|
The Four Seasons (group)
The Four Seasons are an American rock music, rock and pop music, pop band formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The band evolved out of a previous band called The Four Lovers, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito (musician), Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals. On nearly all of their 1960s hits, they were credited as The 4 Seasons. The legal name of the organization is the Four Seasons Partnership, formed by Gaudio and Valli, and was taken after a failed audition in 1960. While band members have come and gone, Gaudio and Valli remain the band's constants, with each owning 50% of the act and its assets, including virtually all of its recording catalog. Gaudio no longer plays live, leaving Valli as the only original member of the band who still tours . The band's original line-up wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Four Lovers
The Four Lovers was a band formed in 1956 that was the result of vocalist Frankie Valli joining The Variatones (Tommy DeVito, lead guitar; James Gregorio Valeo, then Henry Majewski, rhythm guitar; Frank Cottone, accordion; and Billy Thompson, drums) in 1954. The Four Lovers achieved minor success before a name change to The Four Seasons in 1960. During those five years, group members also included Nicolas DeVito (vocals, electric bass), Hugh Garrity (vocals, guitar), Charles Calello (bass), Nick Massi (bass, vocals), Bob Gaudio (keyboards, vocals), and Philip Mongiovi (drums) History RCA, 1956–1958 The Four Lovers' big break came in early 1956 when backing up a female singer's audition for two New York record men. One of the two record men, Peter Paul, was suitably impressed enough to become their manager. A week later, they were themselves auditioning for RCA. RCA signed them up that day and the group selected a new name, The Four Lovers. The group that ended up recording as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Teens
The Royal Teens were an American rock and roll band that formed in New Jersey in 1956 and originally consisted of Bob Gaudio on piano, Tom Austin on drums, Billy Dalton on guitar, and Billy Crandall on saxophone. The group is best known for its single "Short Shorts", which was a number 3 hit in the United States in 1958. The follow-up single, 1959's "Believe Me", hit number 26. They never recorded an album, and broke up in 1965. History The term "Short Shorts" in the song referred specifically to very short cutoff jeans as worn by teenage girls. The term appears to have originated with Bob Gaudio and Tom Austin. According to the group's website, they coined the term in 1957, and hit on using it as a song theme and title that summer when they saw two girls in cutoffs leaving a local teen spot. Originally, the group's name was simply "The Royals", but they were persuaded to add the word "Teens" in order to avoid having the same name as an existing band. The performers on the 1957 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Ham
Warren Ham (born 1957) is an American multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for playing with Kansas (1982), Toto (1986-1988, and since 2017) and Ringo Starr (since 2015). During the early '70s, Warren and his brother Bill formed The Ham Brothers Band and included Ira Wilkes on bass, Red Young on piano and organ and Dahrell Norris on drums. The group recorded for Texas producer Huey P. Meaux. Despite critical acclaim for the work, the album never made it in the marketplace. It was soon taken out of print. In 1978 The Ham Brothers band had replaced Wilkes and Young with Bob Parr and Ken Rarrick, both from the acclaimed jazz education program at the University of North Texas. Later that same year, David Gates, of Bread fame, hired the Ham Brothers to tour as part of Bread. The act was then billed as David Gates and Bread. A year later pop diva Cher secured the services of the same band. When Cher recorded the project album '' Black Rose'', Warren joined the band for the record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Corbetta
Jerry A. Corbetta (September 23, 1947 – September 16, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter, keyboardist and organist, record producer— best known as a frontman for the Colorado rock band Sugarloaf, best known for their classic rock hit “Green-Eyed Lady.” Corbetta also toured for nearly five years with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons as the “fifth season” nicknamed “Guido” by Frankie Valli. Biography Corbetta was born on September 23, 1947 in Denver, Colorado. He began his career locally playing drums. As a teenager, he started playing keyboards and joined a few Denver-based bands. The Moonrakers was one of them, and in '67-'68 Jerry led a locally popular five piece band "The Half Doesn't" that drew crowds in Denver's "3.2" beer bars like the "La Pichet" that served up 3.2% / low-alcohol beer and live music to Colorado's 18-year-olds. In 1968, Corbetta and guitarist Bob Webber formed the band Chocolate Hair, along with drummer Myron Pollock and bassi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Shapiro (musician)
Lee Shapiro is an American musician/arranger who was a member of the band The Four Seasons. Early life Shapiro was born in Passaic, New Jersey in 1953 and was raised in Glen Rock, New Jersey. Shapiro was 19 and studying at the Manhattan School of Music when he was invited to join the band The Four Seasons as keyboardist, arranger, and musical director. As a member of the band for seven years, he played on records such as their 1976 worldwide hit, December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night). Later life In the 1980s, after leaving the Four Seasons, Shapiro collaborated on song writing with L. Russell Brown, Sandy Linzer and Irwin Levine. In 1991, Shapiro worked with Barry Manilow on '' Copacabana, The Musical''. In the 1990s, Shapiro also started ''Lee Shapiro Music'', a company that worked on music for media outlets and advertising. The year 1999 saw Shapiro create the toys 'Rock N Roll Elmo' and 'Rock N Roll Ernie' for Fisher-Price. Shapiro did not give up performing, and in 2010 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Ciccone
