BARRY LEVINE: Four more who should be in the Hall of Fame

Editor’s note: This is the last of two columns on oversights by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This part explains why Connie Francis, Whitney Houston, Johnny Mathis and Bobby Rydell deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Connie Francis was far from an overnight sensation. The top -charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Francis struggled. Only one of her first 10 releases charted and that peaked at No. 94.

In October 1957, Francis, at the behest of her father, recorded “Who’s Sorry Now,” which was written by Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmer in 1923. The record stumbled until Francis performed it on Jan. 1, 1958, on “American Bandstand.” Three months later, the song climbed to No. 4 on the charts and had sold 1 million copies.

That sparked a career which saw Francis named Top Female Vocalist in an “American Bandstand” Poll for the next four years.

Francis had 35 Top 40 hits, 15 of which landed in the Top 10. She had three No. 1 hits – “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” and “My Heart has a Mind of Its Own” in 1960 and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” in 1962. Among her other big hits were “Stupid Cupid” and “My Happiness” in 1958, “Lipstick on Your Collar” and “Among My Souvenirs” in 1959 and “Where the Boys Are” in 1961.

Francis, now 76, recorded more than 35 albums. Her most successful was “Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites” which jumped to No. 4 in 1959.

Just how successful was Whitney Houston?

The “Guinness World Records” cited her as the most awarded female act of all-time. Awarded by everyone but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

Houston, who sold more than 200 million records, is the only artist in history to have seven consecutive No. 1 hits. The record-setting streak began in 1985 with “Saving All My Love for You” and “How Will I know.” It continued with “Greatest Love of All,” “I Wanna Dance with Someone,” “Didn’t We Almost Have it All,” “So Emotional” and “”Where Do Broken Hearts Go.”

Overall, she had 11 No. 1 hits. The others are “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and “All the Man That I Need” in 1990, her signature song “I Will Always Love You” in 1992 and “Exhale” in 1995.

Her 11 No. 1 hits are the eighth-most all-time following The Beatles (20), Elvis Presley and Mariah Carey (18), Michael Jackson and Rihanna (13), The Supremes and Madonna (12).

She had 39 Top 40 hits, 23 of which climbed into the Top 10.

Houston, who died at age 38 in 2012, recorded 22 albums, five of which were chart toppers. Her biggest album was the soundtrack from the 1992 movie “The Bodyguard” in which she starred with Kevin Costner. Although “The Bodyguard” contains tracks from other artists, “Billboard” considers it a Whitney Houston album. The album topped the charts for 20 weeks and sold more than 45 million copies.

A superb athlete while at San Francisco State University, Johnny Mathis originally was a jazz singer, but renowned band leader Mitch Miller of Columbia Records switched him to soft, romantic ballads.

The transformation made Mathis a superstar.

He struck with four Top 12 hits in 1957 – “Wonderful, Wonderful,” “It’s Not for Me to Say,” “His first No. 1 hit “Chances Are” and “The Twelfth of Never.” A fifth song, “Wild is the Wind,” climbed to 22. “Misty” reached the Top 10 in 1959 and became another of his signature songs.

Overall, Mathis had 20 Top 40 hits and two No. 1s. Besides “Chances Are,” “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late,” a duet with Deniece Williams was Mathis’ other No. 1 hit in 1978.

While most of the major singers from the late 1950s to mid-1960s concentrated on singles, Mathis worked on making albums.

Columbia Records released his most successful album “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” in 1958 and it remained on the charts for an incredible 490 weeks.

Mathis, who will celebrate his 80th birthday in September, had 15 gold/platinum albums including four in 1959 – “Open Fire, Two Guitars,” “More Johnny’s Greatest Hits,” “Heavenly” and “Faithfully.”

He has sold more than an estimated 350 million records, the third-most during the past 60 years. Only Elvis Presley and The Beatles have sold more.

One off the most popular teen idols of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Bobby Rydell had his finest year in 1960 with six Top 20 hits – “Wild One,” “Little Bitty Girl,” “Swingin’ School,” “Ding-A-Ling,” “Volare” and “Sway.” “Wild One” and “Volare” were the most successful of the six, rising to No. 2 and No. 4, respectively. Those were the closest he came to having a chart topper.

He had 34 hits among the Top 40, six climbing into the Top 10.

A polished performer at age 19, the Philadelphia native was the youngest performer to headline the world-famous Copacabana in New York in 1961 at age 19.

His influence on rock ‘n’ roll has been widespread. When the producers of “Grease” decided to pay respect to the time period from which the musical was staged, they opted to name the high school where most of the action occurred “Rydell High School” in his honor.

He also co-starred in the 1963 movie “Bye, Bye Birdie” starring Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh and Ann-Margaret.

The 72-year-old currently is touring with Frankie Avalon and Lou Christie in a show called “The Golden Boys.” He also is doing some solo shows.

On July 9, 2012, Rydell, near death, underwent a double transplant, receiving 75 percent of a liver and one kidney. His life and seven others were saved due to a family who had just lost a child. Six months later, he was performing again.

Since the procedure, Rydell has dedicated himself to making the world aware of the Gift of Life through organ donations.

That makes him a real MVP – Most Valuable Performer and Most Valuable Person.

What a career – a Hall of Fame career.

Barry Levine is an entertainment writer with The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].