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The other day I was doing a radio show out of New Mexico for an oldies station. The host of this radio show “Blast form the Pat” Stan Blitz, who is a fountain of information when it comes time to rock and roll, surprised me on live radio by playing Connie Francis “Who’s Sorry Now” and it got me thinking…

 So few people know who grew up in the 70′s and 80′s remember Connie Frances and who she was and what she accomplished. So of course you all know I am going to tell you!

 Connie Francis recorded her first single at 16 and in 1958 recorded of “Who’s Sorry Now?” rocketed her to stardom. This happened as she was thinking about tossing out show business as she had accepted a pre-med scholarship at New York University.

Some of her hits included “Who’s Sorry Now?”,  “Lipstick on Your Collar”, “Where the Boys Are”, and “Stupid Cupid”, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool”, “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You”.  Many of her songs including Where the Boys are and Stupid Cupid was written by Neil Sedaka.

In addition, to make sure she left no stone unturned, she did cross over music and ventured into country music and had a country hit with “The Wedding Cake” and “My Happiness”.

Connie was a very intelligent woman and she recorded hit records in languages that included Italian, Hebrew, Spanish, French, German and Japanese. Because of this she was rocketed into an international star.

Connie Francis was also a female performer that not only topped the music charts, she was an actress in a variety of what we call chick flicks that included  Jamboree (1957 singing voice); Where The Boys Are (1960); Follow The Boys (1963); Looking For Love (1964); When The Boys Meet The Girls (1965).

Bobby Darin and Connie Francis developed a romantic relationship. They never married because it was not her father’s will, but Francis talks about the event as being her misfortune. However, when you think of it, come one who needed the likes of Bobby Darin? Frances was a legend in her own time. In 1960 she became the youngest headliner to sing in Las Vegas. In fact that same year she also became the first female singer to have two consecutive No. 1 singles.

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So for those who have never heard of Connie Francis get to know her. She was a doctor to be, a woman who spoke a variety of languages, she was a female singer that broke several records for her time and she was an actress with a variety of hit movies.

It seems her personal life has been a stormy one. In fact, the biography on her website www.conniefrancis.com reads like something from a soap opera is really worth the read. Today Francis is alive and well and when she’s not performing or volunteering for worthy causes.

She is very outspoken for mental health and is the national spokesperson for Mental Health America. So here’s to Connie Francis and my hat is off to this most incredible woman.

Do you remember Connie Fancis?