Green Bay Packers Quiz: 1) Most rushing yards, career?
2) Most passing yards, season? 3) Most receiving yards, career?
4) Most TDs, career? Answers below.
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Legendary DJ, Bruce Morrow (“Cousin Brucie”):
“When you talk about some of the great American vocal groups,
you”ve gotta talk about the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons.
The Beach Boys were for the West Coast suburban kids with T-
Birds and money to spend foolin” around in the sunshine. But
the Four Seasons were urban, they were East Coast – they were
New York rock!…When I hear the Beach Boys I think of getting
tanned and surfin” and summer love and all that crap, but when I
hear the Four Seasons belting ”Rag Doll” or ”Dawn, go away I”m
no good for you,” man, I picture smokestacks, dirty streets,
tenements in the Bronx, and poor, tough kids that are survivors.”
And a survivor is what Frankie Valli was. Born Francis
Castelluccio on 5/3/37 in Newark, NJ, Valli was a tough kid who
cut class and hung out in pool halls. He says of his childhood,
“It was West Side Story time…I saw a lot of my friends fall by
the wayside and get wasted; found in a car with their heads
blown off or in the city dump in the trunk of a car. I”m not
(b—s——-) you.”
Once a kid shook Frankie down in high school so the next day
Valli walked in and whacked the bully with a baseball bat. He
could have killed him but the guy came into school the next day
with a bandage wrapped all around his head, along with 18
stitches.
Valli was befriended by a country singer, Texas Jean Valley,
who heard Frankie sing “White Christmas” at a school play
(“Valli” resulted from this relationship) and, encouraged by her
advice, he began singing in his mid-teens with a group called the
Variatones. The group, which included Frank Majewski and the
DeVito brothers, later changed its name to the Four Lovers and
appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 with the song “You”re
The Apple Of My Eye.”
Then the Four Lovers changed their name to the Four Seasons.
The boys had been playing local spots in Newark and Passaic but
they came up with the name as a result of some gigs at the Four
Seasons Bowling Alley in Union. Now it may be hard for some
of you to imagine performing at such a spot, but the Four
Seasons alley had a cocktail lounge called the Branch Room.
In 1960 producer Bob Crewe joined the team, to be followed by
songwriter Bob Gaudio. But the Four Seasons couldn”t hit the
big time (they actually changed back to the Four Lovers for a
spell) and Valli nearly quit because of lack of success.
That all changed in 1962 when Gaudio wrote a tune in 15
minutes, originally labeled “Jackie” as a tribute to the First Lady.
The song was then retitled “Sherry” and the rest is history. Soon
the group performed the song on American Bandstand and the
record company received requests for 180,000 copies. In 4
weeks “Sherry” was #1, eventually selling 2 million discs
domestically.
[For those of you from New Jersey, before the release of
“Sherry” in the summer of ”62, the Four Seasons were playing
Martell”s Sea Breeze in Point Pleasant. Oh to be there.]
They followed up “Sherry” with “Big Girls Don”t Cry” and
“Walk Like A Man,” both also hitting #1, making them the first
group to score consecutive #1”s with their first 3 singles.
It”s always interesting to learn how someone comes up with a
song. From Timothy White”s “Rock Lives,” Bob Crewe
describes the background behind the second hit.
“After ”Sherry,” we didn”t know what the hell to follow it up
with. I was up late one night in my apartment, worrying and
watching a dreadful movie, I think it was with John Payne and
some blonde bombshell. I had been drinking out of desperation,
and I was drifting in and out of sleep. I woke up at one point,
and Payne was smacking the blonde across the face and knocked
her on her bottom. He said something like, ”Well, whadda ya
think of that, baby?” She gets up, straightens her dress, pushes
her hair back, stares at him, and says, ”Big girls don”t cry!” and
storms out the door. I ran and jotted down the line. The next day
Bob (Gaudio) and I knocked out the song in no time.”
