The Four Seasons

[adams house cat]

Looking for a CD to play in the car I dug out a Four Seasons collection. Damn they're good! "Rag Doll", "Silence Is Golden", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like A Man", so many.

What say you?

[Gangster Octopus]

The Four Seasons

I got an earworm of The Night as soon as I saw the thread title...

[Amor de Cosmos]

The Four Seasons

I think Sherry was released the same week as He's a Rebel. I could only afford one of them, it was a tough decision but I went with The Crystals and never regretted it. Shortly afterwards Lou Christie became my go-to falsetto guy and I never did buy a Four Seasons record.

[Stumpy Pepys]

The Four Seasons

Staggeringly, Silence Is Golden was a b-side.

[adams house cat]

The Four Seasons

Nothing wrong with Lou Christie. "Lightning Strikes" and "The Gypsy Cried" are both fabulous.

[Borracho]

The Four Seasons

In a similar vein, I found myself humming 'Hats Off To Larry' by Del Shannon all morning.

Had thought he was still alive, but it turns out the poor fucker shot himself in the mouth in 1990.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The Four Seasons

Nothing wrong with Lou Christie.

Well, allegedly, he was a "made" guy, but otherwise no. If My Car Could Only Talk is a personal high point.

[WOM]

The Four Seasons

I know most of the songs, but it's nothing I'd listen to. I did see the play Jersey Boys last summer just before it ended its 3+ year run here and it was excellent. Good tale.

[Spearmint Rhino]

The Four Seasons

They made at least two Northern Soul classics: "The Night" for dark and moody and "You're Ready Now" for handclappy and sugary.

And "Beggin'" has emerged as a sleeper club classic over the last few years, what with the Pilooski remix.

I'm a bit unclear over what's a Frankie Valli record, what's a Four Seasons record, and what's a Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons record. It's possible to buy the same song credited three different ways.

Lou Christie is awesome, by the way. "Lightning Strikes" and "She Sold Me Magic". Hell yeah.

[adams house cat]

The Four Seasons

This talk of Lou Christie gave me "Lightnin' Strikes" as an earworm yesterday only replaced this morning by "Zoom" from Fat Larry's Band.

Was he a made guy Amor? Not altogether surprising if he was.

[Mr Shit]

The Four Seasons

I'm going to see Jersey Boys next month.

In an attempt to convince my son to come with us I pitched it as a "musical Goodfellas" due to their gangster upbringing.

To my astonishment I discovered that Joe Pesci was a friend of the band in their early days and he appears in the play.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The Four Seasons

adams house cat wrote:

Was he a made guy Amor? Not altogether surprising if he was.

I doubt it TBH, but anyone with Roulette Records at that period has that taint about them, because of owner Morris Levy (Herman Hesh on The Sopranos) who did have ties to the mob and used them to both acquire (and rip-off) his acts. Tommy James's autobiography is good on this.

[adams house cat]

The Four Seasons

Ah, Tommy James. Another one with a fine body of work. I have a best of which is worth every penny. I haven't read his book but didn't he say that he had to go on the run because there was hit out on him, or something?

[Amor de Cosmos]

The Four Seasons

So far as I can remember, Levy warned off any record company that showed interest in TJ and The Shondells, both before and after they'd signed for Roulette. When TJ's accountant (I think) tried to get an audit of the band's royalties he was threatened with physical violence. If I remember correctly that's when TJ disappeared for a while. Levy claimed publishing rights on everything that crossed his desk, which I guess was common practice in the business prior to the late sixties, as a result hardly any of Roulette's acts made any money. Levy was eventually indicted for extortion after he sold the company, but died before the case came to court. A nasty piece of work.

[RobW]

The Four Seasons

My dad had The Best of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons on cassette. Used to love listening to that when I was growing up. Saw Jersey Boys with my parents a couple of years ago, never seen my father so animated whilst listening to msuic, think everyone was on their feet towards the end.