible as your fixation? Too much competition, I guess. Not too many people care about Connie Francis, so you can have her all to yourself.

[R259]if you didn’t care,why bother to comment ?

Sounds like your obsessed too,my portly bad wig wearing friend.

Connie Francis is Queen

Now let's listen to "the top female act of the 60s" (LOL) singing her smash hit...."Nixon's the One!"

All together now!

Oh, you poor little mite, R260! Someone dared to have a difference of opinion about your has-been object of affection and you can't handle it. Well, why don't you put on the scuffed pair of cha cha heels you bought at her "charity" auction, put one of her records on the Victorola and dance your troubles away! That always makes you feel better.

Connie haters can't stand the fact that she will go down in history as the first woman ever to have a Billboard Hot 100 number 1 single!

[quote]the first woman ever to have a Billboard Hot 100 number 1 single!

And just a few years later...as the 60s heated up...her recordings were mostly ignored.

No one "hates" Connie. It's just that no one cares about shit like that, r263. You continue to troll about all of Connie's hits, all of which occurred well over 50 years ago and none of which represent great artistry. Do you think that people are actually debating about who was the "first woman ever to have a Billboard Hot 100 number 1 single!"? No, they are not. I just don't understand why you're working so hard to convince us at Datalounge about the importance of your idol. DL was built on being contrary and showing random bitchiness. Why not go to a Connie fan forum where your encyclopedic knowledge of the minutiae of her life will be celebrated? Here, you're just fodder for jokes. Maybe you just have a pathetic need for attention.

R265 No one "hates" you, either. But what it is rather frustrating is if you feel Connie's music is "shit," her standing in music is irrelevant, and her achievements egregious, why spend your valuable time trying to convince us of her insignificance when most of us know otherwise and will reject your allegations? Connie is obviously not forgotten, and those of us who wish to celebrate her need not be subject to the Immaturity and absurdity of those who wish to make fun of her. They should be looking in the mirror before they do so. Once again, as you've been asked before, find a performer or cause that reflects your beliefs and feelings and embodies YOUR criterior for excellence and endurance and leave those of us who appreciate Connie to continue as such without scorn and antagonism. Thank you so very much.

Aloha, bitches!

Her album covers were as low-rent as her music. Did she have them done at some store front in a strip mall?

It's 1968... and she's recording stuff like this...

Wow, it's really amazing just how MANY songs she recorded. Look at this list. This is from a German site. Scroll down toward the bottom for "Songs" and look under "year". You'll see she was still recording into the 70's, but mostly European hits as others have pointed out in this thread. Even her detractors have to admit she was prolific.

%260 I have been saying that over and over. What a fan!

The Hawaii LP was at the request of Nixon to celebrate the 10th year of statehood for Hawaii. She had two versions. a more authentic version for the UK and Hawaii and a pop version for mainland USA> She look gorgeous on that cover.

Connie had an uncanny ability to morph into the ethnicity of whatever language she sang in for the album cover.

R272 A great LP, Malaguena was a B side to the million seller Many Tears Ago, and it charted as well, w/i the top 40. It was one of Connie's several two-sided hits.

Luckily SJWs weren't around yet back then, so Connie wasn't accused of cultural appropriation with those covers.

I loved her Italian album cover, where she's dressed like a gondolier.

The intro alone is worth it! Connie 1989 comeback!

The Italian LP remained on the billboard charts for over 80 weeks. The photo was actually taken in Central Park.

Connie had a phenomenal voice, kept herself cute, cares deeply about abused and hurting people, and has survived horrific misfortune.

Someone here thinks themself clever by insulting her legacy.

Go pick on some untalented and ungrateful bitch who would step over your dead body on the street.

R277 Perfect. An inspiration to all of us who understand all she's done and all she's endured. Show business is not that anymore.

Her sister, Arlene murdered someone by throwing a barbell out her apartment window.

R279 Connie had only one sibling, a brother named George.

W. R. O. N. G. Here is her sister Arlene right her. She was pretty famous in her own right.

Recorded in th e90s.

That Connie is such a giver! All that's keeping her from being canonized by the Catholic church is death.

Connie was married four times so she is guilty of adultery numerous times. She's obviously going to Hell when she passes.

Stop pretending the rape was the problem with Connie.

Yes, it was horrible, but she was mentally ill Loooooooong before she was raped.

She was bipolar. That doesn't come from being raped.

DL's anti-Francis troll can be the "Advocatus Diaboli" during Connie's canonization process.

Connie's demise may well signal the green light for the long-awaited film of her life. It seems Connie has had as much to do with holding up this project in her efforts to ensure it is done correctly. But it will happen, undoubtedly, and it will be one of the greatest stories ever told.

And what will the Connie troll do then when the movie is a critically-acclaimed blockbuster? Wedge her caboose ass thru the back doors of the theatre and throw milk duds and crunch n' munch at the screen, while her mello roll is melting into her hands? No. She wouldn't part with her lovers.

Originally released as "Pleasure Me, Mandingo Lover!", this LP was rereleased under this name a year later.

It didn't sell well. That was because it was recorded in mono and the kids liked their quadraphonic by then.

Wie geht's, du Fotzen?

Mazel tov.

Connie really did try EVERY genre in the book to try to get a hit, didn't the poor thing?

R291 I love that one. She looks a bit like Anne Baxter in The Ten Commandments there.

R293 What a coincidence! Connie sung lyrics like Anne Baxter spoke dialogue in the The Ten Commandments, too.

I'm getting a very lesbian vibe from Connie. All those failed quickie marriages, no lasting love, the joke of her great "romance" with Bobby Darrin. That's why she didn't want Gloria Estefan to produce the bio -- all that pussy-eating would have come tumbling out of her closet.

I'm amazed that the shot of Connie in blackface to promote "Connie Francis Sings Al Jolson" has never been uncovered. They were around for years but seem to have disappeared in the wake of today's PC environment.

Connie's fans are old and likely to live in racist, homophobic enclaves like Florida. Seeing her in blackface wouldn't faze them but hearing details of her lesbian past might cause a few pacemakers to go haywire. I wonder if Connie has ever performed at Mar-A-Lago. She's almost certainly a Trump favorite and she'd be the perfect entertainment for the Log Cabin Republicans' Spring Conclave there.

Connie is a Republican. So much for her "love and support for the gays."

"Please, Papa, Please," the story of Connie's life and career domination by her father and the subsequent break-up of her relationship with Bobby Darrin, the love of her young life, is a project that's been floating around for several years, part of a planned trilogy about Francis' life. It was most recently at Fox but is currently under consideration by Amazon Prime, which sees it as a mini-series. Understandably, Connie would like to see it on the big screen as opposed to the little one, as she feels her story is worthy of a full-fledged cinematic release. Another problem is casting. Early favorite Ariana Grande insisted on doing her own singing, which was, of course, ridiculous.

Connie lives with her gf, Terry. For years.

A lovely way to start the day, boys.

The Connie Francis International Fan Club has over 50,000 members

Wonder if Dusty Springfield can say that,probaly not.

Enough cheese. Now let's hear "Sway" done by a genuine talent.

R303. I wouldn't even dance with my vacuum cleaner to that funeral dirge.

Connie was misdiagnosed as bipolar. In 1993 a well known psychiatrist and psychologist treated her, gradually took her off all meds, and diagnosed her as PTSD. Many PTSD individuals are misdiagnosed with bipolar, and Connie stressed in her mental health campaignthis and the DSM 5 as a result has acknowledged this and has put a stress on PTSD before diagnosing a person with bipolar or ADHD, or several other diagnoses. Off meds, she has not been psychiatrically hospitalized since 1993. Connie was not clinically mentally il before the attack.

R303 I like Rosemary, but that version is so bad. You can;t beat the Connie or Dean Martin versions.

Speaking of Rosie Clooney, an absolutely atrocious movie of the week was done about her life which did nothing but highlight her addiction to Seconals. Scandulous. Half of what Connie Francis endured cannot even be made up. There is no celebrity on the planet with a more fascinating story to tell.

Would Diana Ross have a better story to tell? Not unless she's painfully honest about her Supremes days and Flo Ballard's departure. But Dreamgirls already took care of that. Would Cher have a better story to tell? Parts of her life might be interesting, but certainly not like Connie's. Would Streisand have a better story? Only if the film dealt with the first 5 years of her career from teenager to Broadway star, where her unique and ruthless rise to the top would be revealed. After that, it's just a series of proclamations and, of course, the tragedy of the Yentl snub at the Oscars.

The only other performer who might warrant a compelling biopic is Doris Day, who certainly dealt with great success, assorted tragedies from a young age, betrayal, secret interracial love, bankruptcy resiliency, and the ability to walk away into the sunset and never look back.

And Gloria Estefan, btw, wanted to do the singing for our Miss Connie, which would have been a disaster. Connie could have sung "Conga" better than Estefan could have sung "Where The Boys Are" or "Mama."

Along with the misdaignosis of bipolar was the use of Lithium which made things worse for her. as it was not the proper treatment for her.

R303 Talk about old fashioned and empty!

Streisand, Ross, Cher etc had interesting enduring A-list careers. Connie Francis was a has-been by the mid 60s.

The wider public was finished with her over 50 years ago. Connie who?

No one is going to invest millions to tell her story.

