Connie Francis' 'Christmas In My Heart' Expanded For Reissue
Connie Francis' beloved holiday classic, Christmas In My Heart, is now available on vinyl - on standard black or limited edition "lipstick-red" color vinyl - and as an expanded edition on CD with two bonus tracks, "Blue Winter" and "Happy New Year Baby" via Republic/UMe, ready to soundtrack your holiday season.
Originally released in 1959, Christmas In My Heart remains one of Francis' most cherished albums, capturing the warmth, nostalgia, and spirit of the season with her unmistakable voice. The album found Francis teaming with producer Arnold Maxin to capture two distinct sides of the holidays on the two sides of the record. Side A features Francis' charming renditions of such holiday staples as "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," "White Christmas," and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," while Side B includes more reverent material like "Adeste Fidelis (O Come All Ye Faithful)," "Ava Maria" and "Silent Night." The album was reissued in 1966 as Connie's Christmas, with the addition of her 1962 hit single, "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" (with the little known b-side "Pretty Little Baby"), which peaked at No. 18 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100. Christmas In My Heart meanwhile peaked at No. 19 on Billboard's Christmas Records album chart upon release. "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" experienced renewed popularity in 2015 when pop star Kylie Minogue covered it on her album, Kylie Christmas.
In honor of the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of the late Francis, one of the most iconic voices of the 20th century, much of her timeless music is available to enjoy in a variety of formats. Francis passed away on July 16 at the age of 87.
Francis' rediscovered gem, "Pretty Little Baby," recorded when she was just 23 years old, and which became a viral sensation on social media more than 60 years later this year, is now available as a limited-edition baby pink 7" vinyl single. Her 1958 breakthrough hit, "Who's Sorry Now," is on the flipside; the song climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart where it stayed for a remarkable 22 weeks.
Purchase Christmas In My Heart here
This summer, more than 100 songs, spanning singles and rarities released between 1955-1960, made their streaming debuts on the compilations The Singles 1955-1957, The Singles 1958-1959, The Singles 1960-1961, Rarities 1957-1959, and Rarities 1960.
Several of Francis' albums have also been made available to stream for the first time, including A New Kind of Connie (1964) and newly-expanded editions of Jealous Heart (1966), My Heart Cries For You (1967), and The Wedding Cake (1969).
Additionally, both volumes of Francis' The Italian Collection will return to streaming soon after many years as one big celebratory compilation.
The irresistible and infectious "Pretty Little Baby," which was never a hit for Francis or even released as a single, introduced millions of young listeners around the globe to Francis' joyful artistry this spring when the song went viral for its use on TikTok where it soundtracked lip synching videos and videos of babies, kids and pets. At its peak, "Pretty Little Baby" averaged 600K+ daily creates on TikTok alone, including posts from celebs and influencers alike, including Kim Kardashian & North West, Kylie Jenner, Brook Monk, Jarred Jermaine, Abbie Herbert, Ariana Greenblatt, Mistermainer, Samara and many others. The song broke into Spotify's Global and U.S. charts for the first time week of May 10, where it hit No. 67 on the Global Top 100 and peaked at No. 85 on the Global Weekly chart, which it had been on for four consecutive weeks. As of the week ending April 10, the song was earning just north of 17,000 official streams a week in the U.S., seven weeks later it had increased more than 20,000% to 4 million a week. In total, this year the song had 201 million total creates across all platforms, amassing 136 billion views. TikTok accounted for more than 57 million creates, totaling 67 billion views. The song has received more than 187 million streams globally.
From viral hits to timeless classics, these expansive releases celebrate Connie Francis' remarkable career and invite both longtime fans and new generations to experience the magic of her immortal music.
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