Connie Francis and the Flag
Blessed with one of the most gorgeous voices of the twentieth century, Connie Francis was emblematic of the optimism and ostensible health of the Eisenhower-Kennedy era and personified the immigrant family success story. Funny and personable, saucy without being salacious, the sultriness of her delivery never diminished the essential innocence of her America’s sweetheart persona, and hits like “Who’s Sorry Now?”, “Stupid Cupid”, and “Where the Boys Are” made her the best-selling female vocalist in the history of the recording industry during the period of her greatest popularity [1]. Connie abandoned her real name, Concetta Franconero, at the suggestion of Arthur Godfrey, whose Talent Scouts show boosted her profile when she was still an adolescent [2], but the singer’s Italian-Americanness was hardly a secret. Her musical roots reach back to the toe of Italy’s boot and Reggio di Calabria, from which her paternal grandfather emigrated in 1905, bringing “an old broken down concerti