Donald Joseph Ciccone (February 28, 1946 – October 8, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member of the pop group the Critters, singing their biggest hits "Younger Girl" and "Mr. Dieingly Sad". The latter he wrote about his girlfriend Kathy Cobb before he entered the Air Force during the time of the Vietnam War. Cobb later became his wife. When the Critters's first album started to take off, Ciccone was in the Air Force and the band had to tour without him. This is why many videos on YouTube do not feature him with Ken Gorka lip syncing Ciccone's part. Ciccone was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on February 28, 1946. He was the son of an immigrant father, Vito Ciccone, who owned and operated Bill Williams Auto Sales in the 1950s. From the age of 5, Ciccone grew up in a 56-room mansion in Plainfield, New Jersey. In the 1970s, Ciccone joined the Four Seasons, where he played guitar and bass and contributed lead vocals to songs including "D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerry Polci
Gerry Polci (born June 9, 1952) is an American singer and musician who was a member of the American rock and pop band The Four Seasons. Polci played and sang in the band variously between 1973 and 1990. He sang lead and played drums on a number of their major hits, including the 1976 and 1994 worldwide hit, "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". Polci was married briefly to Antonia Valli, the daughter of Frankie Valli. Their daughter, Olivia Valli, is now a musical theatre performer, including taking the role of her own grandmother in the musical ''Jersey Boys'' that dramatizes the early days of the band. Gerry Polci has been divorced by Rhea Gay Chiles, daughter of late U.S. Senator and Florida Governor Lawton Chiles and Rhea Grafton Chiles. Interspersed with performing with the Four Seasons, Polci arranged for Barry Manilow for his television specials and did other musical work. After leaving the Four Seasons, he returned to college at Montclair State University in New Jersey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill DeLoach
Bill DeLoach (born June 19, 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland), is a singer, keyboardist, guitarist, composer, vocal arranger, musical director, and music producer, who was a member of The Four Seasons and the musical director for entertainer Danny Gans. DeLoach's first break came in 1971 as a member of local Baltimore band Jake. Local singing artist and songwriter Renaud White saw the band at a club and was impressed by them. He was looking for a rhythm section to accompany him on part of a Jackson 5 tour. DeLoach performed on keyboards with White's band, now known as Renaud White and the Contraband. Late in 1971, friend and Four Seasons guitarist Demetri Callas recommended DeLoach as a replacement for departing keyboard player Al Ruzicka.Chameleon, Case"The Four Seasons at Motown Part 2", August, 2009, accessed July 31, 2015. During his stint with the Seasons, DeLoach he performed on several television shows with the band, singing most of the parts formerly sung by Bob Gaudio, fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Long
Joseph Louis LaBracio (September 5, 1932 – April 21, 2021), known professionally as Joe Long, was an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for the Four Seasons. Life and career Long was a classically trained musician who studied with Alfonse Strazza, the principal bassist for the New York Philharmonic. However, a severe hand injury forced Joe to give up the rigors of playing classical bass and switch to the Fender bass guitar. He then began listening more to rock and roll music and became a bass player for several local New Jersey rock bands before joining the Four Seasons in 1965 as a replacement for Charles Calello, who temporarily replaced Nick Massi. Long continued to record, perform and tour with The Four Seasons through the mid-1970s. After leaving the group, Long formed the rock 'n roll group LaBracio and later the jazz band Jersey Bounce. In a 2007 interview, Long stated "I still play an occasional gig. And, I have done a few recording sessions with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Calello
Charles Calello (born August 24, 1938) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track record of successfully collaborating with various artists to produce or arrange Billboard hit songs led to his nickname in the industry as the "Hit Man." In the late 1950s, Calello was a member of Frankie Valli's group The Four Lovers, but left before the group was transformed into The Four Seasons. In 1962, he became the group's musical arranger. In 1965, he joined the Four Seasons' lineup as bassist, replacing Nick Massi (who was Calello's replacement in The Four Lovers five years earlier). Calello departed the group, becoming a staff arranger/producer at Columbia Records. In 1968, he became an independent producer and arranger and a year later arranged Frank Sinatra's album ''Watertown'', written by Bob Gaudio. He has worked and record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Massi
Nick Massi (born Nicholas E. Macioci, September 19, 1927 – December 24, 2000) was an American bass singer, songwriter, and bass guitarist for The Four Seasons. Biography Born in Newark, New Jersey, Nicholas "Massi" Macioci was first taught to play the bass fiddle by Newark native and musician Anthony Gaeta. As a bass singer, Massi had been playing with several bands before he joined The Four Lovers in 1958, including some groups that featured future Four Lovers and Four Seasons members Frankie Valli and Tommy DeVito. After the group evolved into the Four Seasons, they performed such hits as "Sherry," "Dawn (Go Away)," and " Rag Doll." He was responsible for most of the group's vocal arrangements. Massi left the Four Seasons in September 1965, and was replaced temporarily by Charles Calello who, in turn, was replaced by Joe Long. Massi, Tommy DeVito, Frankie Valli, and Bob Gaudio—the original members of The Four Seasons—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Gaudio
Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote and produced the vast majority of the band's music, including hits like "Sherry" and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". Though he no longer performs with the group, Gaudio and lead singer Frankie Valli remain co-owners of the Four Seasons brand. Biography Early career Born in the Bronx, New York, Gaudio was raised in Bergenfield, New Jersey, where he attended Bergenfield High School. Rotella, Mark"Straight Out of Newark" ''The New York Times'', October 2, 2005. Accessed October 9, 2007. "Originally from the Bronx, Mr. Gaudio had, at age 15, written the hit "Who Wears Short Shorts", which he made up while driving with friends along the main drag in Bergenfield." His mother worked for the publishing house Prentice Hall and his father in a paper factory. He showed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.png "Click for more on -> Bob Gaudio")