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| Wikimedia Commons via Jordan Keller |
This is not the weekly scheduled Reminiscings of Youth article today but I still wanted to provide a tribute to singer Connie Francis who had passed away yesterday at the age of 87. In the late 1950s and into the following decade, her hits were popular enough that in 1960, she was considered to be the most successful female recording artist in many countries including Japan. She's had a great tie with this blog in that a number of female Japanese singers covered her tunes to success themselves, something that has been noted within the articles here.
(1961) Where The Boys Are
Yukari Ito, etc. -- Boy Hunt （ボーイ・ハント）
(1962) Vacation
Mieko Hirota, etc. -- Vacation
(1962) Pretty Little Baby
Mie Nakao, etc. -- Kawaii Baby (可愛いベイビー）
(1959) Lipstick On Your Collar
Kyoko Koizumi, etc. -- Collar ni Kuchibeni（カラーに口紅）
The last pair with "Lipstick On Your Collar" is something that I hadn't covered but I have heard the Francis original before through the many commercials featuring her hit compilations on television when I was a kid. As with the other covers, 80s aidoru Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）was among a number of other Japanese singers who have covered the song under the Japanese title of "Collar ni Kuchibeni". I had never heard of this one by Kyon-Kyon before because it was on a September 1983 album of hers called "Separation Kyoko" which was only available on audiotape although it has been available online since 2013.
There are probably at least a few more of Francis' songs that have been covered but in any case, I would like to offer my condolences to her family, friends and many fans out there.
My initial reaction to this post was something like "connie Francis? Who?" because I did not think I have ever heard of her before and I was sure that I would not know any of her songs. However, it turns out that some how I have heard "Pretty Little Baby" and "Vacation" before even though I did not know the title of those songs. I am not sure when I where I heard those songs.
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. Her songs can be said to be some of the big highlights of 50s and 60s pop. I'm not sure if they are heard all that much nowadays but when we were kids, they were still popping up here and there.
DeleteRIP. I'm glad she lived long enough to see "Pretty Little Baby" go viral on TikTok.
ReplyDeleteShe must have been rather delighted that one of her old hits made it big on SNS.
DeleteOtaki Eiichi became interested in pop music after listening to Lipstick on Your Collar on radio as an elementary school student.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information! I've also learned that one of the members of ABBA had been inspired by Francis as well. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of singers and bands were, too.
DeleteFuturama (18 seconds in)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WBbKSFhw9A
Yeah, I remember that episode, Jim. Probably one of the saddest episodes in either "The Simpsons" or "Futurama".
Delete