![]() Stevens stopped issuing recordings in the mid-'60s (after issuing such further albums as From Me to You, The Hank Williams Song Book, and As Cricket), and focused primarily on acting, starring in such movies as Grease 2, Back to the Beach, and Tapeheads, among countless others. It was also during the '60s that Stevens married singer Eddie Fisher, and although the marriage would only last two years (from 1967 through 1969), Stevens and Fisher would have two daughters together, future actress Joely Fisher and future actress/singer Tricia Leigh Fisher. Stevens continued on with her musical career throughout the '60s, landing two big hit singles - a duet with actor Ed "Kookie" Burns on "Kookie Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" and the number one 1961 hit "Sixteen Reasons" but it was her role as Cricket Blake in the popular TV series Hawaiian Eye that made Stevens famous. and issuing her debut album, Conchetta, in 1958 and acting in several movies and TV series (Young and Dangerous, Rock-a-Bye Baby, etc.). By the late '50s, Stevens had co-launched a singing and acting career, signing with Warner Bros. At the age of 16, she was singing in her first group, the Three Debs. Coming from a highly musical family (both her parents were jazz musicians and her brother was a drummer), the up-and-coming singer changed her last name to Stevens after her father's stage name (Teddy Stevens). A comedy version was released as a double A-side on the Laverne & Shirley single Chapel of Love in 1976, and Lisa Mychols remade "Sixteen Reasons" for her 1991 Lost Winter's Dream album.Actor/singer Connie Stevens was born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia on August 8, 1938, in Brooklyn, NY. Lawrence Welk featured the song on his 1964 album, The Golden Millions. The Lettermen, who Stevens had played with as The Foremost, recorded a version of the track for their 1962 album, Once Upon a Time. It would be a little silly for me to do it now."In 1960 Italian singer Angelina Monti rendered "Sixteen Reasons" in German as Sechzehn GrĂ¼nde and that same year Auckland-singer Esme Stephens and The Silhouettes With The Peter Posa Combo released "Sixteen Reasons" in New Zealand on Zodiac Records coupled with a cover of Anita Bryant's "Paper Roses" the single reached #5 on the Lever Hit Parade. It was really a kids' song aimed at 12-year-old girls. ![]() Professionally Stevens has downplayed her identity as the singer of a "golden oldie", stating in 2005: "I never did 'Sixteen Reasons' in my stage act. Although Stevens' would continue to record for Warner Bros until 1972 - with a brief tenure at MGM Records in 1968 - none of her singles subsequent to "Sixteen Reasons" would reach the Top 40 her last appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 would be in 1965. handicapping her promotion of the single: as the song was not published by MPHC the label refused to allow Stevens to perform the song on Hawaiian Eye and also prevented her from singing it on The Ed Sullivan Show. Stevens' had her success with "Sixteen Reasons" despite her label Warner Bros. A recounting of sixteen reasons for being in love, beginning "The way you hold my hand", "Sixteen Reasons" was Stevens' second Top 40 hit, the precedent being a duet with Edd Byrnes: "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)", a novelty spoken word number which reached #4. "Sixteen Reasons" was a popular song on the American Forces Network in Germany that summer. The sheet music for the song was also a bestseller in both the US and the UK. Total sales for Connie Stevens' "Sixteen Reasons" single are estimated at two million units. After reaching #9 - its overall UK peak - in May 1960, Stevens' single re-entered the top 20 at #17 that June, spending 12 weeks on the chart in all. "Sixteen Reasons" also afforded Stevens' a hit in the UK over the spring and summer of 1960 despite at least three cover versions by British singers, specifically Sheila Buxton, Shani Wallis and Marion Ryan. Stevens' single - arrangement and accompaniment by Don Ralke - was issued in December 1959 with the Robert Allen composition "Little Sister" being the intended A-side - another version of the last-named song by Cathy Carr was issued as a single at the same time - but it was as "Sixteen Reasons" that Stevens' single debuted at #89 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 1 February 1960, to reach #3 on the chart dated. The composers: Bill and Doree Post, were a husband-and-wife team from Kansas who had several single releases on Crest Records but their own version of "Sixteen Reasons" was not released until 1963: Doree Post was then deceased having been claimed by stomach cancer on 24 July 1961. "Sixteen Reasons (Why I Love You)" is a list song written by Bill and Doree Post which in 1960 reached #3 via a recording by Connie Stevens.
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