➺Connie Francis
Where are they Now?
Written/illustrated by Marshall Jay Kaplan The top-charting female recording artist of the 1950’s and 1960’s is now in her seventies and is in talks to have the story of her life made into a film. Connie Frances was born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark, New Jersey on December 12, 1938. Connie attended an arts school in New Jersey where she sang and played the accordion. She began performing professionally while in high school, where an agent recommended she change her last name to Francis and quit the accordion. She followed his advice. In 1955, Connie had her first single titled, ‘Freddy’. However, the song failed in the charts, as did her next nine singles. She was then introduced to an up and coming singer/songwriter, Bobby Darin. Although it was meant to be a professional relationship, they could not agree on the material they were working on.
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They did agree on their attraction to each other and the two became romantically involved, only to have their romance broken up by Connie’s strict father. Darin went on to fame, fortune and a marriage to Sandra Dee. With no hit songs, Connie’s label, MGM, was looking to drop her as an artist. Her final recording session was to be a version of the 1923 song, ‘Who’s Sorry Now?’, as suggested by her father because he felt that adults were familiar with the song, and teenagers could slow dance to it. The song debuted on January 1, 1958 on American Bandstand and was Number One worldwide by April, 1958. There was no need to be sorry! Connie
Frances was an international star! Connie hired songwriters, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield to write her next songs – all becoming hits: ‘Stupid Cupid’, ‘Lipstick on Your Collar’, ‘Fallin’ and ‘Where the Boys Are’ – the latter made into a major motion picture (1960), starring Connie. Connie was the youngest performer to headline Las Vegas. She appeared on stages across the globe and every television show imaginable. Sales of her ballads continued to have a steady climb ... but all that was about to change. In 1974, Frances was raped in a motel during a performance at a music fair in New York. The rapist was never caught.
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