Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons

Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons

Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons are an American group from Newark, United States, active from 1960 to the present. They are also known as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Their music sits within doo-wop, pop, pop rock and rock.

Formation and early line-up

The group develops in 1960 from The Four Lovers, with Frankie Valli on lead vocals, Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals. Gaudio joins Valli, DeVito and Massi after previously performing with The Royal Teens. Frankie Valli and Tommy DeVito also have an earlier association with Nick DeVito and Hank Majewski in The Four Lovers.

Hits and recordings

The Four Seasons score their first hit with “Sherry” in 1962. With producer Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio writes a run of major singles through the 1960s, including “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like a Man”, “Ronnie”, “Save It for Me”, “Bye Bye Baby” and “Candy Girl”. Other well-known Top 10 singles include “Let’s Hang On”, “Working My Way Back To You”, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “C’mon Marianne”.

The group’s popularity declines in the late 1960s as tastes shift towards harder-edged and more socially conscious rock, but they return to prominence in the mid-1970s with “Who Loves You”, “Swearin’ to God” and “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”, their final number one hit. Their sound, with its doo-wop influence, becomes internationally recognised and influences later artists, including the Jersey Shore sound of the 1970s and 1980s.

Line-up changes

Nick Massi leaves in 1965 and is replaced first by Charles Calello, then later in 1965 by Joe Long, who serves as the main bass player and backing vocalist until 1976. Don Ciccone is a member in 1976, sings lead on songs such as “Slip Away”, “Let’s Get It Right” and “Rhapsody”, and also plays lead guitar. By the 1980s, Frankie Valli is the only original member left in the group, while Valli continues to tour performing Four Seasons material.

Recognition and legacy

The story of the group is dramatised in Jersey Boys, a Tony Award-winning musical based on their lives. The Four Seasons are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. Jersey Boys opens on Broadway in 2005 and wins Tony Awards in 2006, including Best Musical.