Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door

Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door
Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door
Studio album by Connie Francis
Released	October 1966
Recorded	May 17–18, 1966; June 1, 1966
Genre	Pop
Label	scheduled for release on; MGM; E-4412 (mono)/SE-4412 (stereo); eventually released on; King Leo Records; LES-903
Producer	Pete Spargo
Connie Francis chronology

Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door is a studio album recorded by U. S. Entertainer Connie Francis.

Background

Whilst the material of her album Connie Francis sings Fun Songs for Children (1959) clearly had aimed at toddlers and smaller children of pre-school age, Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door contained material suitable for older children and youths in their early teens by combining classic songs such as Do-Re-Mi from the musical The Sound of Music with modern novelty songs like a rendition of Brian Hyland's 1960 hit Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.

The orchestral backing track and the vocal contributions of an unidentified children choir were recorded on May 17 and 18, 1966. Francis overdubbed her vocals to all songs on June 1, 1966.^[1]

The album was originally scheduled for release on Francis' label MGM Records with the catalogue numbers E-4412 (mono pressings) and SE-4412 (stereo pressings) but was eventually reassigned to MGM's subsidiary label King Leo Records and released in stereo only under the catalogue number LES-903.^[2]

Of the thirteen recorded songs, Batman remains unreleased to this day. Along with her 1960 UK-Single Robot Man and her 1968 rendition of the Burt Bacharach classic Promises, Promises, Francis herself calls Batman "the dumbest song I've ever recorded".^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

Side A

#	Title	Songwriter	Length
1.	"Do-Re-Mi"	Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II	2.39
2.	"I'm Henry VIII. I Am"	Fred Murray, R. P. Weston	2.16
3.	"Puff, the Magic Dragon"	Leonard Lipton, Peter Yarrow	3.18
4.	"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"	Paul Vance, Lee Pockriss	2.35
5.	"Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport"	Rolf Harris	2.17
6.	"This Land Is Your Land"	Woody Guthrie	2.55

Side B

#	Title	Songwriter	Length
1.	"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"	Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman	2.10
2.	"England Swings"	Roger Miller	1.47
3.	"The Children's Marching Song"	traditional	1.56
4.	"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah"	Allan Sherman	2.12
5.	"A Spoonful of Sugar"	Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman	2.13
6.	Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter"	Trevor Peacock	2.10

Not included songs from the sessions

#	Title	Songwriter	Length	Remark
1.	"Batman"	Neal Hefti	1.56	unreleased to this day

References

^ Ron Roberts: Connie Francis Discography 1955 – 1975
^ Connie Francis: Souvenirs, Booklet of 4-CD-Box, Polydor 1996, Cat.-No. 314 533 382-2

[1] Ron Roberts: Connie Francis Discography 1955 – 1975

[2] Connie Francis: Souvenirs, Booklet of 4-CD-Box, Polydor 1996, Cat.-No. 314 533 382-2

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