A smilin' face, a warm embrace

Sad news. The legendary Miss Connie Francis has ascended that glittering stairway one last time and departed for Fabulon.

Specialising in teary ballads such as Who's Sorry Now? and harmless pop numbers like Lipstick On Your Collar, she was a huge star (in the Doris Day mould) in the pre-Beatles early 60s. By the end of that decade, her particular brand of middle-of-the-road ditties was so out of fashion she retired from recording altogether. While on a "comeback" tour in the 1970s Connie was tragically raped in her motel room, and latterly became an advocate for victims' rights.

It is however this number that keeps Connie Francis high in the ranks of gay icons - a song that the lady herself apparently refers to as "The Gay National Anthem"...

Connie Francis - Where The Boys Are

Where the boys are, someone waits for me
A smilin' face, a warm embrace, two arms to hold me tenderly
Where the boys are, my true love will be
He's walkin' down some street in town and I know he's lookin' there for me

In the crowd of a million people I'll find my valentine
And then I'll climb to the highest steeple and tell the world he's mine

Till he holds me I wait impatiently
Where the boys are, where the boys are
Where the boys are, someone waits for me

Till he holds me I wait impatiently
Where the boys are, where the boys are
Where the boys are, someone waits for me

Connie Francis (born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, 12th December 1938 - 16th July 2025)

Connie Francis International Fan Club

Where are they?

Darlings! We missed Miss Connie Francis's birthday on Wednesday...

Let's make up for this heinous oversight, and get ourselves into the party spirit with the lady herself, her greatest (and campest) hit - and a disco remix version to boot. Thank Disco It's Friday!

Connie Francis - Where the Boys Are (Disco Version)

Where the boys are, someone waits for me
A smilin' face, a warm embrace, two arms to hold me tenderly

Where the boys are, my true love will be
He's walkin' down some street in town and I know he's lookin' there for me

Well, who knows what may happen this weekend, if we're lucky!

Have a good one, peeps.

Connie Francis (born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, 12th December 1937)

A smilin' face, a warm embrace

Miss Francis. Connie. She's 75 years old today, you know...

I bet she still sings this one - her "gay national anthem":

Connie Francis - Where the Boys Are

Many happy returns, dear!

Connie Francis (born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, 12th December 1938)

A pioneer

"The HIV paradigm has produced nothing of value for my life and I actually believe that treatments based on the arrogant belief that HIV has proven to be the sole and sufficient cause of AIDS has hastened the deaths of many of my friends."

An unusual one for me today - for this would have been the birthday of the late Michael Callen, one of the true heroes of AIDS activism.

Michael was one of the earliest diagnosed (in an era of real ignorance) with what was then known as "Gay-related immune deficiency syndrome", and famously outlived many of his contemporaries. In a decade of moral outrage, panic and misguided demands by the more radical members of the gay community (such as "Act-Up") to rush through the release of untested antiviral drugs onto the market, Michael's was a calm voice. He wrote books on living with "AIDS-related" symptoms, and introduced the concept of "safe sex" into the public domain.

Most radically - and from my own personal and intense study of the matter, he proved to be right - he always disputed the theory that a single virus was the cause of the illnesses people were succumbing to, and was particularly critical of the use of AZT, a dangerous and previously banned anti-cancer treatment which has subsequently been linked to more deaths of people than the "disease" ever killed.

In addition to being a wise and remarkably astute political campaigner - he was a spokesperson on behalf of the People With Aids (PWA) self-empowerment movement on several US government AIDS committees - Michael was also a talented singer and actor. My favourite of his roles was his appearance as "Miss HIV", the drag-wearing singing virus, in the fabulous "AIDS musical" Zero Patience! [I'm not making this up you know!]

RIP, a great hero of mine...

Here's Michael singing live:

Michael Callen - Where The Boys Are

And here he can be seen briefly (through the microscope) in this brilliant film:

Michael Callen - Miss HIV (from Zero Patience)

Michael Callen

He’s walkin’ down some street in town and I know he’s lookin’ there for me

In yet another example of "who knew she was still alive?", today we celebrate the 70th birthday of that archetypal all-American singer Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero - otherwise known as Connie Francis.

Specialising in teary ballads such as Who's Sorry Now? and harmless pop numbers like Lipstick On Your Collar, she was a huge star (in the Doris Day mould) in the pre-Beatles early 60s. By the end of that decade, her particular brand of middle-of-the-road ditties was so out of fashion she retired from recording altogether. While on a "comeback" tour in the 1970s Connie was tragically raped in her motel room, and latterly became an advocate for victims' rights.

It is however this number that keeps Connie Francis high in the ranks of gay icons - a song that the lady herself apparently refers to as "The Gay National Anthem"...

Connie Francis - Where The Boys Are

Where the boys are, someone waits for me
A smilin' face, a warm embrace, two arms to hold me tenderly
Where the boys are, my true love will be
He's walkin' down some street in town and I know he's lookin' there for me

In the crowd of a million people I'll find my valentine
And then I'll climb to the highest steeple and tell the world he's mine

Till he holds me I wait impatiently
Where the boys are, where the boys are
Where the boys are, someone waits for me

Till he holds me I wait impatiently
Where the boys are, where the boys are
Where the boys are, someone waits for me

Connie Francis International Fan Club