Connie Francis in the 1950s by Hannah Crosley

      Welcome to an era filled with sock-hops, diners, and poodle skirts. But that's not all! Arguably the most important aspect of the 1950's was that it was also a time filled with the newly evolved genre of "rock 'n' roll", a type of music that resulted from a combination of rhythm and blues, gospel music, country, and jazz. Rock and roll completely revolutionized musical tastes and essentially changed the world, especially among the youth. Suddenly all across the nation, teenagers were able to listen to this new music and rebel from their parents in ways that they never could before.         

      There are many artists that made enormous impacts on rock and roll music in the fifties, and one such significant artist was named Connie Francis. She was originally born as Concetta Franconero on December 12, 1938 in New Jersey. She started her music career at age three when her father bought her an accordion. Later, she won first prize on TV’s Startime Talent Scouts at age 12, and then continued starring weekly on the show for four years with a concentration on singing as opposed to her original focus on the accordion. It was actually on this TV show that the host, Arthur Godfrey, suggested she change her name to something easier to pronounce, which is where she became Connie Francis.      

      At first, Connie struggle to get a record label. She was continually turned down by all of the record labels, until finally MGM signed a contract with her, only because one of her demo songs was “Freddy”, which also happened to be name of the MGM president’s son. “Freddy” was released in June 1955 and was Connie’s first single. However, she had several less successful singles following “Freddy”, and was preparing to quit the music business and go to college on a scholarship. With the persuasion of her father, she decided to record one more song, an old tune from 1923. She sang it in one take and it was an instant hit. The name of the song that brought her to fame was “Who’s Sorry Now?” and when Dick Clark played the song on TV’s American Bandstand in front of eight million viewers, he said that Connie Francis was a “new girl singer that is heading straight for the number one spot.”

                                     "Who's Sorry Now?" Song (1957)

      The huge popularity of the hit “Who’s Sorry Now?” was just the beginning for Francis. In 1958, she continued to produce another string of hits including “Stupid Cupid”, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool”, “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own”, and “Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You”, which all came in at number one. Her hit singles continue to be popular today among many audiences.

                               "Lipstick On Your Collar" Hit Single (1959)

       Connie Francis truly left an amazing impact on rock and roll music. She is essentially the prototype for the female pop singers of present day. She paved the way for women in the fifties to sing rock and roll with the boys, and was unique as a female artist in that she made record sales equal to or exceeding her male singing counterparts. Her music styling had quite a range, including big band, country, ethnic, folk, and many other types. Interestingly, Francis actually still challenges one of today’s pop stars, Madonna, as the biggest-selling female recording artist of all time.

                                            "Stupid Cupid" (1958)

        Despite many hardships in Francis’ life, including a rape, many divorces, and the brutal murder of her brother, she continues to sing across the world today. Over the course of her life she has recorded over seventy LPs and starred on many TV shows and movies, as well. Though she was never inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, her impact on the rock and roll music industry during the 1950’s cannot be denied. Without her influences, current pop music, especially in the female genres, would not be where it is today. And we have Connie Francis to thank for that.    

                                               WORKS CITED:

Dean, Maury. "Rock and Roll: Gold Rush." EBSCOhost. Algora Pub., 2003. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.

"Spotlight 29 Casino Is 'Where the Boys Are' with Connie Francis in Concert." Proquest. NewsRx, 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.