Carol Connors (singer)
Carol Connors | |
|---|---|
 Carol Connors performing live on November 17, 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Annette Kleinbard |
| Born | November 13, 1941 New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | Rock and roll, pop |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1956–present |
| Labels | Dore Records |
Carol Connors (born Annette Kleinbard, November 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. She is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist on the Teddy Bears' single, "To Know Him Is To Love Him", which was written by her bandmate Phil Spector.
Biography
Early life
Connors was born Annette Kleinbard on November 13, 1941, in New Brunswick.[1] Her parents were Polish Jews.[1] She lost many relatives in the Holocaust.[1] She attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California.[1]
Career
She was the lead singer of the pop vocal trio known as the Teddy Bears, which also included Phil Spector.[1] The Teddy Bears' only major hit, "To Know Him Is To Love Him", which Spector wrote specifically to showcase Connors' singing voice, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1958, also becoming the first woman to chart.[2] After their initial hit, the trio disbanded because of the failure of their follow-up singles, and the fact that Spector preferred working behind the scenes to performing.
Some years later she legally changed her name to Carol Connors. She co-wrote (with Ayn Robbins and Bill Conti) "Gonna Fly Now", the theme song from the film Rocky, which earned her an Academy Award nomination.[1] Carol Connors sang the theme to the film Orca, called "We Are One".
Other songwriting credits include the Rip Chords' 1964 hit "Hey Little Cobra", plus the 1980 Billy Preston/Syreeta Wright duet "With You I'm Born Again"; the 1994 title track "For All Mankind" on the debut album of Italian singer Guendalina Cariaggi, which was used as the theme song for a documentary produced by Pier Quinto and Lara Cariaggi, on the legends of soccer and the FIFA World Cup;[3] for "Madonna in the Mirror", the finale song on A&E's 15 Films About Madonna;[4] and three songs – "Condi, Condi", "I Think of You so Fondly", and "Chill, Condi, Chill" – for Courting Condi (2008).
Connors also wrote and performed songs for several films. The 1967 beach-party film Catalina Caper features her song "Book of Love" (not to be confused with the Monotones' song), co-written with Roger Christian, which she performed backed by the Cascades. She co-composed three songs for the soundtrack of the 1977 Disney film, The Rescuers: "Tomorrow Is Another Day", "The Journey" and "Someone's Waiting for You". In 1983 Connors was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award, for the 'Worst Original Song' for "It's Wrong for Me to Love You", from Butterfly, which she co-composed with Ennio Morricone.
In 2011, she skydived and performed a concert to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project.[5]
A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her in 1999.[6]
Connors was born Annette Kleinbard on November 13, 1941, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She was one of 3 siblings. Her Dad was a Jockey and Mother, was a talented operatic singer, who gave up her career to be a homemaker. As Polish Jews, they lost many relatives in the holocaust.
They moved to Los Angeles. Carol’s best friend in Junior High was Donna and she was dating Phil Spector. Phil told Carol, “I love your voice. I want to write a song for it and you can be in our group. I just need $10.” Her parents gave her the money and they recorded the song “To Know Him was To Love Him”. It went on to become the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1958. Carol became the first woman to chart.[2] To this day, it is considered one of the top records of all time. Phil’s father had committed suicide and on his father’s gravestone was: “To Know Him was To Love Him.” Phil turned that into a teenage lament, and called it, “To Know His is to Love Him.”
After their initial hit, the trio named the “Teddy Bears”, disbanded after a few follow-up singles, as Spector preferred working behind the scenes to performing. Some years later she legally changed her name to Carol Connors. She co-wrote (with Ayn Robbins and Bill Conti) "Gonna Fly Now", the theme song from the film Rocky, which earned her an Academy Award nomination.[1] Carol Connors sang the theme to the film Orca, called "We Are One". Other songwriting credits include the Rip Chords' 1964 hit "Hey Little Cobra", plus the 1980 Billy Preston/Syreeta Wright duet "With You I'm Born Again"; Connors also wrote and performed songs for several films. The 1967 beach-party film Catalina Caper features her song "Book of Love" (not to be confused with the Monotones' song), co-written with Roger Christian, which she performed backed by the Cascades. She wrote the music to 3 of the 4 songs for the soundtrack of the 1977 Disney film, The Rescuers, the highest growing animated film of its time. She co-wrote the lyrics for all 4 of them: “RES CUE (Rescue Aid Society)” "Tomorrow Is Another Day", "The Journey" and "Someone's Waiting for You" (Ayn Robbins and Carol both got their second Oscar nominations for this song).
In the 1980’s, Carol co-wrote the theme song for Robin Leach’s, “Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous”, sang by the legendary Dionne Warwick.
Carol also co-wrote the theme song to “Looking for Mr. Goodbar”, starring Diane Keaton, and directed by the infamous, Oscar-winning Director Richard Brooks, who discovered Richard Gere and Tom Baringer. The titled song was, “Don’t Ask to Stay Until Tomorrow,” was recorded by the legendary singer Marlena Shaw.
In 2011, Carol performed a concert at the Kennedy Center, in which she conducted the orchestra to the theme from “Rocky” (Gonna Fly Now) and sang “America the Beautiful”. Afterward she went to Key Largo for her favorite sport, scuba diving, to raise more money from under the sea for the Wounded Warrior Project.[5] ———- A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her in 1999.[6]. A documentary and book are soon to be released.
Selected discography
- "My Diary" 1961
References
- ^ a b c d e f Liami Lawrence, From Elvis to ‘Rocky’ – the charmed life of Carol Connors, The Jerusalem Post, March 24, 2014
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 61. CN 5585.
- ^ Army Archerd (June 2, 1994). "'Affair' looks to duplicate O.J. drama". Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ "15 Films About Madonna". IMDb.com. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ ""Rocky" Songwriter Raises Awareness For Wounded Warriors « CBS Miami". Miami.cbslocal.com. July 3, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ "Palm Springs Walk of Stars : Listed By Date Dedicated" (PDF). Palmspringswalkofstars.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 8, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1940 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American singers
- 20th-century American women singers
- American women singer-songwriters
- American people of Polish-Jewish descent
- Jewish American musicians
- Jewish American songwriters
- Jewish singers
- Musicians from Beverly Hills, California
- Musicians from New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Singer-songwriters from California
- Singer-songwriters from New Jersey
- 21st-century American Jews
- 21st-century American women
- The Teddy Bears members