The wider public? Are you referring to you and your closet full of stained caftans?

[quote]Speaking of Rosie Clooney, an absolutely atrocious movie of the week was done about her life which did nothing but highlight her addiction to Seconals. Scandulous.

Connie who? Rosemary Clooney's story is the interesting one.

She actually did have a comeback and defeated her mental problems.

A career that lasted from the 1940s ..through the 1990s.

Big Hollywood film musicals, her own TV show, TV specials.

And she remained contemporary: Won an Emmy in 1995 for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series". Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. The album Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook went gold.

THAT'S a comeback. It's not anything like the sad-sack story of Connie Francis.

DOLLY PARTOB BIO- FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION COMPANY Parton is a co-owner of Sandollar Productions with Sandy Gallin, her former manager. A film-and-television-production company, it produced the Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989), which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Feature); the television series Babes (1990–1991) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003); and the feature films Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride: Part II (1995) Straight Talk (1992) (in which Parton also starred), Sabrina (1995), among other shows. In a 2009 interview singer Connie Francis revealed that Dolly had been contacting her for years in an attempt to film the singer's life story. Francis turned down Parton's offers as she was already in negotiations with singer Gloria Estefan to produce the film, a collaboration now ended.

Less people know who Rosemary Clooney is than Connie Francis.

R307. the 1977 film "New York New York" was based on Doris Day's life (although they didn't say so). Dealing with her BIg Band days, first marriage, and rise to film star.

R315 It was originally about Connie, but they changed the name because “New Jersey, New Jersey” didn’t test well.

We have to disqualify Clooney because she got so fucking fat. During her hot mess days though she was gorgeous. All those pills and ciggies kept her thing.

These shows continue to pick CF to dance to and skate to.

Thanks for that link, R318. Never heard that song by her before. It's very cool. Although her voice sounds a little hoarse for some reason.

R316 We have a comic virtuoso on the thread. Pass me the towel.

r318m very many record companies were interested in releasing a compilation album, "Connie Sings Songs To Skate To" but Connie nixed the idea because she felt too many of her fans would fall and break a hip.

I wish Connie would quit turning down the Kennedy Center Honors! I'll be that's one ceremony Trump would show up for.

Not many people were aware of it at the time, but Connie and Dusty Springfield had an ongoing romantic relationship for most of the '60s and into the '70s. The stress of maintaining two separate careers and the constant touring finally pulled them apart, and of course her father did everything possible to break them up EXCEPT chase Dusty away with a gun. But you can tell from Connie's recording of "Once I Had A Secret Love" EXACTLY who she is singing about.

I thought it was Connie Francis and Lesley Gore, R323?

Lesley Gore, too? Who knew Connie was such a tramp! It's a wonder Teri has put up with her all these years.

Teri left her assistant position several years ago. If you know that Teri was her assistant, you have a great deal of interest in CF. Huge fan!

Record companies are still calling Connie Francis. Can't say that for Gore,Springfield or the rest of the lot CF lovers try to put her up against.Face it,Connie Francis is Queen Bee....top dog,sorry

Virtually all women diagnosed with bipolar disorder have child sexual abuse in their background.

Since many child abuse victims grow up dysfunctional and without money, the psychiatric community finds it advantageous to put a bipolar diagnosis on these women and hand them lithium, or depakote, or whatever.

This way these underinsured women are in and out the door in 15 minutes.

If properly diagnosed with PTSD, then long term treatment is required and the state will not pay for therapy. Therefore, a script for lithium and monthly blood tests are the false treatment that people think is better than nothing.

When a medication comes out as a 'miracle' pill to treat PTSD then you will see the bipolar diagnosis fade away into oblivion, as just another cruel misstep in the history of psychiatry.

[quote]Virtually all women diagnosed with bipolar disorder have child sexual abuse in their background.

A) Is this true?

B) Is it true of men?

True Story: Connie has never forgiven Barbra for stealing the role of Yentl right out from under her. She'd even shaved her head.

First your abused as a girl, and your feelings are disregarded.

Then you are a social misfit for being unable to adapt to society's hypocrisy.

Then you are a thrown away indigent poor woman with a wild story to tell that no one wants to hear.

At some point you give up, but there is always a stirring in your heart to love others and protect the weak.

Therefore, you inhabit the world of the invisible, the land of the interior.

This is the landscape of thoughts, feelings, art, empathy and MUSIC.

Thank you, Connie Francis.

Thank you for sharing your talents. And your heart. Xoxo

R331's Ted Talk was hard to masturbate to . . .

R329 It is not true. Bipolar is a chemical imbalance that is inherited. There may or may not be stressors in the history.PTSD is more likely to have childhood sex abuse, but not necessarily. Trauma of any type is the requisite.

[quote]Record companies are still calling Connie Francis.

Yep, after all these years, they're still calling her a nut job.

I like Connie. She's got some interesting material, a good voice, and a tragic backstory. The only thing is she needed a better stylist or PR firm. Except for the glitzy gowns she always looked like she was wearing what my mother would wear to go to the Red Lobster.

R335 That was the problem. Connie never believed in a publicist even during her heyday. A publicist or PR person is a necessity to keep your name in print.

[quote] A publicist or PR person is a necessity to keep your name in print.

A rapist will do in a pinch.

The true tragedy of Connie's life is the wasted potential. So much of her career was mismanaged. After Connie recorded that scorching rendition of "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off To Have Fun!" in Yiddish, her record company failed to follow up with versions in Mandarin, Persian and Kurdu. Think of the international acclaim she could have had! She truly would have brought easy listening dance music to the masses and created a whole new generation of listeners, who would be in their 70s today instead of dead, like her traditional audience.

The soul reason the fabled Connie Francis movie bio has never been made is because people are waiting for her to die. Then the real story will emerge: her twisted relationship with her father, her Mafia brother strong-arming radio stations to make them play her records, her lesbian relationships. Connie constantly nixes any semblance of the truth in the scripts presented to her until all that remains is as saccharine-sweet as her music.

I don't know why she won't come out of the closet now. She could be a late-in-life feminist icon. People will understand why she didn't come out in her prime; it was a different time.

Connie and her remaining fans are all Trumpsters. If they discovered she'd been hiding her lesbian past all these years, they'd turn on her. So she'll continue to hide in plain sight and do "camp" with her gay friends while disparaging them behind their backs.

^The SOLE reason...

Connie Francis fans love her music,her sex life and the tragic rape you CF haters love talking about,we don't discuss.We have respect for a musical legend and icon.You all just like to make cheap jokes and demonstrate your peasant unbringing.The fascination with her rape and breakdown only makes you lot look like flaming idiots.Or worse,wannabe rapist masturbating to her tragedy. Seek help,your all disgusting.

^Connie, you shouldn't type while drunk. It's not a becoming look for "a musical legend and icon."

This track and I'll Remember You are my favorites on the LP Hawaii Connie. A more restrained Connie for this LP requested by President Nixon.

She got quite the raucous welcome on What's My Line?. She really looked beautiful. She must have had a stylist at the time because she looks really, really good. As an aside a young Jerry Lewis was so fucking hot. To bad he never just knew how to turn it off and take it down a notch. It took all his sexiness away. I couldn't imagine spending more than five minutes with him. He was probably worse than Belinda Carlisle.

Connie just twitterered her fans.What a superstar,out celebrating at the the Elbo room...but finding time to let us know she is okay. Thats a class act.Something CF haters and their half ass stars know nothing about.Peasants.

[quote]She must have had a stylist at the time because she looks really, really good.

R345 Any competent stylist can work with a thick waist and plain face -- with enough time and lighting.

Connie returned to What's My Line 12 years later in 1973. Go to 17:15 mark Still cute as a button!

The host remarks that out of all the young singers back then (1960's), she was the one who's career survived.

Baby Concetta! So cute.

Another one.

What a beautiful child.Dusty Springfield's baby pictures are so unattractive.

Gloria Estefan salutes Connie 2008 back when she was intent on playing Connie in a feature film. She was also intent on doing the singing in the film. A sacrilege.

I appreciate Gloria's reverence but she sucked in her rendition. SUCKED!

R352 Gloria Estefan is one of the least talented pop singers in recent memory.

Connie should have thrown her warm feces as Gloria, so Gloria could use it to smear on a pic of Obama, which was her usual encore.

Am I the only one who prefers "Follow the Boys" to "Where the Boys Are"? I know that FTB was pretty much just a remake of WTBA, but it sounds much better if you ask me - a lot more dramatic and with lusher orchestration.

Love Blue Winter.

Connie is too nice to attack Gloria.Francis is a class act.Unlike that bear Dusty Springfield

R355 WTBA had some very dramatic notes, the one in the middle that is held and slurred and th eone at the end. The opening note is hardly ever done correctly by others.The song and notes can only be done by Connie.It was a Sedaka, Greenfield, Keller composition. FTB was a David and Murray composition. It is an easier song to sing, but is lusher than WTBA. Gloria's daughter also sings WTBA and it is on youtube.

[quote]Am I the only one who prefers "Follow the Boys" to "Where the Boys Are"?

Yes.

People mock Madonna for not being able to sing, but Gloria Estefan is like going to a high school talent show.

Connie had a great voice, but the poor, damaged thing didn't know how to use it.

