Connie Francis, Whose Ballads Dominated 60s Pop Music, Dies at 87
...
...
Between 1958 and 1964, when her brand of pop music began to fall out
of favor, Ms. Francis was the most popular female singer in the United
States, selling 40 million records. Her 35 Top 40 hits during that
period included 16 songs that made the Billboard Top 10, and three No.
1 hits: "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its
Own" in 1960 and "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" in 1962.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/arts/music/connie-francis-dead.html

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On 7/17/2025 12:38 PM, JAB wrote:

Connie Francis, Whose Ballads Dominated 60s Pop Music, Dies at 87
...
...
Between 1958 and 1964, when her brand of pop music began to fall out
of favor, Ms. Francis was the most popular female singer in the United States, selling 40 million records. Her 35 Top 40 hits during that
period included 16 songs that made the Billboard Top 10, and three No.
1 hits: "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its
Own" in 1960 and "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" in 1962.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/arts/music/connie-francis-dead.html

She is one of my grandmother's favorite singers. Grandma's in assisted
living now, but when I cleaned out their storage, I probably found a
dozen Connie Francis albums. I suppose I should check the value of
them, now.

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On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 13:03:25 -0400, Michael Trew
<michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

Between 1958 and 1964, when her brand of pop music began to fall out
of favor,

She is one of my grandmother's favorite singers.

In that time-frame, 1958 and 1964, AM radio listening, and buying 45
RPM records, was common by the younger ones.

Many people tend to be attached/like to what they heard, rather than
exploring other music venues.

Just offhand, I suspect she was listening to a bigger city music
station(s), and/or lived in a bigger city. I don't believe many rural
cities got into pop until later years.

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On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 13:03:25 -0400
Michael Trew <michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

She is one of my grandmother's favorite singers. Grandma's in assisted living now, but when I cleaned out their storage, I probably found a
dozen Connie Francis albums. I suppose I should check the value of
them, now.

Wasn't sure if I knew any of her music so I went back and checked. Wow,
what a tremendous and spectacular voice. I'm impressed.

Looks like she was also responsible for "Born Free." Just saw her
performance on the Ed Sullivan Show - wow.

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On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 11:48:56 -0600, Retrograde
<fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

I'm impressed.

In 1960, Francis was recognized as the most successful female
recording artist in Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy,
Australia, and the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Francis

Looks like she was also responsible for "Born Free."

AI says, "Connie Francis did not write "Born Free". The song was
written by John Barry (music) and Don Black (lyrics). It was
originally written for the 1966 film "Born Free". Connie Francis
recorded a version of the song, but she was not one of the original songwriters, according to Musixmatch

https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Connie-Francis/Born-Free

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On 2025-07-21, Michael Trew <michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

On 7/19/2025 1:19 PM, JAB wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 13:03:25 -0400, Michael Trew
<michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

I find it odd that my posts show up here with nothing under the "correspondence" section, before you click on the post. As in, my name doesn't show up where "JAB" would show up for you. Odd, mine reads as: "Michael Trew" in other newsgroups.

That sounds like a function of the newsreader you're using, and if so,
is probably configurable. The news post itself will contain the
information, and your newsreader has opted to do you some sort of favor
by not showing you your own name, or something. Or in the case of
Thunderbird, there's one of those little triangles that flips down to
reveal the truncated info.

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On 7/19/2025 1:19 PM, JAB wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 13:03:25 -0400, Michael Trew
<michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

I find it odd that my posts show up here with nothing under the "correspondence" section, before you click on the post. As in, my name
doesn't show up where "JAB" would show up for you. Odd, mine reads as: "Michael Trew" in other newsgroups.

She is one of my grandmother's favorite singers.

Just offhand, I suspect she was listening to a bigger city music
station(s), and/or lived in a bigger city. I don't believe many rural
cities got into pop until later years

Grandma grew up on a small farm near Midway, PA, very rural. Around
1959, she moved to Carnegie, PA (near Pittsburgh) after she married my grandfather.

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On Sun, 20 Jul 2025 20:40:21 -0400, Michael Trew
<michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

I find it odd that my posts show up here with nothing under the >"correspondence" section, before you click on the post.

