The music of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons remains timeless and evocative of a golden era – in 2017 Vintage Rock caught up with the man with one of the most famous falsettos in music…
Words by David Burke

If it wasn’t for music, Frankie Valli might have ended up in a life of crime – just like Rusty Millio, the character he played in the hit American TV drama, The Sopranos. “I wouldn’t say that I was a delinquent youth, but there was a street side to me – I was part of the fabric. A lot of people were,” said the most famous falsetto in pop of his tough upbringing in Newark. “And it’s those people, the downtrodden and the struggling, the ones who genuinely want to better themselves but sometimes find it hard, that I’ve been singing about – and singing for – all these years.”

From the early 1950s, as part of The Variety Trio, through the 1960s when he fronted The Four Seasons on a slew of hits, including a quartet of US chart-toppers, into the 70s and yet another No.1 with the theme song from the movie, Grease, all the way to the new millennium.

Sweet Highs

Frankie was born Francis Castelluccio, the eldest of three sons, to an Italian family. Aged seven, he decided to become a singer after his mother brought him to a Frank Sinatra concert at the Paramount Theatre in New York. “A little kid for the first time seeing any performer, let alone someone that big, with women screaming and fainting, I was like, ‘Boy, that’s what I want to do’,” he said. “But I had no idea how to get to where he was. So I learned by listening to other people sing and doing impressions of them.”

Apart from Sinatra, Valli’s other touchstone was ‘Little’ Jimmy Scott, arguably the inspiration for his trademark high-pitched delivery. Scott’s contralto resulted from Kallmann Syndrome, a rare genetic condition characterised by a failure to either start of complete puberty.

“I was listening to a lot of female singers also – women like Dinah Washington, who I kind of took a little from, mainly her phrasing. I don’t think I was any kind of pioneer when it came to falsetto. R&B groups had been using falsetto singers for years, but kind of in the background a lot of the time. A lot of gospel groups had falsetto singers, too.”

Valli’s career began at the outset of the 1950s, when The Variety Trio offered him a regular guest spot at their shows in Newark. By 1953, he was recording his debut single, My Mother’s Eyes, as Frankie Valley. It sunk without trace. When a second single, Somebody Else Took Her Home, also flopped, Valli and The Variety Trio’s guitarist, Tommy DeVito, formed The Variatones with Hank Majewski, Frank Cattone and Billy Thompson. In 1956, they were signed to RCA and rechristened themselves The Four Lovers, enjoying minor success with Otis Blackwell’s You’re The Apple Of My Eye, cutting the album, Joyride and starring on The Ed Sullivan Show.

It’s A Sign

Still, Valli insisted on holding down a proper job, working by day and singing by night, and even considered relinquishing his dream during these lean years. “I went to school to become a hairdresser and worked construction and for a floral company, delivering and later making arrangements for weddings and funerals. I was a maintenance worker for the city of Newark and I did it as a means of making a living and sang in clubs at night.”

In 1959, The Four Lovers were introduced to Bob Gaudio, a piano-playing songwriting prodigy formerly of The Royal Teens – an introduction made by Joe Pesci, who later went on to find fame in movies like Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino. Gaudio soon joined the group. “I was quite sure that he was the guy that I should hook up with. He thought a lot the way I did. He was a doer, not just a talker,” said Valli.

Then came Bob Crewe, a producer with a golden ear whose credits included The Rays’ Silhouettes. The revamped Four Lovers failed an audition for a gig as a lounge act at a place called The Four Seasons in Union, New Jersey – but found an identity. “On the way out, we looked up and saw the sign above the door, and something just clicked in our heads. We all decided, then and there, that it was a much better name for a group than the one we had. That’s how we became The Four Seasons.”

Walk Like A Man

Finally, in 1962, after a decade of paying his dues, Valli struck gold with Sherry, a song which showcased his remarkable vocal range. Originally titled Jackie Baby in homage to America’s then First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, it was written by Gaudio in 15 minutes and represented the birth of a sound that would captivate American record-buyers for the next few years – a sound predicated on that voice and Crewe’s dramatic production, which owed a considerable debt to Phil Spector.

Big Girls Don’t Cry and Walk Like A Man followed Sherry to the Billboard summit within months. “We wanted to make the kind of mark that, if the radio was playing one of our songs, you knew who it was immediately,” said Valli. “But I didn’t want to sing like that my whole life. Once we established the sound, the plan was that eventually I would do solo records and some things I really wanted to do. I was very lucky to make the transition to My Eyes Adored Youand Swearin’ To God, which had none of the falsetto.”

Not even the British invasion in 1964 could halt The Four Seasons’ momentum, as they chalked up a fourth No.1 with Rag Doll (as The 4 Seasons Featuring The ‘Sound’ of Frankie Valli) and had further Top 10 smashes with Dawn (Go Away), Ronnie and Save It For Me. The flipside of Dawn (Go Away) was No Surfin’ Today, a not-so-subtle dig at West Coast rivals, The Beach Boys.