LeAnn Rimes does a good cover of the song, although with a country twang. She enters the song nicely, also.

LeeAnn's version is the closest to Connie's I've heard even with that middle note.

[R362]....oh i never knew LeeAnn attempted this???

I think a Connie Francis biopic could really be something if done properly. She's had a hell of a life. And a biopic doesn't have to end happily or on a triumphant note. The Jerry Lee Lewis biopic "Great Balls of Fire (which admittedly was not very good)" simply ended with him still performing, despite everything that had happened to him (career failure, alcoholism, etc.). A Connie Francis movie should end the same way; with her survival.

R380 As you can see, she played Connie on TV. Connie was one of her idols.

While I think LeAnn's singing of the song is fine even with the country twang, her motions are not really true to Connie. The dress won an Emmy for the designer.

R364 The movie should begin with her return to the stage in 1981 with a packed house, gifts brought to her by fans, and fans attending from all over the world. The fans and music industry were waiting for her return. It was a heavily publicized comeback. The movie can then throw back to the earlier days and then the post 1981 years.

^So the movie will end with Connie sitting alone in the dark, drunk, her tear-stained face reflected in the light of her computer screen as she watches video after video of her true love, Dusty Springfield? That's pretty much been Connie's life since 1981.

A triumphant return to an Indian casino with a capacity of 300 is probably not the stuff that cinematic dreams are made of, either.

Connie, you should really stop calling people "peasants," considering you're nothing but a trashy Jersey guidette whose brother was a low-level mob enforcer.

The song Connie loved to do live...conducted and arranged by Don Costa.

The Connie Francis Troll lives in a parallel universe of his own making in which his idol is the greatest star of all time, unlike this one in which she's a warbling harpy of a has-been. Oh well, as long as he's not a danger to civilians. But Connie should sleep with one eye open. That kind of whack job obsession, with his encyclopedic knowledge of the arcane facts of her life and whereabouts, doesn't bode well.

R371 Could that be you!

Milk and Honey

Mariah Carey was influenced by Connie:

[quote] In his book, Hitmaker: The Man and His Music, then-husband and music executive, Tommy Mottola, remembers her seeing the cover of the “Merry Christmas” album and said to him, “What are you trying to do, turn me into Connie Francis?”

[quote]Mariah Carey was influenced by Connie:

The drinking.

Merry Christmas, bitches!

Connie was seen with a female "companion" last week in Palm Beach. Seemed quite cozy together. New love interest or home health aide?

Connie has been known to have had a string of paid "companions" and "assistants" over the past few years. All female and all pretty butch-looking. None of them last very long.

But why not? She's an old woman and can afford it. She's not going to come out of the closet, so if it makes her happy, more power to her!

In the mid '70s, Warren Zevon wrote the song "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" and recorded it for an album. Linda Ronstadt did a cover version and had a huge hit with it. What people didn't know was that before Linda, Connie did a cover version of her own and was pleased with the record but studio executives nixed the idea. Too bad. That could have been the comeback Connie was looking for.

Connie Francis can employ anybody she likes DL Connie Francis haters.The question should be can Dusty Springfield.Who looks like she wears re-used depends.Sorry Trollop

Connie is still a global icon. They're still covering her songs, even in Nippon:

So is the Connie Francis Troll just old and senile or old, senile and purposefully antagonistic? Everyone knows Dusty Springfield is long dead, so why needlessly insult her memory at r380? Especially since she and Connie were long-time lovers. I'm sure Miss Francis would never approve of such negativity.

I guess getting negative attention is better than getting no attention at all. Right, Pumpkin?

I think the Connie Francis Troll and the Anti-Connie Francis Troll are one and the same. Dude likes talking to himself. Schizos can be like that.

R383.....don't confuse me with that Dusty bitch

Connie Francis is an icon,Dusty Springfield was NOT .End of debate. ...

[quote]Connie is still a global icon. They're still covering her songs,

They're still covering her songs???

What "songs" exactly....Where The Boys Are??

Well, nice that they throw a few crumbs to Connie Francis... but the female songs that are actually covered....and recorded from the 1960s are songs like: "Walk on By", "Downtown", "What the World Needs Now", "You Don't Own Me", "I Say a Little Prayer", "The Look of Love", "Be My Baby", "Please Mr Postman", “Son of a Preacher Man”, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, “Dancing in the Street”, “At Last” ...etc.

Those are songs that those singers introduced and have been covered and recorded over the decades.

Please list the recordings by other singers of "Where The Boys Are".

Please list the songs that Connie Francis introduced during the 1960s that ANYONE of note has bothered to record.

Thanks in advance.

R385 And before we do that, smartass, why don't YOU fucking list each of the original artists who introduced the songs in your brilliant collection and annotate each of the subsequent artists who covered them and the success and sales they achieved in doing so. You can't and you won't because you pulled a few Burt Bacharach and Carole King songs out of her shit-filled hat.

You must have an awful lot of free time on your hands to come to a fan thread and repeatedly and unrelentingly antagonize, condemn, and instigate dissension amongst people who wish to remember and celebrate Connie's work; and we all know it is you, the same motherfucking bitch in repeated posts throughout two threads of over 1000 posts.

I could answer your question in citing covers of "Where The Boys Are" and severeal other songs that Connie introduced, but I am directing YOU, bitch, to do the research and ascertain the information for yourself. You need the exercise. And in the interim, do us one additional favor and stay the fuck off this thread and leave those of us who appreciate Miss Francis' work the hell alone.

Thanks in advance!

The "songs" of Connie Francis...LOL.

What songs? She did not introduce one song of any weight or lasting power. In the 1960s no one wrote for her. The top writers were involved with other artists.

She tried to follow on the coattails of trends: "Bonny Clyde" was a hit... so she comes out with a cheap1920s-30s style album...even including a song called "Connie & Clyde"

Tony Orlando has a mega smash with: "Tie a Yellow Ribbon". So she does a song called "Should I Tie a Yellow Ribbon..."

Hilariously lame.

Meanwhile the other ladies of the 1960s are churning out hits that defined the decade.

*"Bonnie & Clyde"

R387 What songs? She did not introduce one song of any weight or lasting power. In the 1960s no one wrote for her. The top writers were involved with other artists.

You musical dunce, she had SIXTEEN Top 10 hits between 1958 and 1963 alone. "Who's Sorry Now," "Lipstick On Your Collar," "Fallin," "Among My Souvenirs," "Stupid Cupid," and "Where The Boys Are" are standards and still performed and broadcast the world over to this very day. What doesn't have lasting power is your dick.

Top writers? You basement-living cobweb, has your two-celled brain ever processed the names of Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller? Likely not. Look them up and come back to me with their credits. They wrote almost exclusively for Connie during the late 50s early 60s. Neil Sedaka amassed a fortune of $100,000,000 largely attributable to those very compositions.

Take an analysis of Tony Orlando's musical career, his lasting popularity, discography, and international sales. The only thing I'll afford him is a short-lived TV series and wingman to two black chicks. That is hilariously lame, just like you. Only you're simply lame. You're not sophisticated enough to be hilarious.

[quote]"Who's Sorry Now," "Lipstick On Your Collar," "Fallin," "Among My Souvenirs," "Stupid Cupid," and "Where The Boys Are" are standards

You don't know what the word "standard" means when it applies to music.

First of all "Who's Sorry Now" was a hugely popular song (since the 1920s)... it was not introduced by CF.

"Among My Souvenirs," is dated sappy hokem.

"Lipstick On Your Collar".... is not a standard by any means.

"Stupid Cupid" is on par with "Pink Shoelaces"

" Fallin'" is totally obscure. Known by few.

""Where The Boys Are"" ...her signature song, is truly third rate as far as 1960s pop songs go and has never had a subsequent recording by anyone of note.

You don't know what the word "standard" means when it applies to music. First of all "Who's Sorry Now" was a hugely popular song (since the 1920s)... it was not introduced by CF.

Hugely popular?? The most notoriety it had was a Marx Brothers film. It was a marginal hit for Isahm Jones in the 1920s and largely dormant until Connie's 1957 recording which MADE IT A STANDARD!!!!! It has hence been recorded by dozens of artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Liza Minnelli, Willie Nelson, and Jerry Lee Lewis AFTER Connie's 22 week number one recording.

The other songs were all originated by Connie and are often difficult to cover. They remain broadcast and performed all over the world. The ability to cover a song is not testament to the singer who originated the song, which I think is your marginal attempt at logic. It would be testament to the composer. The fact that FEW people attempted to cover songs originated by a particular artist is more of a testament to the originality and quality of that recording.

And plenty of artists performed "Where The Boys Are" including Bette Midler, Gloria Estefan, Leann Rimes, and Linda Ronstadt. They didn't necessarily need to have a hit single with it to affirm its worth value. It belongs to Connie. And I'm still waiting for the stats on Tony Orlando's musical legacy. The average Puerto Rican today hasn't even heard of him.

Neal Sedaka? His truly great pop songs sung by women were "Solitaire" (Karen Carpenter) and "Love Will Keep Us Together" (Toni Tenille).

[quote]And plenty of artists performed "Where The Boys Are" including Bette Midler, Gloria Estefan, Leann Rimes, and Linda Ronstadt.

None of them have recorded it. None.

