Connie of our youth
Yes, Steve O’Neil (A.K.A. Danny Samonte) scored another coup when he brings in The Connie Francis of my youth on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Last week, I had a little teaser on this great singer, but due to limited space, I couldn’t write much.
Connie Frances was born Concetta Rosemarie Franconero. Even at a young age, she displayed an extraordinary talent, and propensity, for singing. At 11, she was already a regular in a local TV show. I guess she’s a perfect example of someone who has singing embedded firmly in her genes and didn’t have to go through any formal studies or training to hone the talent. In the 50s (not quite my time), she figured prominently in shows like ‘Ted Mack Amateur Hour’ (something like our Tawag Ng Tanghalan?), the Godfrey Talent Scout show (the predecessor of American Idol?), and Startime which eventually signed her up for a four-year stint.
Connie Francis was still in her teens when MGM Records signed her up for a 20-side contract. MGM was already big then, and Connie tried hard to live up to the expectation of the MGM bosses. She recorded 18 songs for them, and not one of these hit the charts. They all bombed. At that point, Connie felt that nothing was going to come out of her chosen career path, and was just about to throw in the towel. With only two songs to go on her contract, she had not made the scene.
At that time, and especially for Connie Francis, the ultimate goal of any performer is to have his/her five minutes of fame at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. If you landed a guesting stint there, you would have arrived. The now classic line of Connie’s dad, when he was pitching for the song was “If you don’t record this song, the only way you’ll ever get on Ameican bandstand is if you sit on top of the television set”. Well, look who’s sorry not now?
The auspicious date was
Every year for four years after that, Connie continued to lord it over the airwaves. Fans so loved her that they continued to vote her to no. 1 spot in the polls.
Imagine 35 million records sold worldwide, and 35 US Top Forty Hits. Connie was just radio’s most beloved sweetheart, in
Then the movies beckoned. Remember “Where The Boys Are”, a teenage movie back in the 60s? Connie starred there and sang the theme song which became one of her biggest hits. She has about four movies to her credit.
Back to Connie’s mega hits. The song “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool”, which was no. 1 in the
Connie ran the whole gamut of entertainment, from records to movies to television and cabaret. In those days, the very popular singers had their own television shows, and Connie would often be seen in the Perry Como Show, the Andy Williams Show, The Steve Lawrence Show, the Dean Martin Show and the prestigious The Ed Sullivan Show.
In 1961, she appeared in the Oscar telecast and sang “Never On A Sunday” in Greek, the first time a foreign song ever won an Oscar. That certainly made history.
Most of us know of the unfortunate incident that happened in 1974 in Long Island Howard Johnson Motor Lodge when Connie was raped at gunpoint. At that time, she was scheduled for a singing engagement at Westbury Music Fair, just nearby. The sexual assault left a lasting mark on Connie. She couldn’t sing for seven long years, which must have been hell for her as singing was her life. She eventually sued the Motor Lodge chain and was awarded one of the biggest settlements in a sexual assault case.
She has since recovered, and has devoted her time to singing again, booking personal appearances in different parts of
Cut on cost-not on service
Just received an e-mail from a colleague and media peer, Anthony Suntay.
I’m reprinting part of the e-mail here, verbatim, because I think it is a contructive observation that bears addressing.
“I went shopping for groceries in
Maybe this popular chain can look into this valid complaint?
Mabuhay! Be proud to be a Filipino.
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