Frankie Valli

Frankie Valli

Frankie Valli (born May 3, 1934 as Francis Stephen Castelluccio) is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The 4 Seasons.

Valli, along with Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi, and Bob Gaudio, the original members of The 4 Seasons, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

Valli scored 29 Top 40 Hits with The 4 Seasons, 1 Top 40 Hit under The 4 Seasons alias of 'The Wonder Who?' and 9 Top 40 Hits as a solo artist. As a member of The 4 Seasons, Valli scored Number One Hits with "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like A Man", "Rag Doll", and "December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)". As a solo artist, Valli scored Number One Hits with "My Eyes Adored You" and "Grease". His best known solo recording, though, is "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", which reached Number 2 in 1967. "You're Ready Now", a Valli solo recording from 1966, became a surprise hit in England as part of the Northern soul scene and hit Number 11 on the British pop charts in December 1970.

Music career

1950s-1960s

Valli began his professional singing career in 1951 with the Variety Trio (Nickie DeVito, Tommy Devito, and Nick Macioci). Valli's desire to sing in public was initially granted when, having heard Valli sing, the group offered Valli a guest spot when the group performed. In late 1952, the Variety Trio disbanded and Valli, along with Tommy DeVito, became part of the house band at The Strand in New Brunswick, New Jersey. For his part, Valli played bass and sang. He cut his first single in 1953 as "Frankie Valley," a name he adopted from "Texas" Jean Valley, his favorite female singer. Around this time, Valli and Tommy DeVito left the house band at The Strand and formed The Variatones with Hank Majewski, Frank Cattone and Billy Thompson. In 1956, as part of an audition backing a female singer, the group themselves impressed New York record man Peter Paul, who had them auditioning at RCA Victor a week later. Renamed The Four Lovers, the group recorded several singles and one album's worth of tracks. They had a minor hit with "Apple of My Eye" in 1956. Nickie DeVito and Hank Majewski left in 1958 to be replaced by Nick Macioci (now Nick Massi) and Hank Garrity. Massi was in and out of the group, and, occasionally Charles Calello joined on accordion. The group continued to perform until 1959, when Bob Gaudio became a member. After a few more changes, the group was renamed "The 4 Seasons" in 1960.

As the lead singer of The 4 Seasons, he had a string of hits beginning with the Number One Hit "Sherry" in 1962. As a footnote to this period of Frankie's career with The 4 Seasons, the group's bassist and vocal arranger Nick Massi was replaced in 1965 by Charlie Calello, the group's instrumental arranger, and, then shortly thereafter, Charlie was replaced by Joseph LaBracio, who went by the pseudonym Joe Long.

Something should be said about Valli's trademark falsetto. At first listen, it can be seen as a gimmick, but the team of Gaudio, Crewe and Valli must have heard it as an instrument, completing harmonies and, when unleashed on its own, completing the arrangement. Whether it was the key a particular song was in or the demands of the arrangement, it seemed like a natural progression when used during a recording. As the 60s progressed, Valli used it less and less (one can hardly blame him), and, it seemed relegated to the fade-outs of particular recordings. Even then, Valli used it as if it was an instrument expressing emotion as lyrical as the words that were sung.

During the 60s, Gaudio and Crewe worked with Valli to craft solo recordings of varying degrees of success. This concept of a major recording artist performing solo in opposition to his or her own group performances was new to the rock/pop world and may have given tacit approval to other groups and members of other groups to pursue such a path. The potential to dominate the charts with group and solo recordings was great and Valli, Gaudio and Crewe occasionally rose to the occasion with both great performances and commercial hits. Valli was the original artist to record the Gaudio-Crewe composition "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)", a performance that was nearly a note-for-note copy when recorded by The Walker Brothers, an American group based in England. The Walker Brothers version was a huge success. Valli continued to record these one-off solo performances and finally reached the success due him with one of the greatest songs ever recorded - "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". Though it only reached number two in the charts, the song itself was widely recorded by many other artists. It could be suggested that the composition and arrangement of this song bridged the gap between the big band/jazz stylings of the previous generation and it rocked at the same time.

Valli's first solo album was a gathering together of various single releases and a few new recordings. "Timeless", Valli's second solo album release was more coherent and Valli took more time in recording it. "Timeless" contains two Top 40 Hits, "I Make A Fool Of Myself", featuring a similar arrangement to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", and, "To Give (The Reason I Live)", proving Valli can take on songs that challenge the vocalist.

Finally, Valli ended the 60s with a string of recordings that were included in the Valli/4 Seasons album 'Half & Half' or released as b-sides to various singles. The only Hit to emerge at this time was the recording of "The Girl I'll Never Know (Angels Never Fly This Low)", reaching number 52.

