Stupid Cupid

"Stupid Cupid" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka which became a hit for Connie Francis in 1958.

Recording history

In the spring of 1958 Francis had hit No. 4 with her breakout hit, a rock ballad version of the standard "Who's Sorry Now?". The similarly-styled follow-up "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" had barely reached the Top 40 and Francis recalls: "I knew I had to come up with a hit on the third record. It was crucial. I listened to every publisher's song in New York, but nothing was hitting me." Eventually Don Kirshner of Aldon Music had Greenfield and Sedaka, who were staff writers for Aldon, visit Francis at her home to pitch their songs; after listening to a number of ballads — which both Francis and her visitor Bobby Darin felt were too sophisticated to appeal to the teen market — Francis asked if the songwriters had "something a little more lively" and Greenfield asked Sedaka to play "Stupid Cupid", an uptempo number intended for the Shepherd Sisters. Sedaka objected that Francis, a "classy lady", would be insulted to be pitched such a puerile song; but Greenfield dismissed Sedaka's objection, saying, "What have we got to lose, she hates everything we wrote, doesn't she? Play it already!" After hearing only a few lines Francis recalls: "I started jumping up and down and I said, 'That's it! You guys got my next record!'"