"Who's Sorry Now" was well known to the public: Harry James, Bing Crosby... and was a big hit in the 1920s.

The film "Three Little Words " was a huge box-office hit in 1950. The song is sung in that film.

The public was well aware of the song. It was not introduced by Connie Francis.

[R393]yet Connie Francis re-introduced them and had tremendous success.So seeth all you want,foolish jealous egghead

Connie's star is so bright,it still makes you mad even then your not even old enough to appreciate her greatness.I laugh at your miniscule attempts to detrone her........and your anger at failure,each and every time

R389Great composers wrote songs just for Connie...Don Black, Les Reed, Francis Webster, etc. Also, I agree that WTBA is iconic and exclusive to Connie, and anyone who sings it has not done it justice except for Connie and LeeAnn. Artists stay away from recording songs that are closely associated with another. Lipstick On Your Collar has been lauded as a great pop song, especially because of the great guitar brigdge by George Barnes. There are musicians on youtube teaching the bridge. It is one of the most iconic, popular, and difficult of all pop guitar bridges. This song was written by the ever popular Edna Lewis and George Ghoering. Her rendition of Brother Can You Spare A Dime is impressive and the author noted it as the definitive version. her Connie and Clyde LP, renamed The Swinging CF, when released on CD was conducted and arranged by Don Costa and is a great LP. The weakest track in the Connie and Clyde track which should have been left off of it. The song above, MILK AND HONEY< was a change for Connie and is one of her best recordings. Futurama chose to use Connie's version of I Will Wait For You and it then became one of her popular recordings. I can go on and on. Her music has remained relevant for TV shows and movies and adds.

R391 Her version of WSN was named by Billboard to be one of the recordings of the century. It became a huge hit because of her in your face approach to the song - as if she meant it. That became Connie's trademark. If a song was sad, you felt it and if a song was happy. the same thing. She instilled such an emotive quality to her vocals and maintained the pitch in doing sp, and made them her own. People were able to identify with them.

Les Reed constantly sings her praise, and regard CF Sings the Songs of Les Reed one of the best LPs of his music.

Les Reed wrote Three Good Reasons, Mr. love, and Lifetime of Love for her, and these are on the superb LP. This was Connie's last MGM session during which she also recorded Zingara, a song she performed for the San Remo Music Festival.

The LP A New Kind of Connie was a departure for her. Sinatra loved this LP, especially the track I Foiund Myself a Guy which she recorded with opprchestra and is found on th eLP and with simply piano accompaniment. The title was the wrong title for this LP as peopll]e did not want a new Connie. MGM quickly released the LP CF Sings Mala Femmena and her Big Hits From Italy to fight A New Kind of Connie - a big mistake on MGM.s and Connie.s parts. She and MGM should have continued to promote A New Kind of Connie or change the name!

A new Kind Of............

I wish I had her bankroll

A superb live performance at San Remo Music Festival

Elton must have left the first comment on youtube.,.,.and he is absolutely correct!

R403 Referring to the comment from 10 months ago!

You can't say she wasn't a hard working gal. She's not particularly my taste but I applaud her and I'm glad she has a legion of fans. Music is special and personal to people. You can't trash someone elses music. Unless it's Belinda fucking Carlisle.

R405 Belinda who morphed into CF! I like Belinda.

Belinda looks more like Ann Landers.

R407 She does look more like A. Landers with the black wig hair style.

My father worked with her father in the fifties. He said she was troubled and had health issues. I was maybe eight or nine and I knew who she was because her records were played on the radio and at parties that my youngest uncle would throw at my grandmother's house. She had a finished basement that had a bar and large martini glasses hanging on the wall behind the bar. The girls wore tight pencil skirts and sweaters and scarves ties around their necks like Annette. What a great time.

[quote] He said she was troubled and had health issues.

Geez, R408, you throw out a bomb like that and then all you do is go on to discuss "pencil skirts and sweaters"? Tell us more details about Connie's issues!

Thank you R395 and R396 for more insight into Connie's music, as always. I have been ping ponging with that egregious cunt bitch R392 who insists on undermining her work, and simpering about other artists not covering her songs. This pent-up douche is the main Connie antagonist and instigator of bullshit on this thread.

Midler, Ronstadt, Estefan, and Rimes all PERFORMED the fucking song. They didn't need to record it. Who the fuck needs artists to cover songs when they were done definitively to begin with? "People" and "The Way We Were" have been covered by other artists including Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Gladys Knight, and Doris Day, all of whom are fabulous in their own right. But they brought nothing new to those songs, because they are Barbra's. Barbra, similarly, covered "We've Only Just Begun," Close to You," and "I Won't Last a Day Without You." Pleasant renditions, but nothing even close to Karen Carpenter's definitive renderings. It's no different with Connie's music.

"Where The Boys Are" does not need to be recorded by others. It was recorded by the right one and will continue to exist because of her, not in spite of her. And stop making idiotic and unfounded comparisons, to singers like Tony Orlando who epitomizes the concept of forgotten. I guarantee you more people know of Connie than Tony Orlando. Next you'll be comparing Connie to Helen Reddy.

R395 on a sweeter note, George Barnes did not perform that classic guitar solo on "Lipstick." It was legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarrelli. One of the most complex and iconic guitar solos on any popular recording indeed. R392, go look up his credits! And eat shit.

Thanks in advance

I was a little kid. My father wasn't going to go into details about her issues with me. I guess now it might have been something to do with her sexuality and her mental health. And if she was sexually abused that alone would have fucked up her head. I think the reason my father brought her up was because something happened that alarmed the family and her father needed someone to talk to. My father did think she was beautiful and very talented. I mentioned the skirts and sweaters because I hadn't thought about those days in decades and it brought back nice memories. sue me.

R411 The Lipstick guitar bridge has been attributed to both George Barnes and Bucky, both claim it. Connie has also sometimes attributed it to Barnes and at other times to Bucky. Ron Roberts, close to Connie, states that it was Barnes. This controversy is shown in the comments below this video.

To add to my text at R396, who was the first person thought of to record In The Summer Of His Years? When David Frost in the UK heard the song the day after the assassination of JFK, he called Connie and asked her to record the song. He flew the composition to her and she did record it. The royalties went to Tippet's family, the officer killed. It was one of the first charity records.

Who knew you could get a degree in Connie Francis Studies? The Connie Francis Troll has certainly earned his Master's. But it's almost scary. Like, how would someone know all of that shit? And why? You might like Francis' emotive style and whiny vibrato, but are you going to dedicate your life to worshiping her life and songbook? It's almost like the Troll...lived...through it. Oh, hi Connie. Welcome to Datalounge. I guess somebody explained googling to you.

R415..and that is you!

[quote] You might like Francis' emotive style and whiny vibrato

Lol. A few songs maybe but many don't have that at all. For example:

r416, Connie, the jig is up. so why don't you at least entertain us with some inside scoop on your life? Besides Dusty and Lesley, did you also fuck Karen Carpenter, as has long been rumored? What other famous lesbians did you "cross paths" with? Anyone from Broadway, like Mary Martin? And when did your "Mama," Big Ida, stop slapping you around? Poor thing, so jealous of your father's preference for you. Oh, and a word of advice, if you'd stop sending death threats to Jann Wenner and sent over a cute boy or two instead, you'd be in the RRHOF lickety-split.

Connie's biggest fan keeps listing songs that were supposedly huge hits and none of them are familiar at all. Seriously, there are so many songs from the early 1960s when she was supposedly popular that you can name right off the top of your head, but hers are not among them. And while "Where The Boys Are" might have been popular, it's a little beach movie ditty, not a classic of any quality. People aren't bothering to record it because it's not even worth the studio time. Sing it at a concert, sure, if they want something schmaltzy, but they're not going to take it seriously.

And Mr. Troll, please spare us from another list of Connie's "hits." We've seen it and none of them resonate.

When Connie Francis dies, which could be any day now, I hope her burial is private. Otherwise, the Connie Francis Troll, is going to fling himself on the casket as it's lowered so he can be buried with her. Hmm, on second thought...

R419 We've also heard enough of your fucking shit and have advised you to take a fucking hike. You're the psychopath who insists on condemning, ridiculing, and reasserting your inane and libelous remarks about Connie, No no one takes your stupidity seriously and you haven't a chance of thwarting or altering the facts of Connie's life. You haven't been able to back up or support a single Goddamned thing you've claimed, and you continue to run your shit. Hopefully the casket and burial will very soon be yours. But you won't commit suicide just yet. You're get paid too much from DL to stir shit on multiple threads. Have another vodka.

[R421]

Vodka,no give that lunatic some gasoline moonshine.Iam sure its had it before.

"The British Invasion was stopped by only one gal: Connie Francis! It was Connie's single 'I'm Takin' A Martian to Prom' that keep those British mop-tops, the Beatles, from the No. 1 spot on our charts in 1964. Two years later, Connie's single 'Look! A Goat is Riding Daddy's Lawnmower' kept the fab-four from the top spot again."

-- BILLBOARD

She had Special K for breakfast again.

r421, your foaming at the mouth responses to even the most benign of comments you don't like provide endless entertainment for Datalounge denizens. Why do you think there have been so many posts over several threads about someone who's basically a footnote to music history? Because every time you feel compelled to defend Connie's dubious honor, your head explodes. The fact that you have spent so much of your life learning every fact about her, even including real estate listing info so you can describe the differences between when Connie owned a house decades ago and now, is just sad.

