It is a sincere pleasure for me to have this Spotlight On...Alan Golnick. Alan along with Pat Niglio, runs the Connie Francis Fan Club; Alan is the website's webmaster. The CFFC site is filled with information, such as  Connie's career biography, photos and schedules of pending Concerts.

I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Alan, but I am looking forward to seeing him on November 1st at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, New Jersey at Connie's concert there. Check out the Official Connie Francis website for more information on the upcoming concerts. He is such a nice and humble man, he does not want credit for himself. But, I believe his hard work and dedication deserves him being in the Spotlight.

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Spotlight On: Connie Francis International Fan Club

By Alan Golnick

Alan with Connie after a 2004 performance at
Toronto Center for the Arts.
"Connie suggested we hold hands," Alan recalled.
"After that, everything sort of went blank."

Alan and Connie at the meet-and-greet after her March 2007 show at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Connie stayed at the theatre for three hours signing autographs and posing for photos with fans.

Connie is a big part of my life, but in a different way than most fans. Of course I love Connie and think that she’s the greatest female vocalist the world has known, but my “Connie world” is bigger than that. Working with Pat Niglio, Connie’s dear and longtime friend, I produce the fan club newsletter and website, conniefrancis.com. I’ve come to know Connie’s fans from all over the world, many of whom have supported Connie for almost 50 years. Connie has the best fans in the world, and it’s her fans who deserve the accolades of this “Spotlight.”

The fan club and website provide fans with information about Connie’s career, both present and future. Connie’s fans have always been very important to her, and keeping them happy is her top priority. She truly appreciates the support and loyalty of her fans; anyone who has been to a Connie concert and has witnessed Connie spend two hours signing autographs and posing for photographs knows that.

Besides conniefrancis.com, Connie is fortunate to have several other websites devoted to her, with talented and dedicated Connie fans working behind the scenes. Each website promotes Connie’s career even further and provides the world with more information. All of the website editors know each other and share information. Our cooperative efforts have gone a long way in keeping Connie’s fans around the world posted about what Connie is up to these days.

In 2001, Connie appointed Pat to coordinate fan club. Pat has known Connie most of his life, having worked for her when he was a teenager. He knows Connie’s life better than anyone; Connie has joked that Pat knows parts of her life better than she does. His articles in the fan club newsletters provide fans with a rare and insightful look at Connie’s career, whether her travels take us to England, Germany, Italy, Japan or Vietnam.

I am honored that Connie and Pat consider me worthy of the assignment. I was a fan of Connie’s long before I began working with Pat in 2001. I joined the fan club in 1990, and was blown away by the wide range of her material and foreign language recordings. Her voice is so powerful, yet sweet, soothing and innocent. I always knew she was a genius; through the years I have come to know firsthand that she is also a gracious, brave, great lady and quite funny.

One of my most memorable Connie events was at the Sahara in Las Vegas, New Year’s Eve weekend, 2005. Being there for Connie’s sold-out 45^th anniversary shows at the Sahara, meeting fans from around the world, and being invited to Connie’s suite for New Year’s Eve was wonderful enough. As a bonus, Marcia Friedlander had something special to show Connie— the “manly” version of “Where The Boys Are.”

A few months earlier, Marcia told her friends what she wanted for Chanukah: “WTBA” on DVD, an exciting new release for Connie fans. Marcia received a DVD, and it was called “WTBA,” but it was an alternate version that did not feature Connie. Marcia thought it was such a scream that she decided to keep the DVD and show it to Connie in Vegas. Connie took one look at the DVD, saw one of the guys on the cover and said, “Oh my, that doesn’t look like Paula Prentiss to me.”

Connie’s appearance at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, March 2007, was another special weekend. Connie tore the place apart, giving her best performance in 20 years. The evening before the show, Connie appeared at another theatre for a question-and-answer session prior to a screening of “WTBA” and she had the audience in stitches. Connie was a few minutes late and apologized, explaining that her driver couldn’t find the theatre and he didn’t speak English. The host told Connie, “Miss Francis, I’ve done my research and you’re fluent in several languages, aren’t you?” Connie replied, “Yes…but Chinese isn’t one of them.”

Connie said that the film had a big premiere at Radio City Music Hall in 1961, but she didn’t see the film when it came out in theatres. In fact, she didn’t see the film until 1983 and only at the request of her son Joey, who really wanted to watch it. Connie saw the film again about 10 years later when it was shown during a concert weekend. “Well,” she told the audience, “that was enough for me.”

If I had to pick one special “Connie moment,” it would be Carnegie Hall, 1993. The show was sold out and Connie’s father, George Franconero, was going up to everyone in the lobby, shaking their hand and telling them, “Thank you for coming.” This was not an official meet and greet; it was Connie’s father being the sincere and classy guy that he was. I thought of Connie, and how lucky she was to have parents like George and Ida, who taught Connie, among many things, how to treat her fans. It’s one big reason that Concetta is still going strong today.