Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door

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

Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 1966
RecordedMay 17–18, 1966
June 1, 1966
GenrePop
Labelscheduled for release on
MGM
E-4412 (mono)/SE-4412 (stereo)
eventually released on
King Leo Records
LES-903
ProducerPete Spargo
Connie Francis chronology
Connie Francis live at The Sahara in Las Vegas
(1966)
Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door
(1966)
Love, Italian Style
(1967)

Background

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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

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Side A

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# 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

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# 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

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

References

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  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