If this thread closes out at 600 it will be peak datalounge.

Wishing Connie and her girlfriend, Sylvia, a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

My favorite Connie album:

[quote]Connie's biggest fan keeps listing songs that were supposedly huge hits and none of them are familiar at all. Seriously, there are so many songs from the early 1960s when she was supposedly popular that you can name right off the top of your head, but hers are not among them. And while "Where The Boys Are" might have been popular, it's a little beach movie ditty, not a classic of any quality.

I really had to laugh at the poster who claimed that ""Who's Sorry Now," "Lipstick On Your Collar," "Fallin," "Among My Souvenirs," "Stupid Cupid," and "Where The Boys Are" are standards".

Uh...no, apart from "Who's Sorry Now" they're all low quality, forgettable pop tunes both musically and lyrically.

And all of them were recorded between 1958 and 1960. A very short window.

Connie Francis did not introduce one quality song during the 1960s. Not one. She was a non-player during the onslaught of great 1960s music.

And I have to laugh at R417... posting that insignificant bubblegum tune that was already woefully out of date in 1963. While Connie Francis was recording that kind of dreck... Dusty was singing "I Only Want to Be with You" and Dionne, "Don't Make Me Over".

[quote]Les Reed wrote Three Good Reasons, Mr. love, and Lifetime of Love for her, and these are on the superb LP.

What?? The songs on that album are hideous GrandFrau music. By the time that was recorded, even the Lennon Sisters had moved on.

Here's an example...listen to that teary whine, mush-mouthed diction, cheapo Karaoke-style orchestrations.

The Connie Trolls actually think this is "superb"!

Reed's hits from that era were originally recorded by people like Tom Jones, Petula Clark and Herman's Hermits. As usual, Connie did cover versions in her schmaltzy style for people who considered the Brits "too radical." No wonder she had them lining up at the Indian casinos.

Yes, Les Reed saved his hits for Tom Jones, Petula Clark, Engelbert Humperdinck and Peter Noone.

At least Connie Francis' Les Brown album gave her a chance to record another Petula Clark hand-me-down.

An yet again the Connie Francis trolls run in for somebody they claim to hate.At least,we CF fans are honest in our our and admiration for the musical icon.You all just continue to look like jealous haters,mad Connie stole Bobby Darrin from you or your grandmother.How sad..hums "Where the boys are...."for all you miserable losers. ...

[quote]This was Connie's last MGM session during which she also recorded Zingara, a song she performed for the San Remo Music Festival.

Connie Francis goes to San Remo and returns with "Zingara" a dreary Italian pop song that no one remembers.

Meanwhile Dusty Springfield goes to SanRemo and returns with "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me". A smash hit.

^Connie, do you think it's time to go back on the lithium? And back to AA?

You act as though there is only 1 Connie defender on this thread. There are several! Also...........people don't talk about a person they do not care about as much as you have .

R423, you joke, but, in fact, Connie did out chart the Beatles many times. Let's randomly look at a Billboard chart from 1964, when the Beatles were at their height with 4 top hits. But notice that Connie is charting HIGHER than 6 other Beatles songs. (See Connie's "Blue Winter" at 24th place and all the Beatles songs far below her).

r436, meet r425. In case you got lost and thought this was the Connie Francis Fan Club, this is Datalounge and we don't suffer fools gladly. "Fools" being some whackjob who can't get over his obsession with a glorified lounge singer half a century past her prime.

R437 Oh please. Billboard's hot 100 for the year 1964.

As expected, Connie Francis is nowhere to be seen

That list is only number 1 singles, R439. No one claimed she had a number 1 in '64.

R430 Here's an example...listen to that teary whine, mush-mouthed diction, cheapo Karaoke-style orchestrations.

Please go tell Les Reed that who was the conductor and arranger foir the LP. He has a FB page.

Haha r440, it's so hard to face reality, isn't it? Just look who WAS on the chart, though. Streisand, Ross, Warwick -- all legends in the making. Not someone like a Connie Francis whose dated style had already doomed her as a has-been.

[quote]Belinda who morphed into CF! I like Belinda.

Belinda Carlise hosted those Legendary Ladies of Rock&Roll concerts.

Singers included: Grace Slick, Mary Wells, Lesley Gore, Freda Payne, Martha Reeves, Ronnie Spector... and of course... Brenda Lee.

No Connie Francis.

What's your point, R442? Here's your same Billboard Number 1 list for 1961. Connie is on it TWICE. And same for 1962 and years before that.

Yes, r444, and not again, UNLIKE her contemporaries who were mentioned. That's the point, since you insist on being so obtuse.

If there has ever been in a thread in DL history that is screaming for a moderator, it is this. This thread should set a new standard for a moderator's intervention on DL and threaten to ban the invaders that make statements that they cannot defend or support with evidence.

R443 So what? Go by what she says! She has said it more than once.....but she calls CF the Queen of Pop and not R and R.

R445...and all of those had an end to the Billboard hit streak! It happens to every artist. You are so sense. Nevertheless, she had more hits and sales than all of those. I guess each of those is a has-been, as well, by your definition.

sense = dense!

R439 Great rendition.

Perfection...the subtle intonations.

I heard on NPR tonight that Facebook is cracking down on teens threatening to commit suicide if Connie Francis isn't inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Apparently, they are using algorithms to look for comments that say, "Don't do it!" or "Connie isn't worth your life!" and alerting the police.

Haven't enough people died for Connie?

Her phrasing is so bad, it sounds as if she's saying it is her "old friend" who "introduced her."

Connie always sings English like she doesn't understand what the words actually mean.

R453 Then you disagree with all of the song composers that state that she was the one to interpret their songs as they should be! This included Les reed.

...also disagree with all of the comments to the video! Nonsense....her phrasing is great, as is her pitch and intonation.

If Connie had been as wonderful as her trolls assert, she'd have made a huge comeback and sold tons of records well beyond 1964 despite the setbacks she suffered, including the rape and the mental illness. But her style of singing was dated and she had been incapable of pushing beyond her artistic and creative limitations long before any of that. And the truth of the matter is, audiences had moved on. Sure, she had people still willing to see her perform, but not enough to sustain any kind of momentum, obviously.

Yes, here's an example of a song that Les Reed certainly thought that Connie had nailed better than anyone else. It's a wonder that Tom Jones' version received any airplay at all once people heard Connie's.

An 16 gold records,53 hot Billboard 100 ranked records laters idiots still call Connie Francis a lackluster star.You idiots are either deaf,obtuse or jealouse of Rock &Rolls first superstar.Get some class and taste along to replace the hot air coming out of your ignorant mouth about Connie Francis. Just because you weren't born yet,dosen't mean great music didn't exist.....peasants.

R457 Well, you can understand why he gave his good stuff to others first.

Having her sing his material was probably a career move to introduce his songs to an older retirement-home type of audience.

R457's song actually is great.

I have to say I actually enjoy Cocktail Connie

Popularity for a short period in time doesn't equal greatness, r458. You can fool some of the people...

And thank you for letting us know you're of a higher class of human than us "peasants." More proof of your delusions. I'll bet that powdered wig you wear around your studio apartment is hella hot, though.

[R462]

My commentary was for Connie Francis haters like you ,who swear they are musical genius's. Everything dosen't start or end with you dotard,take your runned over shoes elsewhere

R458 Correction 57 Hit Billboard hits. There were 4 before the Hot 100 Billboard charts.

R459 I wish you would take that up with Les on his FB page. He is currently working with Connie to reissuie the LP. He puts the LP at the very top of his efforts, not second, but at the very top.

Cocktail Connie is a great CD...artistic and different.

To the CF hater...I see that you stroll through many threads of artists and non-artists. The hate comments are virtually the same on every thread. As someone said above....No one takes as much time as you di if they really dislike a person.

If there was any interest at all in Connie's music except for a few vocal Connie lovers here, there would be a huge push to reissue her "greatest" hits, her Christmas album would continue selling every year, she'd be feted at numerous prestige venues across the country, etc., etc. Except she's not. Sales are non-existent and she shows up in Fort lauderdale with a drag queen for a limp WTBA anniversary do.

Where are the millions of fans the Connie Troll keeps talking about and why won't they buy some records, dammit!?!

They are being reissued constantly. She has chosen not to sing as she does not like how she sounded in the past few years. She retired from singing, but not show biz or charity work. She has sod "zillions" of records. She does not need to sell more, but the re-releases do sell. She was Polygram's biggest re-issue artist when it existed. Her music is constantly being released....and if she decided to perform, as she did several years ago, the places would be packed. Her radio has been tremendously popular for years. She knew when to step down from singing as others do not seem to know how to do. She has always had packed houses even when her voice was faltering. You know very little about her or I sholkd say you know a great deal about her, but as some obsessed fans do, you like to create negativity around your obsession. There was that Ohio obsessed fan who did exactly as you are doing and who was featured in the news.

[quote]He is currently working with Connie to reissuie the LP.

Yeah right. We're all waiting for it.

[quote]If there was any interest at all in Connie's music except for a few vocal Connie lovers here, there would be a huge push to reissue her "greatest" hits, her Christmas album would continue selling every year, she'd be feted at numerous prestige venues across the country, etc., etc.