The story behind the Four Seasons 4th #1 hit, 1964”s “Rag Doll,”
is a little different. Bob Gaudio recalls:
“Back around 1964, there was one particular place on Tenth
Avenue, I think, in New York City where there”s a long traffic
light; it must have been forty-five seconds long. I”d go by there
a lot, and there were little kids around it that would come up and
offer to clean your car windows while you were waiting. You”d
pay them a quarter or fifty cents. One particular time this little
girl came over to me, and I had no change at all; the smallest
thing I had was a five-dollar bill, so I gave it to her because it
would have broken my heart to not give her anything.
“The look on her face – she didn”t say anything – stayed with me
for weeks. The description of the rag doll in the song was a
description of that little girl. I guess you could say the five
dollars was an investment.”
The Four Seasons managed to stay competitive, even during the
Beatles onslaught. “Dawn” hit #3 in February 1964, kept out of
#1 by the Beatles “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves
You.”
In 1965, they recorded a Bob Dylan tune, “Don”t Think Twice,”
but used the pseudonym “The Wonder Who.” They actually
fooled more than a few people for awhile when it was first
released.
By the end of 1966, the group had 23 of its eventual 30 Top 40
hits. [Valli was to have 9 Top 40 solo hits.including the #2
“Can”t Take My Eyes Off You”]
In 1967, they started experimenting with psychedelia and the hits
began to dry up.
A little remembered fact concerning Valli was the severe
problem he had with his hearing. Back in ”67, he was
performing when he couldn”t even hear the music being played,
though he could hear his own voice. He went to a doctor who
simply handed him a slip of paper, “You”re going deaf. You”ll
never hear again.” Then the doctor walked away.
Valli had a condition labeled ”otosclerosis” where excessive
calcium deposits built up in the ear. It bothered him greatly but
it wasn”t until 1976 that he had successful surgery on first one,
then the other ear. The reason why he didn”t get anything done
sooner was that it was a dangerous procedure and he was scared
he”d permanently lose everything.
In 1973, a fellow by the name of Gerald Zelmanowitz testified
before a Senate subcommittee that the Four Seasons had ties to
organized crime, a charge he later retracted.
Meanwhile, the group attempted to recapture the magic, signing
on with Motown. But Berry Gordy sat on “My Eyes Adored
You” (a Valli solo) for almost two years before Frankie bought it
back and released it himself. All it did was climb to #1 in 1975.
The Four Seasons then completed the comeback with the #3
“Who Loves You” and their 5th #1, “December, 1963 (Oh, What
A Night).” In 1978, Valli scored his second #1 solo hit with
“Grease.”
In 1990, the original Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame, solidifying their place in music history.
[Other Sources: “VH1 Rock Stars Encyclopedia;” “Rolling Stone
Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll.”]
Fallen Stars
From the New York Times” Murray Chass, a few postseason
records of future Hall of Famers. Roger Clemens, 3-5; Greg
Maddux, 10-11; Tom Glavine, 10-12. And, of course, Barry
Bonds, .196.
When it comes to the pitching records of some stars, it”s easy to
chalk it up to the stronger competition than they are used to
facing most of the regular season. But for hitters, these days
teams spend so much time scouting their respective playoff
opponents and the stars that the mantra becomes, “Don”t let
Bonds…don”t let Frank Thomas (0 for 9 against Seattle)…beat
you.” That enables the lesser lights to burst onto the national
stage.
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/12/68: #1 “Hey Jude” (The
Beatles) #2 “Harper Valley P.T.A.” (Jeannie C. Riley)
#3 “Fire” (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)
Packers Quiz Answers: 1) Rushing, career – Jim Taylor, 8,207.
2) Passing, season – Lynn Dickey, 4,458 yds., 1983.
3) Receiving, career – James Lofton, 9,656.
4) TDs, career – Don Hutson, 105.
*Vince Lombardi was 9-1 in playoff games.
Charlie Brown
A dejected Charlie Brown walks off the mound, then heads
home.
“We lost again. I”m so tired I can hardly move. I”m even too
tired to cry. If I started to cry, the tears wouldn”t run down my
face, they”d walk!”
Old Beer Chat
The hop for his profit, I thus do exalt,
It strengthneth drink, and it favoreth malt,
And being well brewed, long kept it will last,
And drawing abide, if ye draw not too fast.
Next Bar Chat, Friday. Leptospirosis. Scary stuff.
