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“Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” was Connie Francis’ last number one song. It was written by Benny Davis and Murray Mencher (who wrote under the name of Ted Murry.) Connie’s father, who had been instrumental in getting her started in her singing career found the song and suggested she record it. Davis and Mencher were Tin Pan Alley veterans who had been writing music for years and George Franconero, Connie’s father knew them and introduced them to Connie.

The song was recorded in November of 1961, but not released until January , 1962. Connie was popular enough that MGM pretty much let her have her way on everything she recorded. She started branching out into other styles of music. She recorded everything from R&B to country to children’s music to Broadway standards. There was something for everyone. It is estimated that, in the United States alone, she sold more than 90 million albums and because of her language skills, more millions of albums were sold overseas.

As has happened to almost every performer who started in the Fifties, changing music trends marked the end or at least the decline of sales during the early Sixties. The coming of the British Invasion, most notably The Beatles, marked the end of many careers in America. I was a young man at the time, and I remember it happening but not really being aware of what it was doing to so many American artists. We were just too excited to see the Beatles and the Stones and others who now dominated the American charts.

“Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” entered the pop chart on February 24, 1962 and hit number one the week of March 31 where it stayed for just one week. Connie’s life was rocky after this last number one. She continued to chart until 1964 when she disappeared from the charts.