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The Four Seasons are an American rock band that became internationally successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. In 1960, the band known as the Four Lovers evolved into the Four Seasons, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on electric bass and bass vocals. On nearly all of their 1960s hits they were credited as the 4 Seasons.
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio, known professionally as Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice. Valli scored 29 top 40 hits with the Four Seasons, one top 40 hit under the Four Seasons alias the Wonder Who?, and nine top 40 hits as a solo artist. As a member of the Four Seasons, Valli's number-one hits include "Sherry" (1962), "Big Girls Don't Cry" (1962), "Walk Like a Man" (1963), "Rag Doll" (1964) and "December, 1963 " (1975). Valli's recording of the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" reached number two in 1967. As a solo artist, Valli scored number-one hits with the songs "My Eyes Adored You" (1974) and "Grease" (1978).
The Angels are an American girl group that originated from New Jersey, best known for their 1963 No. 1 hit single, "My Boyfriend's Back".
Robert John "Bob" Gaudio is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote and produced the vast majority of the band's music, including hits like "Sherry" and "December, 1963 ". Though he no longer performs with the group, Gaudio and lead singer Frankie Valli remain co-owners of the Four Seasons brand.
Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American soft rock singer-songwriter known for several pop rock hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 UK number-two "I'm Gonna Make You Mine".
Gaetano "Tommy" DeVito was an American musician and singer, best known as a founding member, vocalist, and lead guitarist of rock band the Four Seasons.
Denny Randell is an American songwriter and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Sandy Linzer and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let's Hang On!", "Working My Way Back to You", and "Native New Yorker", and was nominated with Linzer for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) in 2012.
Jersey Boys is a 2004 jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and eventual break-up of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The musical is structured as four "seasons", each narrated by a different member of the band who gives his own perspective on its history and music. Songs include "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Sherry", "December 1963 ", "My Eyes Adored You", "Stay", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Walk Like A Man", "Who Loves You", "Working My Way Back to You" and "Rag Doll", among others.
Robert Stanley Crewe was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. He was known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Seasons.
"Big Girls Don't Cry" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio and originally recorded by The Four Seasons. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 17, 1962, and, like its predecessor "Sherry", spent five weeks in the top position but never ranked in the Billboard year-end charts of 1962 or 1963. The song also made it to number one, for three weeks, on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues survey. It was also the quartet's second single to make it to number one on the US R&B charts.
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded as a single by Frankie Valli. The song was among his biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week, stuck behind "Windy" by the Association. Gaudio was a bandmate of Valli's in the Four Seasons. It was Valli's biggest solo hit until he hit No. 1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You".
"Rag Doll" is a popular song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded by the Four Seasons and released as a single in 1964.
The Four Lovers was a band formed in 1956 that was the result of vocalist Frankie Valli joining The Variatones in 1954. The Four Lovers achieved minor success before a name change to The Four Seasons in 1960. During those five years, group members also included Nicolas DeVito, Hugh Garrity, Charles Calello (bass), Nick Massi, Bob Gaudio, and Philip Mongiovi (drums)
The Wonder Who? was a nom de disque of The Four Seasons for four single records released from 1965 to 1967. It was one of a handful of "names" used by the group at that time, including Frankie Valli and The Valli Boys. Wonder Who? recordings generally feature the falsetto singing by Valli, but with a softer falsetto than on "typical" Four Seasons recordings.
"Lightnin' Strikes" is a song written by Lou Christie and Twyla Herbert, and recorded by Christie on the MGM label. It was a hit in 1966, making it first to No. 1 in Canada in January 1966 on the RPM Top Singles chart, then to No. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 in February, No. 3 on the New Zealand Listener chart in May, and No. 11 on the UK Record Retailer chart. RIAA certification on March 3, 1966, garnering gold status for selling over one million copies.
The Tammys were an American girl group made up of sisters Gretchen and Cathy Owens and their friend Linda Jones. They are best known for their song "Egyptian Shumba." Billboard named the song #35 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
The Delicates, were an American three-girl singing group, made up of members Denise Ferri, Arleen Lanzotti, and Peggy Santiglia. The group was formed in 1958 while all three members were attending Elementary School No. Eight, in Belleville, New Jersey, United States.
Margaret "Peggy" Santiglia is an American singer-songwriter of the "girl group era". She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "My Boyfriend's Back" with The Angels, which she recorded at the age of 19.
Jersey Boys is a 2014 American musical drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, based on the 2004 Tony Award-winning jukebox musical of the same name. The film tells the story of the musical group The Four Seasons. Original band members Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio serve as executive producers.
"Come Closer" is a 1964 song and single by Dee Clark, written by Bob Gaudio of the Four Seasons. The single was one of Clark's career bests, and broke him into Chicago and other soul markets, but failed to impact on white audiences. The female vocal trio Jessica James and the Outlaws covered the song the next year on the B-side of their "Give Her Up Baby".
References
- ↑ John Clemente Girl Groups: Fabulous Females Who Rocked The World, 2013 p. 18 "In addition to these sessions, Peggy, Denise, Bernadette and Lou completed another project as singer-songwriters, a series of recordings that were released on Dyno Voice Records as Jessica James and The Outlaws. 'Give Her Up, Baby/Come Closer' 'We'll Be Makin' Out/Lucky Day', and a version of 'Blue Skies' were the cuts by this group."
- ↑ Jessica James and the Outlaws
- ↑ Billboard, 18 Jun 1966, p. 20 "Jessica James and the Outlaws are powerful contenders in the hit group sweepstakes. Writers: Bob Crewe-Bob Gaudio."
- ↑ Billboard, 22 Jan 1966, p. 12 "Among them are 'Give Her Up Baby' by Jessica James and the Outlaws on DynoVoice"
- ↑ John Clemente Girl Groups: Fabulous Females Who Rocked the World 2013, p. 18 "'Dixie'...The single was banned in certain markets because promoters feared it would cause a problem in light of the civil rights movement.... Some stations would not accept it, yet Jose Feliciano's version came out a short time later.'"