And this would have been happening for the last 30 years.

During those 30 years we would have seen her on David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan...presenting at the Grammys... on the red carpet...on duet albums with Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Streisand...or doing her own duet album with the greats, and there would have been awards: RRHall of Fame, Kennedy Honors....she would have shown up as a guest on a TV series..."Murder She Wrote"..."Golden Girls".... or on "American Idol", "The Celebrity Apprentice"....

The point is... she would have been involved in contemporary pop culture in some way if she were wanted.

R470mHogwash...your same old routine on every thread!

But we're supposed to be impressed because Belinda Carlise sang "Where The Boys Are" in some concert somewhere. You guys are ridiculous.

[quote] Cocktail Connie is a great CD...artistic and different.

Agree. The CD is one of her best compilations.

Oh, I love it too, Bossa Nova Hand Dance was the song that Priscilla Presley danced to on DWTS> Her music has been used frequently on the UK;s Strictly Come Dancing. Connie is one of the greatest!

This back and forth slap fest continues and persists without abandon It is chronic and it is terminal. The relationship and regard for Connie Francis reminds me of something said about the average Howard Stern fan during his radio hey day. The average Howard Stern fan listens for 30 minutes. The average Howard Stern hater listens for an hour and a half.

Cocktail Connie is one of her best. I've enjoyed the album for years. I do wish she were able and willing to do some performing today, and prove her popularity like her equally overlooked contemporary and one of the greatest singers of the last 65 years, Mr. Johnny Mathis. A true gay icon all but forgotten, the name springing nary a flicker for anyone under 50. Yet he undeniably sang some of the most beautiful and enduring standards ever written, and has remained pointedly ignored by the gay demographic. He came out at a time where it could have destroyed him, and yet his great talent prevailed and overcame the stigma. A perfect gentleman, humble, a huge star but a real person with not a single scandal in his six decade career. Just the same, there are no Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards, No Kennedy Center Honors, few requests to participate in any "duets" albums (because we know how stellar and artistically rich they are), 83 years old, STILL performing the world over, looks great, moves great, sounds near to peak vocals, and sells out every Goddamned venue he performs in. It isn't just Connie whose work and legend is diluted in favor of grande dames with malls..

I was floored by the range found in "Cocktail Connie"....as she takes her fans from teenaged angst to woman masterfully with a wide range of beautiful vocals.This album is her virtuoso

As proved by the number of haters,posting illogical madness...angry that Connie has outshined them and theirs again.Tough luck you ill mannered cretins.

[quote] Her music has been used frequently on the UK;s Strictly Come Dancing.

That's great - lots of kids and young people are watching those (otherwise crappy) shows and are getting introduced to Connie's music this way. Someone on some other thread made fun of Mandy Moore covering Stupid Cupid, but that's how I first heard of that song when I was a teen (Mandy sang that song in The Princess Diaries). Years later I found out on youtube that Mandy's version was just a cover and that the original was sung by someone named Connie Francis - I gradually began listening to her other songs online and these days I consider myself a die-hard Concetta fan.

There are plenty of truly forgotten music artists from the past but she definitely isn't one of them: Connie's music keeps getting passed to younger generations. Her music legacy is gonna live FOREVER!

I never thought I'd say this but I just bought a Connie CD. I just bought the digital version from Amazon.

R478...Too numerous to mentio, but you have the Craft with Falln', Rose McGowen lipsyncing to WTBA in a movie, Kate Winslet lipsyncing to Do You Love Me Like You Kiss Me in Romance and Cigarettes, Second Hand Love in My Cousin Vinny, Senza Fine in Flight of The Phoenixf , Don't Break the Heart That Loves You in The Feud, Siboney in 2046, You're Gonna Miss ME in AHS Apocalypse, her hits featured in Postcards From America, and I can go on and on.

LOL. Uh ..."Romance and Cigarettes" was from like 13 years ago. "My Cousin Vinny," was from over 25 years ago. "Flight of The Phoenix" is from 2004. "Postcards From America" is from 1994!

Yeah...Connie Francis music is being heard everywhere!

R481 You forgot to mention the current ones, nutso! And idiot...they have been used throughout the year!

R457 It is so sad that Connie Francis's drinking had gotten so out of control that she was knowns as "Cocktail Connie" -- even to her record label.

[R483] The record companies knew that Connie's issues were the result of a horrendous attack.Unlike Dusty Springfield's self induced drug problems.Which record companies were also aware of.

Connie's husbands:

Number 1: Richard Kanellis

Number 2: Izzy Marrion

Number 3: Joseph Garzilli

Number 4: Bob Parkinson

That's not Connie he's with in this pic, it's Joanna Carson.

Hubby #1 looks kind of doable. The other three are fugs.

It's funny: Connie looks the same in all her pics with husbands. Even when young, she looked middle age and frumpy.

[quote]middle age and frumpy.

Middle age and frumpy...much like her recordings.

I agree that Connie gives off a slightly dyke-y vibe, but would an actual lesbian really bother herself with four lavender marriages?!

Connie has always been a diva-ish, temperamental personality. Even in a bearding relationship, -- well, especially in a bearding relationship -- that kind of Jersey girl drama would get old fast. Don't know why she felt she had to get married four times, though. Maybe she kept thinking with the "right" man, her orientation would change.

Her second husband, Izzy, cut my hair once.

He was okay, very extroverted though.

Wow Connie was considered "Frumpy" by you Tasmanian devils but still got a man 4 times What's you all's excuse,you ugly pigs

Maybe you all are lesbians too,without the national acclaim,gold records and cadillac's. No wonder your all miserably stalking Connie

It's probably more telling that Connie's last marriage ended 40 or so years ago. Even with all her travails, you'd think there would have been some man in the picture since then. Other than her father, I mean. Even if Daddy felt he had to keep "other" men away, he had to have died at some point!

I met Izzy once, as well, in Las Vegas. He was a very nice guy. He never said anything bad about Connie that I know.

Isn't she known as "Delicatessen Connie" because everything she ever touched is full of ham and cheese?

[R498]

Dusty Springfield was simply known as Dusty

No explanation needed

Connie had an "Aretha Franklin" type relationship with her father, only with abortions.

Connie Francis doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Johnny Mathis OR Dusty Springfield.

Francis was pure histrionic hokum and her musical legacy is either pure pablum or simply saccharine. I'm amazed her trolls are so proud of their execrable taste in music.

Joan Crawford on Connie Francis in 1959:

[quote] When people say that little gal has a set of pipes on her, I say, "You're darn tootin'!" I'd love her to do that title song to my next picture. It's a romance. She's a real pip, that one. Can drink any studio head under the table! I'm joking. What do I know? I only drink tea."

Connie's 3rd marriage was a good one and lasted 4 years. He also became her manager when her original manager, George Scheck, passed away. The marriage ended ended the effects of the assault. They remained friends. During the marriage, Connie financed him into a successful travel business for stars.

Her first marriage was an abusive one, and Sinatra ran him out of LV for Connie.

The second marriage with Izzy was also abusive die to his gambling habits and Connie having to pay off his gambling debts. He had children by a previous wife. A daughter recently wrote a book about him and had nothing but nice things to say about Connie.

The fourth marriage with Bob Parkinson was not a good one and occurred when she was not well. Connie financed him.

Connie has been in a relationship for years with a man that does LV revues. She says she will never marry again.

Connie had an extraordinary voice, spectacular live and on record. Her voice peaked from 1964 to 1970. She had a strong voice as a 12 year old. Video 25:29.

George Scheck chose to take her on to manage after the show went off of the air. George is the father of Barry Scheck, the DNA specialist from the O J Simpson case and founder of The Innocence Project.

R501 Mathis had a very limited range of less than one octave. I love Dusty, but no one knows who she is. The older people do not know much about her whether Dusty or Dusty Springfield and the younger ones never heard of her. Dusty's movements while singing are exaggerated and stilted, while Connie';s were more natural.

Very beautiful and noted glowing comments below the video.

r505, I know that in the limited confines of your mind, Connie is the queen of the universe and is a daily object of devotion. But out here, in the world, she's a relic from another era when people appreciated an overblown style of warbling. While Connie doled out the insipidly unlistenable "Cocktail Connie," or really, anything else you've inflicted on us from youtube, Dusty Springfield was releasing the seminal "Dusty in Memphis" and a number of other classic tunes.

I'm sure it hurts to think you've wasted your life on a has-been who hasn't had a hit record since 1964, but the sooner you come to grips with your pathological obsession with her, the sooner the healing can begin.

Izzy had a cock down to his knees.

[quote]Dusty Springfield was releasing the seminal "Dusty in Memphis".

