Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark's Italian Down Neck or Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey neighbourhood, she is considered the most prolific and popular female rock 'n' roll hit-maker of the early rock era -- the late 1950s to the early 1960s. After an appearance on Startime, Francis was advised to change her name from Franconero to something more easily pronounceable, as well as to quit the accordion and focus on singing.
Francis' first single "Freddy" (1955) met with little success. Her next nine singles were also failures, and she began considering a career in medicine; however, "Who's Sorry Now" (a cover version of a 1923 song) launched her into super-stardom worldwide. Francis recorded the song at what was to have been her final recording session for MGM, as the label was about to drop her since her previous singles had generated little activity. She has said (paraphrased from The Billboard Book of Number One Singles by Fred Bronson) that she recorded it at the suggestion of her father, who convinced her it stood a chance of becoming a hit because it was a song adults already knew and that teenagers would dance to if it were released with a more contemporary arrangement.
The gamble paid off. In April 1958, "Who's Sorry Now" reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart (number four in the USA); in 2000, it was named one of the Songs of the Century. On January 1, 1958, she debuted it on Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show; by mid-year over a million copies were sold. This was followed by many other hits over the next decade, as Connie Francis became one of the most popular vocalists in the world.
Francis specialized in downbeat ballads delivered in her trademark "sobbing" style -- such as "My Happiness," "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry," "Among My Souvenirs," "Together," "Breakin' In a Brand New Broken Heart," and the Italian song "Mama," many of which were remakes of old standards. However, she also had success with a handful of more upbeat, rock-and-roll-oriented compositions, such as "Stupid Cupid," "Lipstick On Your Collar," and "Vacation." Among her other notable performances were "In the Summer of His Years" (a tribute to slain U.S. President John F. Kennedy) and Bert Kaempfert's "Strangers In The Night" (although the latter song is more identified with Frank Sinatra). Both "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" went to No.1 on the Billboard music charts in 1960. In 1962 she had another No.1 hit with "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You."
Francis recorded in nine languages during her career, including English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, and even Japanese, and remade many of her hits in foreign languages, including "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and her signature song, "Where the Boys Are." In fact, her biggest hit album in the U.S. was 1960's Italian Favorites, and she followed it with several more albums of Italian songs over the years, as well as collections of Spanish-language and Jewish songs, among others.
"Where The Boys Are," one of many Neil Sedaka/Howard Greenfield compositions Francis recorded during her career (others included "Stupid Cupid" and "Everybody's Somebody's Fool"), gained wide exposure through its inclusion in the 1960 motion picture with the same title. Francis had a role in the film and sang the title song. During the first half of the 1960s she starred in three additional films -- Follow the Boys (1963) (the title song of which became a No. 17 Billboard single for Francis), Looking for Love (1964) and When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965).
In 1960 Francis became the youngest headliner to sing in Las Vegas, where she played 28 days a year for nine years. In 1961 she was successful in starring in her own television special on ABC television sponsored by Brylcreem titled Kicking Sound Around, singing and acting along-side Tab Hunter, Eddie Foy Jr. and Art Carney. She appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on July 1, 1962 with French singing star Johnny Hallyday in a show that was taped at the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris, France. On July 3, 1963 she played a Command performance before Queen Elizabeth II at the Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland. By 1967, she had 35 U.S. Top 40 hits, and three number ones.
Connie Francis has always been a great fan of country music and recorded several albums of country standards during her pop career. In 1969 she had a modest country hit with "The Wedding Cake" and made the country charts again in 1982 with "There's Still a Few Good Love Songs Left in Me." Several country singers found chart success remaking Francis' pop hits for the country market, including Marie Osmond ("Who's Sorry Now" in 1975), Susan Raye ("My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" in 1972), Margo Smith ("Don't Break The Heart That Loves You" in 1978), and Debby Boone.
During the height of the Vietnam War in 1967, Connie Francis performed for U.S. troops.
Francis ended her recording career in 1969. She returned in 1973 with "The Answer," a song written just for her, and soon began performing again. Her son Joey was born in 1974. Tragedies followed soon after. In 1974 she was sexually assaulted in a hotel following a performance in Westbury, New York. Nasal surgery to correct a sensitivity to air conditioning deprived her of her ability to sing professionally for four years. Her brother was murdered in 1981.
Francis' autobiography, Who's Sorry Now? was published in 1984. Francis was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental disease which includes severe depressions and manic highs. She uses the drug Lithium to balance out the emotional highs and lows caused by the disease. Connie Francis resumed her career in 1989 after discovering the drug and has continued singing and recording since then. Francis still holds a world-wide appeal shown through continued music sales and sold-out appearances.
