The Fabulous Vocal Group The Four Seasons
During the 1960s The Four Seasons were one of the most successful white vocal groups. They had a series of great hits singles between 1962 and 1967. Fans just loved Frankie Valli’s piercing falsetto (three octave) voice. The group’s career spanned almost 40 years and during that time Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons sold more than 100 million records.
Influenced by Other Bands and Singers
Frankie Valli came into this world as Francis Castelluccio in 1937 in Newark, New Jersey. It was his mother who encouraged his interest in music. She would take him to hear the Big Bands of this era at the Adams Theater, in Newark and the Paramount Theater in New York City. What fascinated Valli the most was jazz
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He made his first solo recording “My Mother’s Eyes” in 1953. In 1956 as part of the group The Four Lovers along with brothers Nick and Tommy DeVito and bassist Hank Majewski signed on with RCA Victor Records. They had a minor hit with “You Are the Apple of My Eye”. After the recording the group performed in different lounges.
First Wave of Success
The group found themselves on the Ed Sullivan Show with another rising star – Elvis Presley. In 1960 group members DeVito and Majewski were replaced by Bob Guadio and Nick Massi and in 1961 the name of the group was changed to The Four Seasons. They recorded an unsuccessful song “Bermuda” for Gone Records late switching to Vee-Jee Records. They came up with their first number one hit “Sherry” in 1962. Other hits followed like “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like a Man”, “Candy Girl” and “Alone”.
Rising to the Top
Their great hit “Sherry” earned them their first gold record after they appeared on “American Bandstand” and the song was widely received. It became one of the fastest rising songs ever released. It was in 1964 when The Four Seasons signed on with Phillips Records that everything seemed to shine for them They placed six songs in the Top Twenty – “Stay”, “Dawn (Go Away)”, “Ronnie”, “Rag Doll”, “Big Man in Town” and “Save It for
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In 1967 their song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” made it on the charts to number two.
Two other songs by The Four Seasons which are among my favorites are “Bye Bye Baby Goodbye” and “Tell It to the Rain”.
Losing Popularity
They came out with a most unsuccessful album Genuine Imitation Life Gazette in 1968 with songs like “Genuine Imitation of Life” and “Soul of a Woman”. In 1970 they had another flop with the single “Patch of Blue”. The Four Seasons has no record label to record under for several years until they joined Mo-West. They came out with another not too successful album Chameleon in 1972 and afterwards didn’t record together until 1975.
Valli made a solo comeback in 1974 with the number one hit “My Eyes Adored You” which became certified double platinum. This was followed by two more singles in 1975 “Swearin’ to God” and “Our Day Will Come”.
The Four Seasons got together in 1975 to record under the Warner Bros. label and release “Who Loves You” which returned them to the Top Ten. The following year they had a number one hit with “December 1963 (Oh What a Night)”. Both songs were co-written by Gaudio.
Break-up and New
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