What the world needs now is Connie's voice!

"Lord we don't need another singer
There is only one voice good enough to sing
Oh listen lord if you wanna know
What the world needs now is Connie's voice
No not just for some but for everyone
What the world needs now is voice sweet voice
Oh that's the only thing that there's just so little of"

This paraphrase of beautiful prayer by Bacharach/David is dedicated to Universal Music Company, which marketing policy is not fully understood by me. Whereas one markets (e.g. Japanese) are swamped with extraordinary discs like "Connie Francis sings Screen Hits" or "Connie Francis sings American Fantasies", the other ones (e.g. American or European) are only irritated with so called 'ultimate collections'. In the case of Connie Francis it does not make sense to issue any CD compilation of 'greatest hits'. I can recite at least two hundred songs which deserve to be among the 'best of', so any 20-song set looks here like a great misunderstanding
Probably due to the specific aesthetics of Far East people, even the "Best of" compilations intended for Japanese market contain hits never issued (WHY ?!!!) on European or American discs. Although "The Best of Connie Francis" issued by Polydor/Universal International in Japan contains typical greats (among them Japanese best-selling hit "Pretty Little Baby", "Where The Boys Are", "Follow The Boys", "Lipstick On Your Collar), it brings also few tracks difficult to find elsewhere. It was built on the basis of "Modern Italian Hits" with immortal "Al Di La" (so far sixth in my collection) accompanying four hard-to-find songs: "24 Mila Baci", "Romantica", Come Prima", "Tango Italiano". For me, as for the Italian hits' fan, they are of the highest value, because even "Italian Collection", vol. 1 & 2" has ignored them. Similarly, included here rock'n'roll track "I'm Movin' On" (from LP "Country Music Connie Style") was omitted on 'thematic' CD "Connie's Country" (Spectrum, UK). These are not the only rarities. If you collect alternates, you will find here "Que Sera, Sera" with accordion accompaniment (superb, sounds like song by Paris gavroche). This track was taken from the CD "Connie Francis sings Screen Hits", where you can find alternative versions of some other movie hits collected in Bear Family box. But this is another story...
Worth mentioning is touching "What The World Needs Now" (from LP "Connie Francis sings Bacharach and David"). In Connie's 'hands' this song does not resemble the famous performance by Jackie DeShannon. It's even hard to guess here that this song was composed by Bacharach: Connie groans and croons like Madame Butterfly right after hara-kiri. I thought for a moment that she sings in Japanese! This feeling was probably shared also by disc's editor, choosing this song for this Japanese compilation.
Polydor traditionally delivers high quality recordings; booklet brings to you lyrics of all songs.
"The Best Of Connie Francis" (Japan, but not in Japanese) is still available on the market so hurry up and buy it before it casts in unavailable Screen Hits' and American Fantasies' lot. This set of songs may be complementary to the scant "Ultimate Collection" (Spectrum/Universal).