Talk:The Four Seasons (band)

Should Frankie Valli's solo singles be listed here? He has his own page, and on at least some of them, none of the musicians are from the Four Seasons.Rigadoun 18:07, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Explanation: The Four Seasons have performed as both The Wonder Who? and under Frankie Valli's name. Frankie did not have a real solo career for some time, and Buddy Holly didn't really have a real one at all. Marcus 18:48, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Frankie Valli's real solo career began in 1965, and was indeed real. However, on most of his solo albums, the musicians consisted of whoever was in the Four Seasons at the time, plus other musicians. The Four Seasons never performed as the "Wonder Who" although they released 3 singles under that name. Everyone knew who it was at the time, and the music was performed under the Four Seasons name.

Even then, the Four Seasons also performed on the Valli "solo" LPs. The distinction is only for promotion and sales. "My Eyes Adored You" was originally recorded as part of a Four Seasons LP; Valli bought the recording after Motown dropped them and Private Stock Records issued the same master recording as a "solo" record as well. His first solo hit without the Four Seasons was "Swearin' to God" in 1975 ("My Eyes Adored You" was originally recorded for a Four Seasons album that was never released). B.Wind 22:26, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure I understand what is meant by "The Four Seasons have performed as both The Wonder Who? and under Frankie Valli's name." As recordings, yes, 'The 4 Seasons' performed as 'The Wonder Who?' (not a well-kept secret, by the way). In live performance, a concert by The 4 Seasons (and I attended such concerts in the sixties) included a performance of "Don't Think Twice" where they joked about 'The Wonder Who?'. To say that 'The 4 Seasons' performed on Frankie Valli's solo recordings stretches things a bit. Yes, they performed vocally in the background on this or that track (check out "September Rain" for their presence), but generally speaking they were not that involved. To say Frankie's "real" solo career began in 1965 is not necessarily aceptable as he had a commercial solo release as far back as 1953. If it's meant to distinguish those early releases because he recorded under different names, I suppose B.Wind has a point. I have heard a different version of the tale about "My Eyes Adored You" - that it was a solo recording. Finally, I don't agree that Frankie's first solo hit without The Seasons is "Swearin' To God". As I stated, the members of The 4 Seasons did not perform instrumentally or vocally on many of those Smash and Philips releases. I think that because both Crewe and Gaudio were involved in the production of these earlier solo releases, it is assumed that Gaudio along with the other Seasons did perform on them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bbrownlie (talk • contribs) 19:41, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons - discography

Is there any particular reason why "The Night" (an amazing record!) has not been included amongst the singles?? Also, what about "You're Ready Now" and "I'm Gonna Change"?

RegardsCaff68 16:22, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

• Actually, there are quite a few omissions in the discography. This will be addressed as soon as I get a more complete listing from 1969 to 1973 and after 1977... and without the repetition from all the Vee Jay reissues. I'm starting with the infoboxes for the Top 40 hits. B.Wind 22:22, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

UPDATE. There is enough U.S. singles discography for a standalone list article. Once I confirm the post-1980 U.S. singles releases, I'll establish List of U.S. singles by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, which will list all the U.S. commercially-released singles by Frankie and company from his first, "My Mother's Eyes" in 1953, to the present. As I have virtually no access to U.K. release information, I hereby ask for assistance from the eastern shore of the Atlantic to fill in a U.K. discography when I post the article (message to Caff68: "The Night" was never released in the U.S. as a commercial single, apparently. According to Goldmine, promotional copies of "The Night" were distributed by Motown (as a Frankie Valli "solo"!), but the single was apparently withdrawn). B.Wind 01:29, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

This list article is turning out to be huge - I'd urge a separate List of U.K. singles by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, which I'd anticipate to be much shorter. As it is, I'm having difficulty verifying the release years of CD singles... or, for that matter, what was released as a Four Seasons or Valli single after 1986. Any help on this will be greatly appreciated. B.Wind 20:35, 26 May 2007 (UTC).

I do get a little tired of the way in which US bands biographies always end up skewed towards a US audience. The Seasons had great success in the UK in the mid 70s, as did Franki solo. 'Who loves you', 'December 63' and 'Silver star' were all Top 10, chart hits. Frankie had big hits with 'My eyes adored you', 'Swearin to God', 'Fallen Angel', 'My eyes adored you' and 'Grease'. Why are these things not reflected in this article?.