Her latest CD The American Tour contains performances from recent shows. In late December 2004, Francis headlined in Las Vegas for the first time since 1989.
In March of 2007, Francis performed to a sold-out crowd -- composed of gay urbanites and conservative suburbanites -- in San Francisco. The "little diva" belted out versions of her "woebegone ballads . . . in full force," according to the San Franciso Chronicle's music critic.
Connie's fan club: www.conniefrancis.com
Al
Connie Francis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Al di la, as distant as the lovely evening star
Where you walk flowers bloom
When you smile all the gloom turns to sunshine
And my heart opens wide
When you're gone it fades inside and seems to have died
Al di la, I wondered as I drifted where you were
In the kiss that I gave was the love I had saved for a lifetime
Then I knew all of you was completely mine.
The song Al di la by Connie Francis is a classic love ballad that exudes the feeling of being hopelessly in love with someone who is out of reach. The lyrics express the singer's admiration of their love interest by saying that they are far above them, both physically and emotionally as distant as the evening star. The imagery of flowers that bloom wherever their person of interest walks and the sunshine that spreads when they smile give the impression of how wonderful the person is, how they have a transformative effect on mundane things. Then the song becomes melancholy as it talks about how the singer's heart sinks when this person is gone and how it feels like all of the excitement is drained from the world.
The chorus of the song is an affirmation of the singer's love and how it has grown and evolved. The word Al di la means beyond which makes it apt for expressing the depth and magnitude of love the singer feels. The singer expresses how they have wondered about the whereabouts of their beloved and how the fog cleared to reveal their person of interest in a kiss. The kiss represented the culmination of all the feelings that they had kept bottled up for so long. In this person's kiss, the singer found the love that they had saved for a lifetime and that made them realise that they finally had all of the person they admired and adored.
Line by Line Meaning
Al di la means you are far above me, very far
Al di la is an expression that signifies how much I look up to you, you are way above my level, way too far from my reach
Al di la, as distant as the lovely evening star
Al di la is an unreachable height that cannot be attained, like the beautiful evening star that shines so bright but is too far to grasp
Where you walk flowers bloom
The mere presence of you is a blessing to the environment, even flowers bloom at the sight of you
When you smile all the gloom turns to sunshine
Your smile is so radiant that it negates every negativity, and brightens everything up, just like sunshine on a cloudy day
And my heart opens wide
My heart is filled with joy and gladness, it expands and opens up wide whenever you are near
When you're gone it fades inside and seems to have died
As soon as you leave my sight, my heart sinks and feels empty, like all the happiness has been drained out of me
Al di la, I wondered as I drifted where you were
Even when I am not looking or thinking of you, my mind drifts to wonder where you could be, it's hard to shake you off my thoughts
Al di la, the fog around me lifted, there you were
Suddenly, the confusion and doubt around me cleared up and there you were, like a breath of fresh air that lifted off a thick fog
In the kiss that I gave was the love I had saved for a lifetime
In that one moment when I kissed you, all the love that I have felt, saved and cherished for years was poured into that kiss
Then I knew all of you was completely mine
And in that same moment, I was able to claim all of you, everything about you, and it was a revelation that you were mine to love and cherish
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CARLO DONIDA LABATI, GIULIO RAPETTI MOGOL, MOTOHIRO ARAI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@queenmicale9686
Why isn't she inducted in hall of fame?????greatest singer of all times. Her voice is absolutely beautiful with no microphone. She is the best. So emotional when she sings. She sang in all different languages!!!. I have all her albums. Love u connie. God bless. U r the best. .🥰🥰🥰🥰😇👏👏👏👏👏💝💝💝☺
@miltonmoore8369
What hall of fame?
She sang in several different languages, NOT ALL languages.
Respectfully
@richardleonard4281
And she could rock too.
@donna-elizabeth
Check out the famous French artist Dalida...you will love her if you love this.
@keythdanielsen5533
And she's 100 percent Italian. ❤
@keythdanielsen5533
@@miltonmoore8369A-hole, he meant many different languages not every single language. You knew that. So stop being stupid.
@praetorianpatriot3267
Its an injustice this fabulous singer is not in the Hall of Fame...
@user-et2dd9gl7h
Она выше всех ваших залов🎉😅
@flavius4540
For those who are curious. This song was written in 1961 by Giulio Rapetti aka Mogol. It was his first hit. In the following years he wrote among the most beautiful and beloved Italian songs for many singers. I mention one of them: Lucio Battisti. His songs, or rather his poems, marked an era and continue to arouse emotions even in younger generations. Notice. To fully appreciate these poems and experience the emotions they provoke, one must know Italian or at least another Neo-Latin language into which they were translated. Happy research.
@cristoteamo59
Gracias mil por este interesante dato saludos😂