Appear in St. Pete...

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Hit maker Connie Francis to appear in St. Pete...

By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 4, 2010

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Connie Francis had 35 Top 40 hits and was pop music's No. 1 female vocalist from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, according to Joel Whitburn's "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits."

But there's one hit that is identified with her more than all the others.

"Connie Francis 'Where the Boys Are' -- one name," the woman born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero says by telephone. "The names are synonymous."

The movie of the same name was filmed in Fort Lauderdale 50 years ago. To celebrate, Francis will return to the other coast May 28 and 29 for "Where the Boys Are/Connie Francis' Great American Beach Party."

The weekend will kick off with a record hop and dance featuring music from the period, and no doubt several of Francis' hits.

She had her first one in 1958, with "Who's Sorry Now." It was her 19th attempt at making the charts.

"I had 18 bomb sides," Francis says.

Bad choices on the part of her record company, MGM?

"Actually, it was my fault," Francis says. "They let me pick out the songs I wanted to record, which was unheard of. They had a lot of faith in me. All the songs I picked out, that was my doing."

It took her father to pick her first hit, choosing "Who's Sorry Now," a hit from 1923.

"After that, MGM put him on the payroll," Francis says.

Francis' father also suggested she record in foreign languages, a move that brought her a number of international hits.

"I recorded songs in 13 languages, all phonetically," Francis says. "The only Italian I knew were the curse words my grandmother taught me."

"Where the Boys Are" and Francis' other hits -- "Stupid Cupid," "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "Vacation" among them -- bring to mind a more innocent era. But Francis' life has had its share of harsh reality.

In 1974, she was raped at knifepoint in a Long Island motel where she was staying while performing at a music festival. She suffered bouts of depression and did not perform for seven years.

Her brother was murdered in 1981, and she was involuntarily committed to mental institutions 17 times between 1983 and 1991, she says.

Her experiences have made mental health issues a passion for her.

In May, she will begin serving as a spokeswoman for Mental Health America, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping people with mental health issues.

And although a planned movie of her life never materialized, she says she's as busy as ever.

"I'm writing my second autobiography," she says. (Her first, "Who's Sorry Now," was published in 1985.) "I want to concentrate on mental health issues, in addition to performing. There's so many other things, I don't have time to worry about a movie."

Source: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/mar/04/fx-hit-maker-connie-francis-to-appear-in-st-pete/



Who's Sorry Now-Connie Francis...

Loved it.......love her.....always have! I think she remains as one of the greatest female singers of all time!
 ynjazzsinger

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