|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
18/01/2005 Connie Francis - a top 1950s voice
Listen to any decent sampler of white pop music from the 1950s, and two artists - one male, one female - stand head and shoulders above the pack, with voices that are superior, timeless instruments. The dominant female singer is Connie Francis. Just as the leading white singers in pre-rock n roll pop (Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett) had been Italian-American, so the balladeers who followed, dominating that odd period between the onslaught of Elvis and his dethronement by the Beatles, were also Americans of Italian extraction. But why Connie Francis? Surely she was far too lightweight for endorsement by Music for Grown-Ups? Well, yes, on Connie Francis's big ballads, she wears her heart on her sleeve. And yes, the lyrics of her pop ditties are frequently laughable, especially heard through the filter of modern sensibilities - they bespeak an era of idealised romantic love, when young women were virtually powerless, economically dependent on men. And OK: Who's Sorry Now, Lipstick on Your Collar and V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N, with their sub-two minute running times, cloying double tracking, and dubious backing vocals are the ultimate cornball teen operas. But, despite its limitations, this music stands the test of time: fifty years after their production, and despite their inadequacies, these songs can still move the listener. Francis is a splendid actress - she sings as if she really has celebrated the tiny victories and suffered the serial indignities documented on her singles. Her appropriately vulnerable, melodic voice, with just a hint of New Jersey/Italian toughness, implied to those who were listening carefully enough that, though they might appear to be under the yoke, some young women in Eisenhower's America were actually running the show. The songs are generally well crafted, the records well produced. Some of the songs are not-so-subtle double entendres dressed up for a Puritan era - try listening to Robot Man without smirking. As late as the early 1990s, Francis's fans could still claim that she was the world's top-selling female recording artist. Listen to the best compilation, The Singles Collection (Polygram, 1993) and you'll understand why. Connie Francis's male equivalent? He'll be profiled here very soon - watch this space.
[Previous entry: "Rolling Stones legacy undermined"] [Next entry: "Joni Mitchell's "message" songs on Geffen"] Search entries:
Copyright © Music
for Grown-Ups Ltd. 2005
www.musicforgrownups.co.uk
|
[Archives]
[Previous entry: "Rolling Stones legacy undermined"] [Next entry: "Joni Mitchell's "message" songs on Geffen"]
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Site design by watson press website design & authoring |
