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by Jerry Osborne

in
DISCoveries Magazine
September 1991

January 2001

CONNIE - Of course.  I'll never forget, it was a hot, hot day and they came to my house, and Neil looked around my house and nudged Howie with his elbow.  And I said, "What were you expecting, Paris?"
There were no carpets on the floor, exposed radiators, etc.  It was hysterical.  So they started playing this music anyway.  This was around four o'clock in the afternoon.  By 8:00pm Donnie Kirshner left, and I was getting very tired of listening to their music.  Bobby Darrin, who was there, felt their music was too educated, and he said, "Connie, drop the G when you sing words ending in 'ing'.  Sing dancin' instead of dancing."  He would tell me these things.  He told me to sound more like Fats Domino than Eddie Fisher.  So I'm listening and lying on my sofa getting bored.  After every song they played, I said, "It's gorgeous, what else have you got?"  Finally, after what seemed like 97 hours, I was writing in my diary, and falling asleep.  Neil said, "Could I take a look at your diary?"  I said, "Please, Neil, no one looks at my diary."Much of it is in short hand but certain words aren't, so no.  Go ahead and play something else."
Finally I said, "Look, fellas.  I hate to tell you this and don't get me wrong, your music is beautiful, but it's too educated.  The kids don't dig this kinda stuff anymore.  You guys are putting me to sleep.  Don't you have something a little more lively?"  So Howie says, "Neil, play her the song we just gave to the Shepherd Sisters."  Horrified, Neil says, "What, are you crazy, Howie, she's a classy singer, she'll be insulted!"  So Howie says, "Neil, listen.  What have we got to lose, she hates everything we wrote, doesn't she?  Play it already!"
  So Neil played a few lines of Stupid Cupid and I started jumping up and down and I said,  "That's it! You guys got my next record!"  Stupid Cupid, what a smash, it was even a hit title!  There was no way it could miss even if the song was bad.  There are such things as hit titles and this was one.

DISC - The same could be said for V-a-c-a-t-i-o-n

CONNIE - Yes, but when V-a-c-a-t-i-o-n was brought to me, they only had "V-a-c-a-t-i-o-n in the summer sun."  That's all they wrote.  I wrote the rest of the words and didn't even take credit for it.

DISC - Some songs, like movies, just have great titles, like Jaws.

CONNIE - "Exactly.  Howie, Neil, Bobby and myself were all very young, but very creative.  I told them, "Look at these songs."  and I made a list of nearly every song on the Hit Parade since the beginning of time.  I had a book that dated back to 1940 with the Top 100 songs of every year.  Even now, look at the songs that became hits because they're names of places."

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Well!  How many songs can you name from that era which had titles that were names of places?
Think about it and come back next time and I'll (or Connie will) give you a few!
Thanks for coming by!

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You are at PART 7
If you missed any part of this Interview, have no fear!