Connie Francis - A legend of the Pop Music

 Connie Francis - A legend of the  Pop Music

   

How about my beautiful readers, we continue with this second season of the most famous blog in the Arctic, this time I wanted to take you to the 50s in the United States, 60s in my native Chile, where you turn on your new radio and you could listen to the great voice of this beautiful woman, with us the talented Connie Francis. [applause]

 

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, better known as Connie Francis, is an American singer, of Jewish Italian descent, born in 1938. She grew up in the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and New Yersey, where at an early age her father encouraged her to participate in talent shows , several of them televised. She began her musical career recording the vocals and vocals for films and promotional singles of other artists, while trying to build her solo career; For several years the record companies rejected her songs, after that she considered starting a medical career, in what would be her last recording session before leaving music, she recorded a version of the song "Who's Sorry Now?" In 1923, the session ended and she left the music, but the tape was saved and months later in 1958 it was heard on the music program of the renowned Dick Clark American Bandstand, launching her career to fame and signing a contract for MGM (Metro Golden Mayer)

By 1959 Connie already had two gold records, that same year she released her first album in Italian entitled "Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites", recorded at the Abbey Road studios in England for EMI, this album compiled the most popular songs from that language. , until today it continues being the most successful album of Francis; She went on to record albums in 15 different languages, making her one of the first North American singer to record her songs in other languages, which led her to attend special television programs in countries such as Germany, Spain, Italy or the United Kingdom. Even during the Cold War, her music was well received in countries behind the Iron Curtain, and she recorded songs with record companies in those countries, such as Melodiya in the Soviet Union or Jugoton in Yugoslavia.

 
At the beginning of the 60s she starred in 3 films, with the soundtracks sung by her, but she never felt good about her acting as an actress, so after 1966, she refused new offers.
After 1965 his successes began to decline in the US charts, due to the paradigm shift and the arrival of new sounds from the UK, he continued touring the world and at the end of 1969, his contract with MGM Records ended and he decided not to commit. more with the record company, tired of almost 15 years of recordings, live appearances, television work and uninterrupted travel. Between 1970 and 1973, she lived in semi-retirement, and only appeared occasionally as a special guest on television shows.

In 1974, during a festival in the middle of the United States, a man entered her hotel room where she was raped and almost drowned by the attacker. Connie sued the hotel chain who had to pay compensation, the most expensive up to that moment; the aggressor was never found, after that Francis fell into depression, rarely left the house and took 50 daily antidepressant pills.
In 1977, she underwent surgery that caused her to lose her voice. She underwent several more operations and, even when she managed to regain her voice, she was forced to attend vocal classes. In 1978 she released a new self-titled album that was not very successful. The death of her brother at the hands of the Italian Mafia in New York in 1981 affected her deeply, however, she continued to make presentations and appearances on TV, until she was diagnosed with manic-depressive psychosis, which led her to go through 17 different hopsitals. Francis admitted that he almost committed suicide because hospitals were extremely depressing.

After that for the 90s and 2000s Connie recorded reversals of her exos, continued with shows and lately she became a goodwill ambassador for Unicef. Currently at 81 years old, she continues to make presentations, covering a music legacy of more than 5 decades. Most of her English albums are available for streaming on Spotify, while many other pieces in the other languages that she recorded are lost in time.

Personally, I love this woman every time I hear her voice, it transports me to a time when I never really live, but still, I'm there.

 

 

pd: Those who have seen futurama, his song stars in one of the saddest scenes of the series, when Fry's dog waits for him for years next to the workplace, where he dies awaiting his return, those who know the series will understand the scene. :(