A little info on "Dusty in Memphis"

Dusty in Memphis has frequently been named one of the greatest albums of all-time; according to Acclaimed Music, it is the 104th most prominently ranked record on critics' all-time lists. NME named it the 54th greatest album ever in their 1993 list, and in 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the record 89th on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Richie Unterberger wrote in AllMusic that the album's reputation has improved significantly over time and felt it was "deserving of its classic status". Tony Scherman from Entertainment Weekly said Dusty in Memphis was a "pure gem", Springfield's greatest work, and perhaps one of the greatest pop records ever recorded, Q took note of its balance between "R&B and sensitive pop dramas", while Spin critic Chuck Eddy viewed it as one of the all-important blue-eyed soul records. In The A.V. Club, Keith Phipps wrote that Springfield and her team of musicians and producers for Dusty in Memphis developed an elegant and distinct fusion of pop and R&B that predated the Philadelphia soul sound of the 1970s. According to Eric Klinger from PopMatters, its sophisticated style of music influenced the sound of 1990s trip hop artists who sampled songs from the album and became a blueprint for British female singers of the 2000s, including Adele, Rumer, and Duffy.

The album has been reissued 4 times.

[quote]The older people do not know much about her whether Dusty or Dusty Springfield and the younger ones never heard of her.

What an idiot. Yeah right.... unknown and completely forgotten...

"Dusty Springfield is an inductee of both the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999) and the UK Music Hall of Fame (2006). "

"She has been placed among the top 25 female artists of all time by readers of Mojo magazine (May 1999), editors of Q magazine (January 2002), and a panel of artists on VH1 TV channel (August 2007)."

"In 2008, Dusty appeared at No. 35 on the Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". "

"Her album Dusty in Memphis has been listed among the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone and in polls by VH1 artists, New Musical Express readers, and the Channel 4 viewers, and in 2001, received the Grammy Hall of Fame award."

"Various films and stage musicals have been created or proposed to commemorate her life. On 12 January 2006 an Australian stage musical, Dusty – The Original Pop Diva, received its world premiere at the State Theatre of the Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne. "

"UK singer-songwriter David Westlake on his 2002 release, Play Dusty for Me, "fêted [Springfield] in both the album title and opening title track"."

"US singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne's tenth studio album Just a Little Lovin' (2008) was issued as a tribute." "Lynne's album received critical acclaim, charted at number 41 on the US Billboard Charts and was nominated for a Grammy Award"

"In 2012, a biographical jukebox musical titled Forever Dusty opened Off-Broadway in New York City at New World Stages. The production starred Kirsten Holly Smith as Springfield. Smith also co-wrote the book of the musical."

"In 2015, Springfield was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the 2015 LGBT History Month."

"Son of a Preacher Man" was placed at No. 43 of the 'Greatest Singles of All Time' by the writers of New Musical Express in 2002. In 2004, the song made the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Yes, r510, but one of her fans wrote some "very beautiful" comments about Connie's video on youtube (r506). So there!

R511 So what? As R505 They just do not know Dusty! When you mention her name, you get a puzzled look.

R597 There is a very similar comment on a Babs thread!

R507...and Celine Dion does not have an overblown style! More than anyone else.

R507 Regardless of what you say, Connie still has millions of fans, and they would appear if she decided to appear in concert. The venues would be packed no matter where. Also, I agree, Celine has the most overblown style. Connie is often subdued when the song calls for it.

Was Connie raped anally?

RWhile Connie doled out the insipidly unlistenable "Cocktail Connie," or really, anything else you've inflicted on us from youtube,

There is a very easy solution to this. Get off this thread!...and all of the other threads you simply visit to spill your vile comments. As has been said numerous times...no one who says he cares so little for a person would talk about her/him so much.

Did Black men rape her?

Is that your own personal fantasy Connie Hater To be violated,while listening to Dusty records Dressed up in Connie Francis attire

You are a sick puppy.....fantasizing about BBC dressed as Connie Francis

You're the one with the vivid imagination, r519. Comes naturally to you, obviously, since you keep imagining that Connie the crone is the star of anything more than your basement shrine. They do have drugs that could help you, you know.

Where the Trolls are....

[R520]

No dearheart,the crone is your mother....now take off her wig sweetheart,you'll get it dirty rolling around in that pig sty you call a home.

I wonder why Connie's adopted son wants nothing to do with her. Was she that horrible of a mother? Or is he homophobic and not willing to accept Connie being a lesbian?

[R523]

I don't, he probably has heard people calling his mother crazy for decades (like the guttersnipe Connie hater)an written her off.That rape cost her so much.....its just heartbreaking

But i bet the minute she dies,he will become the loving son again.

R523 Produce your sources for such an egregious statement. Where do you get this info? Where is it written?

R525 There is a thread about this topic as well and, of course, full of nastiness and likely started by 523 to stir up nastiness.

523 answers himself 524. LOL

[quote]Regardless of what you say, Connie still has millions of fans, and they would appear if she decided to appear in concert. The venues would be packed no matter where.

Oh, honey . . . there aren't enough ambulances, stretcher, walkers, and wheelchairs to get Connie's remaining fans to fill a venue.

R528 They will be there....from age 19 up.

Ol Man Mose conducted and arranged by Dick Wess

R530 "Alexa, play a black song sung by the most uptight, whitest singer ever."

At The Copa

Connie Francis singing "When The Saints Go Marching In". Young people today love it as much as her recording of "Mama".

My niece just called me from UCLA.

She said you can't walk down the hall at her dorm without hearing Connie Francis singing "When The Saints Go Marching In" or an Al Jolson song.

Connie has a fabulous way of making even the most soulful song sound like a break-to-commercial number on Lawrence Welk.

Connie had enough charisma to light up any planet in the solar system...as stated in a review to her LV performance in 1985. Absolutely correct and that initial performance at The Copa with the audience reaction and rave reviews made her one of the few regulars at the venue.

While I think the below video is quite bad, they are representing the three regulars at the Copa.

R535 Nonsense. Her Copa appearance were outstanding .

The critics gave magnificent reviews as did All Music Guide for the LP' AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione [+] Connie Francis at the Copa is a decent document of the immortal pop singer performing live in New York City with an orchestra conducted by Joe Mele. The ten selections include a five-song Al Jolson medley and a coupling of "When the Saints Come Marching In" with "Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home" -- putting the emphasis on standards more than her hits. Two Top Ten gold singles from 1960 are here, though: Connie's remake of the 1940s Italian composition "Mama" and a song more representative of her pop hits, "Many Tears Ago." The sound quality for a major release on MGM is shockingly low, on the level of a good bootleg. Mickey Deans' cassette recordings of his wife, and Judy Garland's last performance, which became the Judy. London. 1969. LP, are similar to this allegedly "High Fidelity Recording" -- though that album emerged out of necessity and this was produced by a major film/record company. But the singer is great -- at the top of her game, recorded a year after she debuted her album of Italian songs in 1960 on The Perry Como Show. The liner notes contain nine reviews from critics, Frank Farrell of the World-Telegram and Sun calling this a "...sensational supper club bow as a major star." Connie Francis at the Copa casts the singer in a different light. Somewhat removed from her popular radio material, she proves she has the talent to take virtually any material and hit it out of the park.

The girl in R536's voice isn't great but she does look quite a bit like Connie Francis.

Connie's biggest mistake not getting a contract signed to produce her next record BEFORE she let Quincy Jones fuck her.

Wow! A lounge singer got great reviews at a lounge! And let me guess -- Wayne Newton stormed the stage! And Loni Anderson was in the audience!

Poor Connie. The more her team of sycophants try to prove her "greatness," the more laughable she becomes.

When Kanye West went to visit Connie earlier this year about a possible collaboration with her, Kim Kardashian went along to not only pay homage to the Queen of Rock and Roll but to also make sure Kanye didn't succumb to Connie's charms. She does have that effect on black men.

It IS curious that Connie doesn't have any contact with her adopted son. Did she just let her ex-husband raise him because he wasn't a "real" son to her? He's not even listed on her wikipedia page.

[R527]

You and the Connie Hater have alot in common. You both claim to dislike CF,but you both run into the threads with BS like petulant children. Your immaturity speaks volumes for you gurls,that mental illness your parents suffered from has finally effected you both.

It is odd that Joey's not mentioned on her wikipedia page, but he is definitely on her own web site.

[quote]Poor Connie. The more her team of sycophants try to prove her "greatness," the more laughable she becomes.

Well, hey...Belinda Carlisle sung Where The Boys Are at a concert somewhere.

They used a Connie Francis song in "My Cousin Vinny" back in 1992.

And 83 year old Les Reed is going to re-issue his album with Connie any day now!

[quote] Events kick off Friday with a special appearance by Connie Francis, the pop singer and one of the stars of the 1960 big-screen Spring Break romantic comedy “Where the Boys Are,” which made Fort Lauderdale a symbol of youthful hedonism for college students across the country. Of course, part of the film was shot in the Elbo Room. Currently a Parkland resident, Francis, who turns 80 herself on Dec. 12, will sign autographs at the Elbo Room from 4 to 6 p.m.

Milking that song since 1960. Kinda sad.

"What's the meanest thing you can say to Connie Francis? My goodness, you haven't changed a BIT!"

-- Judy Garland

Some of you wake up aweful early to hate a musical Icon.I guess your own generations lackluster star's aren't worth the effort.

R549 As I have said and others on this thread...no one would invest so much time as they have if they were not interested in the person. It keeps on going. proving this more and more.

It's not widely known that Connie had been sending out feelers in the late '90s about resuming her movie career. Darren Aronofsky brought her in for a screen test after sending Connie the script for Requiem for a Dream. There was a bit of confusion though. Aronofsky wanted Connie for the role eventually played by Ellen Burstyn but Connie thought she was up for the Jennifer Connelly role, and had come prepared to run through "that" scene. While it would definitely have shown a new side to Connie, they weren't able to work out issues over billing.