Im revising this whole article

This is a very poorly written article and I am going to start my major revision — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.40.132.53 (talk • contribs)

• I'm also doing quite a bit of updating as well, not the least being elimination of duplication and straightening out the history and discography.B.Wind 22:18, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm very surprised that no one actually seems to follow the history of the group's name. It began as "The 4 Seasons' and this is evident on, I believe, every album through 'Chameleon' (circa 1972). The 45 rpm single releases changed sometime in the mid-sixties to "The 4 Seasons featuring the "sound" of Frankie Valli'. I'm not sure when they started using 'The Four Seasons'. It may seem like a minor matter, but anyone looking for their early recordings might not "get it". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bbrownlie (talk • contribs) 19:23, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Musicians added to "Former Members" list

I've noticed that someone has added a bunch of new "former members" en masse to the article without attribution. If no sources are provided for these new entries, they will be removed per WP:V and WP:RS. B.Wind 03:41, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

The list of former members is extended and is attributed to researching various Rhino Records compilation CD booklets. It is an extensive list, some of these musicians are fairly well known to Seasons fans and the music world at large. I believe they deserve recognition. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bbrownlie (talk • contribs) 00:55, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

• Don't forget to cite the source(s)! B.Wind (talk) 22:34, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

As stated above the source for the "former members" are the CD booklets contained in releases by Rhino Records, especially the box set '...jersey beat...'. That being said, I'd be happy to add this as a source to the main article, but I see there is a self-contained "reflist". I don't understand how to edit that. Is it enough to just add the source below the "reflist"? Not trying to be difficult, but I'm learning. Bbrownlie (talk) 14:37, 9 June 2008 (UTC)bbrownlie

I agree that the musicians deserve credit. However, I see several problems with the listings, and I do not have the time right now to research them. However, this is what I've found, in case anyone else is able to fix these issues:

• Clicking Lee Shapiro's name directs one to an article on a documentary filmmaker, hence, does not appear to be the same person

• Clicking the Gerri Polci link simply redirects one to the Four Seasons article

• The Robby Robinson link is to an article about a former bodybuilder, also not a member of the Four Seasons

There may be other, similar issues with the members, but these are what I have found so far. Sorry I am not able to edit them at this time.

LoriM5160 (talk) 01:11, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Should this reference be included?

When Billy Joel's 'Uptown Girl' was released, there seemed to be consensus that it was derivative and a tribute to the style of The Four Seasons; the article for the song even mentions it.Grandma Roses 11:41, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Numeric 4

Hi

On ALL of the album covers the name of the group is shown as "The 4 Seasons". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.224.90.211 (talk) 23:40, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

This is not true. Though I agree with your sentiments about the use of the numeric "4" (I mean, really, now, the group was known as "The 4 Seasons" from the beginning and for many years). It appears to me that they started using the alpha characters "Four" with the release of 'Chameleon' on MoWest (Motown). Bbrownlie (talk) 13:48, 11 June 2008 (UTC)bbrownlie

The Four Seasons - some thoughts on correcting this page

1. The reference to an Itaian-American sound. What is this? The Seasons never recorded anything I would chalk up to as a representation of an Italian-American sound. They were a popular vocal/instrumental group that sang pop, rock and R&B material as far back as, at least, The Four Lovers (back then they recorded Otis Blackwell material). Even Sinatra doesn't sing something you could refer to as the Italian-American sound. Even "My Mother's Eyes", recorded by Frankie in 1953, is not an Italian song.

I don't think there's any problem stating their heritage, but I don't think it's a sound as referred to here.

2. I would never consider Frankie or The Seasons, as a whole, as purveyors of something called "brown-eyed soul". There's not one song they recorded I would consider of the soul music variety. Yes, they were certainly influenced by Motown - it's never more evident than in the recording "Opus 17", but Motown was the pop side of soul music. I'm not even sure what "brown-eyed soul" is; I note here that The Righteous Brothers were referred to as "blue-eyed soul".

Regarding my comment that I didn't know what "brown-eyed soul" is, I now know (thanks to Wikipedia). It is a reference to the latino/hispanic heritage and popular music. Bbrownlie (talk) 23:34, 24 April 2008 (UTC)bbrownlie

I edited the genre to better encapsulate their music. I am open to discussion. Bbrownlie (talk) 16:45, 13 January 2008 (UTC)bbrownlie

Regarding Joe Long joining The 4 Seasons - Joe Long himself says, in a recent interview, he joined the 4 Seasons in September of 1965 for live performances. It can be ascertained Charles Calello left at the same time. The Joe Long interview can be found on the excellent web site genuine-imitation-life-gazette.com. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bbrownlie (talk • contribs) 05:27, 18 January 2008 (UTC)