The Exciting Connie Francis
After her breakthrough in early 1958 with her single "Who's Sorry Now?", a rock 'n' roll oriented version of the 1923 standard, and a subsequent album of the same title, Francis chose to take a more adult approach to her second album. For "The Exciting Connie Francis", she chose twelve American standards. Francis clearly marked the album as a concept album by dividing it into two sections with different moods: Side A is filled with songs differing between mid-tempo and up-tempo, while Side B consists solely of ballads.
Connie Francis Sings German Favorites
Unlike the other installments in Francis' series of "Favorites"-albums, "Connie Francis sings German Favorites" does not focus on the traditional songs of a certain country or ethnic group. Beginning in 1960 with the overwhelming success of "Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel", a German version of her U.S. #1 hit "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", Francis had established herself in Germany as a respected performer of contemporary German music. By the time of the album's release Francis had enjoyed six # 1 hits on the German charts. Hence, "Connie Francis sings German Favorites" is more a typical Greatest Hits Album in the Pop Music genre.