1970s

In 1975, Valli's song My Eyes Adored You hit number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100.

In 1976, Valli covered the Beatles song "A Day in the Life" for the ephemeral musical documentary All This and World War II.

Valli sang the theme song from the 1978 film version of Grease, which was a #1 hit.

Discography

Singles:

Main article: List of U.S. singles by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

Albums:

For albums recorded as part of The Four Seasons, see Discography of The Four Seasons

Valli's solo albums recorded before 1975 were recorded with the occasional participation of The 4 Seasons (Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Massi or Joe Long) on background vocals.

• 06/1967: The 4 Seasons Present frankie valli solo - Philips PHS 600-247
• 07/1968: Timeless - Philips PHS 600-274
• 04/1970: Half & Half - Philips PHS 600-341 (six tracks by Frankie Valli; six tracks by The 4 Seasons)
• 05/1972: Chameleon - MoWest MW108L (two tracks by Frankie Valli; seven tracks by The 4 Seasons)
• 02/1975: Close Up - Private Stock PS 2000
• 09/1975: Inside You - Motown M6-852S1 (eight tracks by Frankie Valli; one track by The 4 Seasons)
• 11/1975: Our Day Will Come - Private Stock PS 2006
• 12/1975: Valli Gold - Private Stock PS 2001
• 09/1976: Valli - Private Stock PS 2017
• 11/1977: Lady Put the Light Out - Private Stock PS 7002
• 04/1978: Frankie Valli Hits - Private Stock PS 7012
• 08/1978: Frankie Valli... is the word - Warner Bros/Curb BS 3233
• 12/1979: Very Best Of Frankie Valli - MCA 3198
• 08/1980 Superstar Series Volume 4 - Motown M5-104V1 (five tracks by Frankie Valli; four tracks by The 4 Seasons)
• 11/1980: Heaven Above Me - MCA/Curb 5134
• xx/1988: Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons 25th Anniversary Collection - Rhino Records Inc RNRD 72998-2 (twelve tracks by Frankie Valli; forty-two tracks by either The 4 Seasons or The Wonder Who?)
• xx/1990: Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons volume 2 rarities - Rhino Records Inc R2 70924 (two tracks by Frankie Valli; sixteen tracks by The 4 Seasons)
• xx/1994: FRANKIE VALLI SOLO TIMELESS 2LPs ON 1 CD + BONUS TRACKS - ACE Records Ltd CDCHD 538
• xx/1996: THE 4 SEASONS FRANKIE VALLI HALF & HALF PLUS 6 BONUS TRACKS - ACE Records Ltd CDCHD 635 (eight tracks by Frankie Valli; eight tracks by The 4 Seasons)
• 07/1996: FRANKIE VALLI GREATEST HITS - Curb Records D2-77714
• 05/2001: IN SEASON THE FRANKIE VALLI & THE 4 SEASONS ANTHOLOGY - Rhino/Warner Special Products R2 74266 OPCD-5508 (fourteen tracks by Frankie Valli; thirty-seven tracks by either The 4 Seasons or The Wonder Who?)
• 06/2007: ...Jersey Beat... The Music Of FRANKIE VALLI & THE 4 SEASONS - Rhino R2 74852 3 CDs + 1 DVD (thirteen tracks by Frankie Valli; sixty-three tracks by either The 4 Seasons or The Wonder Who?) (DVD contains two solo performances by Frankie Valli and ten group performances by The 4 Seasons)
• 10/2007: Romancing The '60s - cherry entertainment/universalmotown B0009908-02

Television appearances

Valli made several appearances on the HBO series The Sopranos portraying New York mob captain Rusty Millio.

Valli played himself in an episode of Full House.

Personal life

Valli was born Francis Stephen Castelluccio in the First Ward of Newark, New Jersey.

Valli is father of three daughters, Antonia, Francine, and Celia, a son, Francesco, and twins, Emilio and Brando.

They are now living in Long Island, New York.

Date of Birth

Like many celebrities, Mr. Valli's birth year has been called in to question. Mr. Valli himself never addressed the issue until the 2007 posting at his official web site (http://www.frankievallifourseasons.com/bio.asp), sponsored by his current record label, Universal Records. Much of the previous official publicity surrounding his career has used 1937 as the birth year. It is hard to tell when and why this occurred, but inference can be made that by chopping a few years off his age, he would seem more commercially viable to a younger audience. Other sources, the Bear Family Records release entitled 'The Four Lovers' (BCD 15424) as well as a 1965 "police mug shot" available through The Smoking Gun (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/fvallimug1.html), all identify his year of birth as 1934.

Trivia

John Lloyd Young won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Valli in the musical Jersey Boys.

External links

• Template:Tv.com person
• The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, a fan's website for Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
• UK enthusiasts web site