The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles. Since 1970, they have been known off and on as Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, or simply The Four Seasons. In 1960, the group known as The Four Lovers evolved into The Four Seasons, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio (formerly of The Royal Teens) on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals. The legal name of the organization is the Four Seasons Partnership, formed by Gaudio and Valli after a failed audition in 1960. While singers, producers, and musicians have come and gone, Gaudio and Valli remain the group's constant (with each owning fifty percent of the act and its assets, including virtually all of its recording catalog). Gaudio no longer plays live, leaving Valli the only member of the group from its inception that is currently touring. The Four Seasons (group members 1960–1966) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and it joined the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. They are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold 175 million records worldwide. Frankie Valli's was "My Mother's Eyes" (as Frankie Valley) in 1953. The following year, he, along with Tommy DeVito, formed the Variatones (with Hank Majewski, rhythm guitar, Frank Cattone, accordion, and Billy Thompson, drums), which between 1954 and 1956, performed and recorded under a variety of names before settling on the name The Four Lovers. The same year, the quartet released their first record, "You're the Apple of My Eye", which appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at #62. Five additional Four Lovers singles (on RCA Victor) were released over the next year, with virtually no sales, airplay, or jukebox play. In 1957, the group's seventh single (this time on Epic) had a similar lack of success. From 1956 until 1960, the group stayed together, performing in clubs and lounges as The Four Lovers and recording on various record labels with various names: Frankie Tyler, Frankie Valley, Frankie Valley and the Travelers, Frankie Valle and the Romans, The Village Voices, and The Topics are some of the 18 "stage names" used individually or collectively by the members of the group. In 1958, the group started working with producer Bob Crewe, primarily with session work (Crewe wrote "I Go Ape", which Valli recorded with the intention of releasing it as a "solo" single). Later that year, the Four Lovers were performing in Baltimore on the same stage as The Royal Teens, who were riding the wave of success of "Short Shorts", a song co-written by then-15-year-old Bob Gaudio, who was also the Royal Teens' guitarist. The next year, Gaudio replaced Nick DeVito in the lineup, with Gaudio doubling as both keyboardist and guitarist, and Charles Calello replaced Majewski on bass (Calello would soon return as the group's arranger). In 1960, Calello left and was replaced by Nick Massi. Despite the change of personnel, the fortunes of The Four Lovers did not change in the beginning of 1960, when they failed an audition for a lounge at a Union Township, Union County, New Jersey bowling establishment. According to Gaudio, "We figured we'll come out of this with something. So we took the name of the bowling alley. It was called the Four Seasons." Despite the last few years of frustration of the Four Lovers, this proved to be the turning point of the group: on a handshake between keyboardist/composer Bob Gaudio and lead singer Frankie Valli, the Four Seasons Partnership was formed.