There may be more widely revered singers, but the statistics don’t lie – worldwide, the Italian American Connie Francis was the bestselling female vocalist of the 50s and 60s.
Her breakthrough hit, 1958’s Who’s Sorry Now, was written as far back as 1923 and had been a hit for Johnnie Ray just a couple of years earlier, with a swinging, uptempo arrangement. But what made the 19-year-old Francis’s version click was the way in which she took pleasure in her ex’s misery, coolly and coyly cooing over the slow-rocking backing while picking his failed love life apart; for a finale, she ended the song with impressive, high-kicking spite. In contrast, her second UK No 1 was the daffy Stupid Cupid, written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, and loaded with ear-catching gimmicks: the bow-and-arrow guitar effect on the chorus; Francis jumping an octave when she sings “Cu-pid!”; and instruments that drop out – the musical equivalent of a wink – to allow her voice to sound as seductive as possible.
