The Post-Rockist

Connie Francis - Stupid Cupid
Connie Francis - He’s My Dreamboat
(from Connie Francis Gold)

I consider myself a fan of “oldies.”  If I am forced to listen to music on the radio, then 95 percent of the time I will be listening to an oldies station, and it is not at all unknown to hear me calling in my requests to the local oldies stations.  However, growing up in a suburb of Detroit, most of the music on the oldies radio was Motown.  And, as great as Motown is, I don’t think I had ever heard anything by Connie Francis before I purchased her two-disc Gold album from BMG music service. 

Connie’s music is quintessentially 1950s: her voice is sultry in the character of most 1940s’ female singers, but the themes of her songs are much more simplistic so that teenagers of the day could identify with their dramas.  It invokes images of chocolate malts at the soda shop and sock hops in the school gymnasium. 

“Stupid Cupid” was the first song to catch my attention; then again, I am a sucker for any song with hand claps.  The sound effect of Cupid’s arrow thwacking its target was a bold choice – it runs the risk of sounding too much like a wacky morning radio show’s attempt at humor but it ends up being charming.  The song is about heartbreak sung from a teenager’s point of view: “I can’t do my homework and I can’t keep straight / I meet him every morning about half past eight,” but it isn’t whiney at all and is really fun to listen to.  I can’t imagine that it would make my teenage self, all too familiar with heartbreak, feel comforted.  It’s more a song for adults who want to feel nostalgic and think about that silly teenage puppy love we all experienced.

“Dreamboat” has got to be my all-time favorite cheesy term of endearment, so imagine my glee when I first heard the song “He’s My Dreamboat.”  If you share my affection for all things “dreamy,” then this song will not disappoint.  “He’s my dreamboat, asleep in English class / He’s my dreamboat, mowing his folks’ grass / He’s my dreamboat with the dreamy, dreamy eyes.”  Then the male background singers chime in with the bass “bomp ba bomp ba bomp.”  It’s awesome!  Connie’s dreamy!

Perhaps one of the reasons that Connie’s music is so great is because of her use of background singers.  They seem to be present in all her songs, adding their doting bass harmonies to accentuate Connie’s whipsmart vocals.  They help to set the tone whether the tune is lighthearted, upbeat, dreamy, or, in a few instances, serious.  I hope that you, dear readers, find as much pleasure in Connie Francis’s music that I have.

Brenda Lee - Dynamite (1957 single version)
(from The Definitive Collection) 

And while we’re on the subject of powerful, girly teen idols from the 1950s, here’s a quick taste of Brenda Lee belting out “Dynamite.” With a voice as explosive as that, it’s hard to imagine that she recorded this when she was only 13 years old.

-Posted by Kim