I'm using Agent 8, and I can clearly see your name in Agent's Message
List. Unknown how Thunderbird does it.

Around 1959, she moved

Close to Pittsburgh metropolitan area, which would have had AM radio
stations reaching out to Carnegie, PA, most likely. Maybe even a
clear channel AM station with 50,000 watts, like

1020 KDKA Pittsburgh Pennsylvania <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDKA_(AM)>

Around 1959

AM Radio was installed in most, if not all vehicles then. I'm not
aware if AM Radio was an option then when buying new.

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On 7/21/2025 6:47 AM, JAB wrote:

On Sun, 20 Jul 2025 20:40:21 -0400, Michael Trew
<michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

I find it odd that my posts show up here with nothing under the
"correspondence" section, before you click on the post.

I'm using Agent 8, and I can clearly see your name in Agent's Message
List. Unknown how Thunderbird does it.

Around 1959, she moved

Close to Pittsburgh metropolitan area, which would have had AM radio stations reaching out to Carnegie, PA, most likely. Maybe even a
clear channel AM station with 50,000 watts, like

1020 KDKA Pittsburgh Pennsylvania <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDKA_(AM)>

KDKA has always been news/talk (first commercial broadcast station in USA)

Well before my time, but 810 AM was WAMO, was popular urban music around Pittsburgh in the era. Not quite pop music, but it was the first time
most white kids were exposed to "black" music in the 1950's. DJ "Porky Chedwick" was famous for providing the music.

Around 1959

AM Radio was installed in most, if not all vehicles then. I'm not
aware if AM Radio was an option then when buying new.

AM came standard in most cars, but that depends on the car. The last US vehicle I'm aware of to come standard with AM-only radio was the 1991
Ford Ranger. Per the brochure, there was a negative dollar option to
remove the radio all together.

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On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 11:45:13 -0400, Michael Trew
<michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

1020 KDKA Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDKA_(AM)>

KDKA has always been news/talk

KDKA cautiously embraced rock and roll music, with artists such as
Bill Haley, the Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, and Elvis Presley, in
addition to popular vocalists including Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania native Perry Como. However, the station's
sound remained much more conservative than most Top 40 stations.

1960s

By 1960, KDKA added more rock and roll music, as competitor KQV made
ratings gains. "Your Pal" Pallan played hit songs and KDKA carried the
sounds of screaming crowds as the Beatles arrived in Pittsburgh in
1964. The major exponent of rock on KDKA radio was disc jockey Clark
Race, who also hosted "Dance Party" on KDKA-TV, a local version of
Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Other artists featured on the station
included the Four Seasons, the Vogues, Lou Christie (the latter two Pittsburgh-bred), the Beach Boys, the Hollies, the Supremes, Four
Tops, and the Turtles.

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JAB <here@is.invalid> writes:

Connie Francis, Whose Ballads Dominated 60s Pop Music, Dies at 87
...
...
Between 1958 and 1964, when her brand of pop music began to fall out
of favor, Ms. Francis was the most popular female singer in the United States, selling 40 million records. Her 35 Top 40 hits during that
period included 16 songs that made the Billboard Top 10, and three No.
1 hits: "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its
Own" in 1960 and "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" in 1962.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/arts/music/connie-francis-dead.html

Very sad to read this. I'm part of a different generation but I always
liked Connie's voice. She had a very emotional style of singing and I
still like to listen to her songs. Some of you may know her voice from
the Futurama episode with the dog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WBbKSFhw9A

The full version is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYwkHpT4mOI&list=RDcYwkHpT4mOI&start_radio=1

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On Sat, 26 Jul 2025 01:03:50 +0200, Joerg Mertens
<joerg-mertens@t-online.de> wrote:

I'm part of a different generation

Here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K8dNctci1Y

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JAB <here@is.invalid> writes:

On Sat, 26 Jul 2025 01:03:50 +0200, Joerg Mertens
<joerg-mertens@t-online.de> wrote:

I'm part of a different generation

Here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K8dNctci1Y

Thanks. Always nice to see young people making good music.

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