Frankie
Valli is an American popular singer, most famous as frontman of The
Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is well known for his unusually
powerful falsetto voice.
Valli began his professional singing career in 1951 with the Variety Trio (Nickie DeVito,
Tommy DeVito and
Nick Macioci).
Valli's desire to sing in public was initially granted when, having
heard Valli sing, the group offered him a guest spot when the group
performed. In late 1952, the Variety Trio disbanded and Valli, along
with Tommy DeVito, became part of the house band at The Strand in
New Brunswick,
New Jersey.
For his part, Valli played bass and sang. He cut his first single, "My
Mother's Eyes", in 1953 as "Frankie Valley", a variation on a name he
adopted from "Texas" Jean Valli, a favorite female singer. Around this
time, Valli and Tommy DeVito left the house band at The Strand and
formed The Variatones with Hank Majewski, Frank Cattone and Billy
Thompson. In 1956, as part of an audition backing a female singer, the
group impressed New York record man Peter Paul, who had them auditioning
at
RCA Victor a week later. Renamed
The Four Lovers, the group recorded several singles and one album's worth of tracks. They had a minor hit with "
You're the Apple of My Eye"
in 1956. Nickie DeVito and Hank Majewski left in 1958 to be replaced by
Nick Macioci (now Nick Massi) and Hugh Garrity. Massi was in and out of
the group, and, occasionally
Charles Calello joined on accordion. The group continued to perform until 1959, when
Bob Gaudio became a member. After a few more changes, the group was renamed "The 4 Seasons" in 1960. As the lead singer of The Four Seasons, he had a string of hits beginning with the number one hit "
Sherry"
in 1962. As a footnote to this period of Frankie's career with The Four
Seasons, the group's bassist and vocal arranger Nick Massi was replaced
in 1965 by Charlie Calello, the group's instrumental arranger, and,
then shortly thereafter, Charlie was replaced by Joseph LaBracio, who
went by the pseudonym
Joe Long. Finally, Valli ended the '60s with a string of recordings that were
included in the Valli/Four Seasons album 'Half & Half' or released
as various singles. The only hit to emerge at this time was the
recording of "The Girl I'll Never Know (Angels Never Fly This Low),"
reaching number 52. Then another major event happened, a Valli solo recording from 1966 became a surprise hit in Great Britain as part of the
Northern soul scene and hit number eleven on the British pop charts in December 1970. Going forward in 1975, Valli's single "
My Eyes Adored You" hit number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. In the same year, he also had a number 6 Billboard hit with the disco-laden "
Swearin' To God",
while a further UK Chart success came with "Fallen Angel" written by
Guy Fletcher & Doug Flett and produced by Bob Gaudio; Back in the U.S. and Taking the Disco Charts by storm in the late 1970s` was Frankie Valli
with a number of hits including this Dance Smash. In the Night Clubs, TV Dance Shows, On the Radio, School Events, and in everyone s neighborhood people were
listening to this Hot Disco Tune. You see," Popular Songs like this always made
things go a little smoother on the Dance Floor, where it all
happened." If ever a musical style defined a decade, Disco was the definition of
the 1970s. Although its popularity was relatively short-lived, the genre
hosted a great deal of songs and artists that people are still dancing
to today. As for Frankie Valli- What a guy. They always say that no one does it better, and
just by chance maybe they were right. So turn back the years for a few
moments and enjoy this tune once again, It may one song you won`t forget. Thanks for commenting, Ray Chapa.
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