It's a tragedy that Connie's disco album, "Coked-Up Connie," was never released. Even though the disco era was over by the time she completed it in 1985, it would still have been worth it to hear her inimitable renditions of Donna Summer's "Love to Love You, Baby," and even more poignantly, Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Out."

[R552]

That Connie wig dosen't look good on you at all

An the pencil skirt bearly fits your sowbelly frame

R552, and if her "(I'm a )Brick House" had ever seen the light of day, people would have been like, "The Commodores who?"

I loved Connie's version of this song:

[quote]It's a tragedy that Connie's disco album, "Coked-Up Connie," was never released.

One of the cuts was released.

And it was heard in "Borat".

It was played in that scene where Borat goes to a disco in Kazakhstan and starts dancing.

^Crying tears of frustration over what might have been! But thank you for sharing that gem with us, r556! I've got a new ringtone for my phone!

Heartbeat recorded in the mid 1990s.

I love these "Connie"threads.....thanks Connie lovers and her Jealous Haters too...

Connie Francis always on the cutting edge.

Few people know that Connie was supposed to be on that fatal flight with Buddy Holly in 1959, but her father didn't think it was "appropriate" for a nice Italian girl to be alone with all of those men, including a "person of color" so he insisted she take one that was properly chaperoned. Connie was so grateful for her father's prescience that she essentially did everything he told her to do until his death. Which is actually why her career languished past the mid-'60s.

[R561]

Wow never heard that one before,incredible. She definitely owes her dad much of her iconic status

Buddy Holly Medley with The Jordanaires. In her early days, Connie performed with Buddy Holly.

Connie at 17:56

"Wow never heard that one before,incredible."

Of course you realize that R561's story is utter horseshit, don't you? I guess that idiot was trying to be funny. Anyway, there was no "person of color" on the fatal flight that killed Buddy Holly, unless you count Richie Valens, who was Mexican, as a "person of color."

Connie was known to be President Kennedy's favorite singer and the two became friends. Of course, she wasn't Jackie's favorite! It was thought that JFK became attracted to his Mafia moll mistress Judith Campbell Exner because she resembled Connie. JFK had invited Connie to Dallas in November 1963 but she had recording commitments and was unable to be there. She was, however, scheduled to be entertainment for a state dinner in May of 1964, which obviously never took place.

Well, of course no one would have called Richie Valens a "person of color" back then. They would have called him much worse. But Connie's father was still not happy at the prospect of Connie sharing a flight with him. Remember, this was a man who chased Bobby Darin away with a gun.

[quote]Connie was known to be President Kennedy's favorite singer and the two became friends.

More Connie troll bullshit made up stories.

Judy Garland was famously JFK's favorite singer.

Garland was a Dem. She campaigned for him.

He actually arranged his White House schedule so he could watch her show on Sunday evenings.

There are also plenty of photos of them together even with Garland in the Oval Office.

And at JFK's famous birthday at Madison Square Garden, besides Monroe the other female performers performers were: Ella Fitzgerald, Maria Callas, Peggy Lee, and Diahann Carroll.

At his inauguration the female performer was Keely Smith.

Next thing you know the Connie trolls will be telling us that Connie Francis was supposed to be riding with JFK and Jackie on that fateful day sitting between them.

Connie is definitely tied with JFK. That's why she was asked to sing a tribute to him shortly after his death.

[quote]She was, however, scheduled to be entertainment for a state dinner in May of 1964, which obviously never took place.

The only woman to ever perform at a JFK State Dinner was Roberta Peters. The JFK State Dinners ONLY featured high-brow entertainment: National Symphony Orchestra, American Shakespeare Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, the various Opera companies etc.

The last thing Letitia Baldrige or Jackie would have done is to have a juke-box singer perform at a JFK State Dinner.

[quote]Connie is definitely tied with JFK. That's why she was asked to sing a tribute to him shortly after his death.

More bullshit.

Asked by whom exactly?

A number of performers did tributes to JFK...including Garland. It was their choice.

No one, but no one connected with the JFK WH would have ASKED anyone to record a tribute.

Are you nuts?

[quote] The last thing Letitia Baldrige or Jackie would have done is to have a juke-box singer perform at a JFK State Dinner.

Hilarious. Miss Francis has given Royal Command performances for the Queen.

[quote]Miss Francis has given Royal Command performances for the Queen.

But not for JFK that's for sure. There were no popular commercial singers at JFKs or LBJ's or Nixon's State Dinners either. That's not what State Dinners were about in the 1960s.

The list of performers who have given command performances for the Queen however is a mile long... with everybody from the McGuire Sisters to Edie Adams to Telly Savalas to Shari Lewis.

In other words: big deal.

Connie at the White House with LBJ.

R574 Again: never sang at a State Dinner. But keep trying.

By the way LBJ's inaugural featured Barbra Streisand (as well as Carol Channing and Julie Andrews)

But no Connie Francis.

I mentioned JFK's inaugural: besides Keely Smith the other female performers were Mahalia Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald and Ethel Merman.

No Connie Francis.

And BTW: she's not "with LBJ" in that photo. She's in a line with others shaking hands with the Pres and Lady Bird.

Connie was so popular in Great Britain because she sang in proper English, which she had to learn phonetically, having grown up in New Jersey. "Crumpet Connie" was a million-seller in 1963. She then went on to conquer the Emerald Isle in 1967 with "Corned Beef Connie."

The Queen, herself, commanded Miss Francis to perform, but regretted her decision after the event. Prince Phillip became an ardent fan, and for months afterward the lilting strains of "Mama" were heard at Buckingham Palace on the Victorola. Not too mention his many invitations for Connie to perform privately on the royal yacht, Brittannia.

Connie always had a "mature" look about her. She looks like one of Lady Bird's contemporaries in that photo.

[quote]Hilarious. Miss Francis has given Royal Command performances for the Queen.

The Queen is notoriously middle-brow.

Connie did sing at Nixon's inauguration. 969: Believe it or not, James Brown was on hand at Richard Nixon’s inauguration ceremony, along with the likes of Tony Bennett, Connie Francis and Dinah Shore. In an admirable effort to unite Americans, Brown performed “Say It Loud -- I’m Black and Proud” two days before the conservative president was sworn in. Only Nixon wasn’t there to see it: He was detained back in New York because of security concerns. But the Godfather of Soul still made an impression. A 1969 issue of Jet (via Ghosts of DC) reads: Soul Brother No. 1, James Brown, burst on stage saying it loud. Every time the little dynamo commanded, “Say It Loud,” a little, black cheering section to the left of stage center in the $100 seats jumped to its feet to answer back, “I’m black and I’m proud.” And pretty soon, even a few whites in the overwhelmingly white audience found themselves caught up in the unique Brown brand of musical hysteria, and they too, were saying they were black and they were proud.

I never recall Dusty Springfield performing for President's. ....Connie Francis haters,did she?

R581 If you read R580's article, you will see that Connie didn't sing for a president either. He was in New York.

And Dusty was English.

"But Connie's father was still not happy at the prospect of Connie sharing a flight with him."

There was no "prospect of Connie sharing a flight with him." Your tale is a hoax. You must be nuts or something.

R581 No, but she did meet the Queen.

Connie also sang Happy Birthday to Hillary at her Hillary's 50th birthday!

In 1974, Connie sang as Brunnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

A weeping Munich crowd gave her 47-minute standing ovation until the roses piled so high even those in the upper balcony could no longer see her.

Who knew that Connie Francis would be such a controversial celebrity.

Singing at Nixon's Inauguration.

Connie Francis' smash hit "Nixon's the One!".

She also did a disco version of it in 1979.

Hello, DLers. This is Connie herself from Parkland, FL, dropping you a line As a myriad of supporters, bashers, and undecided lunatics bring this second thread to a close, I am delighted to see that I have served as such a method of mass distraction and have successfully pulled your atrophied brains away from all that is truly important in this world. You see, in that regard, I am on par with the purpose of the greatest entertainers. It has nothing to do with singing or talent. As my idol Judy Garland had once said: "People used to come to hear me be good. Now they come to hear me be bad, and I don't care either way. As long as they come."

So the last laugh's on me, and the joke is on you. I've got souvenirs, rhythm, and $25,000,000 to sustain me, and I've learned where the boys really are and where they're staying: two jobs, no jobs, small dicks, and mommy's basement. Never forget that everybody's somebody's fool. And I thank you, my dear queens, for being mine.

Who's Sorry Now?

[R590]

Oh now Connie Haters are posting messages as Connie herself.You idiots really do idolize her.

"It has nothing to do with singing or talent."

Connie, in total agreement with you about your career.

And Connie, you also found out where the girls are! Mazel tov!

Are we all in agreement that there should be no Part III to this thread, and let it die a quick death? Sorta like Connie's career in the mid '60s?

Sorry, I feel compelled to start Part III. There's more to be educated on.

Connie, you forgot to rub it in that you drive Cadillacs.

R590 To prove that it's you, would you please sing a few bars of "Mama" in Serbo-Croatian?

Thanks in advance.

Part III. By request.

Part III:

[R596]

Oh you all were jealous of her cadillac's, that's hilarious