“The Beach Boys were surfing while the average guy might have been suffering. I think the average guy found it easier to identify with us. We were singing about his life, rather than dangling some unattainable prize in front of his face. Bob Gaudio’s production was crucial in getting that across.”

Building Momentum

Between 1965 and 1967, Gaudio and Crewe concentrated on penning solo material for Valli, adult-oriented compositions that would demonstrate the breadth of his technique. After several unsuccessful attempts – The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore) and You’re Ready Now didn’t even break the Billboard 100, while The Proud One peaked at No.68 – they created a track that would become as synonymous with Valli as anything that had gone before with The Four Seasons.

Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is a powerhouse that has been covered more than 200 times by a range of artists as diverse as Andy Williams, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Julio Iglesias, Manic Street Preachers and Lauryn Hill. Gaudio has described it as one of his most challenging pieces as a composer, a study in how to built intensity. The restrained verses are bridged by a horn section before erupting into an explosive (and unforgettable) chorus. “It’s a very, very tough song to do badly,” said Valli.

“When the song is that strong to start off with, that’s the kind of song you look for. I mean, if I were to do an album of songs that I wish I would have recorded, I certainly would have looked for those big ones. I wouldn’t be looking for obscure ones.”

Valli’s solo career, which spawned further hits in I Make A Fool Of Myself and To Give (The Reason I Live), ran parallel to his equally successful career as anchorman with The Four Seasons, although the first half of 1970s proved something of a fallow period for both. They did, however, find fertile ground in Britain’s Northern Soul scene, where You’re Ready Now became a surprise favourite, making No. 11 on the UK chart. Gaudio gave up touring, while Tommy DeVito was expelled from the band and subsequently retired.

Valli, Berry

The Four Seasons briefly signed to MoWest, a subsidiary of Motown Records, releasing one album, Chameleon, in 1972, and a spate of singles which didn’t chart. Valli cited Berry Gordy’s increasing interest in film production as the reason the collaboration – which, on paper at least, looked like a creative and commercial dream ticket – came to an end after three years.

“We still had a great relationship with him (Gordy) as a human being, and he was very understanding about it,” said Valli. “It was a hard thing to do, but probably the best thing for everyone concerned. It’s a pity, especially when you think of what might have been – what we could have done together.”

1974 brought Valli his first solo No.1 in My Eyes Adored You, written by Bob Crewe with Kenny Nolan, and instigated a revival of sorts for The Four Seasons, whose fifth chart-topper came a year later with December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night), “a song about losing your cherry”.

Valli’s second coming reached its apotheosis in 1978, when he had his second solo No. 1 with Grease, the high- energy title track from that year’s cinema blockbuster, featuring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, given to him by Barry Gibb.

“I was a big fan of the Bee Gees for a very long time, and Barry Gibb and I had talked many times about doing something together. While the movie was being shot, the Bee Gees were also doing a movie, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and I had a call from Barry.

“He said, ‘I wrote this song – it’s perfect for you.’ He sent it over and I listened to it and I loved it. But I think if he knew the magnitude of that song and what it would be, I probably would never have got it.”

Frankie Goes To Hollywood

After that, the hits dried up and The Four Seasons faded away. They were reunited in 1990 for their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Valli carried on doing what he’d been doing his whole life – singing – while occasionally moonlighting as an actor. He was cast in mob roles on the small screen in Miami Vice, Witness To The Mob and The Sopranos – as well as a bit part in the romantic comedy, And So It Goes.

And then there was Jersey Boys, the Tony Award-winning musical modelled on The Four Seasons, with music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe, which opened on Broadway in 2005, and has played on stages from Melbourne to London’s West End, as well as making the transition to the big screen under the directorial guidance of Clint Eastwood.

“I never had any idea Jersey Boys would end up as big as it did, but I thought there was something there,” said Valli. “I felt there was a story that was different from anyone else I knew of in the music business – the fact we were four guys who grew up poor, kind of in the ghetto, and that a couple of guys did time for burglary and stuff like that.

“Those were things we never talked about, because in those days we were afraid if anybody found out, no record company would distribute our merchandise and no radio stations would play us.”

Jersey Boys

Sure, Jersey Boys preserves the legend of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons. But even without it, the songs themselves would be sufficient. They’re songs that belong to another century, yet songs that still excite and resonate in this one. These are songs about being young and songs about not wanting to be young. Songs that are tough, songs that are tender. Ultimately, they’re songs that couldn’t have been sung by anyone else except Frankie Valli. “For me, he has become one of the hallmark voices of our generation,” said Barry Gibb. “From the deepest emotions of his real voice to the power of his falsetto, he created a style that we all strive to emulate.”

Brian Wilson, the genius behind The Beach Boys, offered this appraisal: “In the early-60s, The Four Seasons were my favourite group. I thought they were fantastic. The voice blend was fantastic. The competition helped me to get cracking. It inspired me, because they made good music. I went to the piano thinking I could top their music.”

“I always dreamed of longevity. The secret was we recorded in many styles, from the most elementary through to the most sophisticated. My whole life has been music. I don’t play golf, I don’t play tennis, I don’t hike, I don’t ski… I like to sing. What else am I going to do?”

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