My Eyes Adored You

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"My Eyes Adored You"
My Eyes Adored You - Frankie Valli.jpg
Single by Frankie Valli
from the album Closeup
B-side "Watch Where You Walk"
ReleasedOctober 1974 (1974-10) [1]
Genre
Length3:32
Label Private Stock
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Bob Crewe
Frankie Valli singles chronology
"The Girl I'll Never Know (Angels Never Fly This Low)"
(1969)
"My Eyes Adored You"
(1974)
"Swearin' to God"
(1975)

"My Eyes Adored You" is a 1974 song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. [3] It was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in early 1974. After the Motown label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to lead singer Frankie Valli for $4000. After rejections by Capitol and Atlantic Records, Valli succeeded in getting the recording released on Private Stock Records, but the owner/founder of the label, Larry Uttal, wanted only Valli's name on the label. It is from the album Closeup . The single was released in the US in November 1974 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1975. [3] "My Eyes Adored You" also went to number 2 on the Easy Listening chart. [4] Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1975.

Contents

The single was Valli's first number 1 hit as a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained there for one week, being knocked out of the top spot by another Crewe/Nolan-penned song, "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle.

Cash Box called it "a mellow ballad sung only the way Frankie's sweet vocal could sing it," saying "lush instrumentation heightens the record's overall effect which is one of a fine musical outing." [5] Record World said that "Charlie Calello charts bring Valli back up top 40 mountain." [6] Seasons guitarist Demetri Callas, who had recently replaced founding member Tommy DeVito, considered it his favorite record of his work with the Seasons. [7]

The success of "My Eyes Adored You" triggered a revival of interest in recordings by The Four Seasons. The band was subsequently signed to Warner Bros. Records as Valli's follow-up single "Swearin' to God" was climbing to number 6 on the Hot 100.

Charts

Personnel

Other versions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Four Seasons (band)</span> American rock band

The Four Seasons is an American rock and roll and doo-wop quartet formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The band evolved out of a previous band called The Four Lovers, 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 bass guitar and bass vocals. On nearly all of their 1960s hits, they were credited as The 4 Seasons. The band had two distinct lineups that achieved widespread success: the original featuring Valli, Gaudio, DeVito, and Massi that recorded hits throughout the 1960s, and a 1970s quintet consisting of Valli, Lee Shapiro, Gerry Polci, Don Ciccone and John Paiva, with Gaudio and Long providing studio support.

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Robert Stanley Crewe was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can't Take My Eyes Off You</span> 1967 song recorded by Frankie Valli

"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, and first recorded and released as a single by Gaudio's Four Seasons bandmate 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, making it Valli's biggest solo hit until he hit No. 1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">After the Lovin'</span> 1976 single by Engelbert Humperdinck

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This is a list of singles and some albums recorded and released by Frankie Valli and/or The Four Seasons in their various guises since 1953. This list includes only commercially released singles on which Valli or some configuration of the group was credited with performing or producing. Promotional-only releases and extended play records (EPs) are omitted from this list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grease (song)</span> 1978 song by Frankie Valli

"Grease" is a song written by Barry Gibb and recorded by Frankie Valli : it was released as a single in May 1978. It is the title song for the musical motion picture Grease of that year, which was in turn based on the 1971 stage play Grease. The song celebrates the greaser lifestyle, and it sold over seven million copies worldwide and appeared twice on the film's soundtrack, first as the opening track and again as the closing track. "Grease" is one of four songs written specifically for the film that had not been in the stage production.

"Dawn (Go Away)" is a song written by Bob Gaudio and Sandy Linzer and recorded by the Four Seasons in November 1963. The song hit No. 3 in the early part of 1964. According to Billboard, it was the 25th biggest hit single of the year, placing behind "Rag Doll", another Four Seasons hit, which was No. 24.

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"Who Loves You" is the title song of a 1975 album by The Four Seasons. It was composed by Bob Gaudio and Judy Parker and produced by Gaudio. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let's Hang On!</span> 1965 song performed by The Four Seasons

"Let's Hang On!" is a song composed by Bob Crewe, Sandy Linzer, and Denny Randell that was popularized by the Four Seasons in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)</span> 1966 single by The Four Seasons

"Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)" is a song composed by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and recorded by The Four Seasons in 1966 for their album Working My Way Back to You.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Proud One</span> 1975 single by The Osmonds

"The Proud One" is a 1966 single written by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe and originally performed by Frankie Valli as part of his debut solo album, The 4 Seasons Present Frankie Valli Solo. Valli's version, which featured the Seasons on instrumental backing but not vocals, peaked at #68 in the U.S. and #64 in Canada. Billboard claimed that "the electric sound of Valli is used to perfection in this powerful ballad, stating that the "easy-go dance beat [is] effective." Cash Box said that it is a "powerhouse" and that "the Valli sound holds the moving, teen-oriented tale of love together and the sweeping arrangement adds a must spin again quality to it."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roll On down the Highway</span> 1975 single by Bachman–Turner Overdrive

"Roll On Down The Highway" is a song written by Fred Turner and Robbie Bachman, first recorded by Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive (BTO) for their 1974 album Not Fragile. The lead vocal is provided by Turner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swearin' to God</span> 1975 single by Frankie Valli

"Swearin' to God" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Denny Randell. It was recorded by Frankie Valli and released in May 1975 as a single from his album Closeup. It is a love song whose lyrical hook is a more literal use of the expression "I swear to God" :

<i>Closeup</i> (Frankie Valli album) 1975 studio album by Frankie Valli

Closeup is an album by Frankie Valli, released in February 1975 on the Private Stock label. It had been seven years since his prior album, and afforded Valli his first of two number-one solo hits in the US. The LP reached number 51 on the U.S. Billboard albums chart.

References

  1. The Four Seasons; Frankie Valli (1991), Greatest Hits, Volume 2, Internet Archive, Warner Special Products, retrieved January 30, 2023
  2. 1 2 Breihan, Tom (July 5, 2019). "The Number Ones: Frankie Valli's "My Eyes Adored You"". Stereogum . Retrieved June 22, 2023. Like Neil Sedaka on "Laughter In The Rain," Valli figured out how to adapt his sound to the soft-rock album. "My Eyes Adored You"... finds ways to dig into nostalgia...It's a soul song, more or less...
  3. 1 2 Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard book of number 1 hits. Random House. p. 398. ISBN   0-8230-7677-6.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 248.
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  6. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. October 26, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  7. McGuire, Colin (2020-01-16). "'He was built like a superhero': Local legend 'Penny' Callas dies". The Frederick News-Post. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
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