History Music / FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons

* ConceptAlbum: 1968's ''Genuine Imitation Life Gazette''. Inspired by Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' and co-written by folk artist Jake Holmes, it was essentially their equivalent to Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{SMiLE|TheBeachBoys}}'', except it was finished and released (then mostly ignored).

** "The Night", originally released in 1972 (and a hit in the UK in 1975 after getting revived on the Northern {{Soul}} scene), has been cited as a landmark proto-{{Disco}} song, which makes their turn toward a more disco-oriented sound later in the decade seem more logical.

* UnbuiltTrope: "Patch of Blue" sounds like the guys doing a song InTheStyleOf Music/BruceSpringsteen circa ''Music/BornToRun'', except they recorded and released it five years earlier, in 1970.

* ExcitedShowTitle: "Let's Hang On!"

** As Website/{{Wikipedia}} puts it, "Working My Way Back to You" "is in some ways a re-casting of the melody from their previous hit, 'Let's Hang On!'." The same songwriting team did both songs (Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell).

* ConceptAlbum: 1968's ''Genuine Imitation Life Gazette''. Inspired by Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' and co-written by folk artist Jake Holmes, it was essentially their equivalent to Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{Smile}}'', except it was finished and released (then mostly ignored).

** As Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} puts it, "Working My Way Back to You" "is in some ways a re-casting of the melody from their previous hit, 'Let's Hang On!'." The same songwriting team did both songs (Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell).

* TheFifties: Actually, the early and mid-60s outside of "Apple of My Eye" (1956), but the group's signature sound was a style more associated with the 1960s than anything. In fact, some don't even realize that the later '70s hits are The Four Seasons.

After an unsuccessful stint with Creator/{{Motown}} in 1972-74, "My Eyes Adored You" was released on Private Stock Records as a Frankie Valli solo record and hit #1 in early 1975; Motown must've been hitting themselves over that one as they refused to release it and sold the rights to Valli for $4,000! This success led to renewed interest in The Four Seasons, who signed with Creator/WarnerBrosRecords that year. By that point, Tommy [=DeVito=] and Joe Long had left the group, Bob Gaudio had quit performing (all three were replaced by a rotating assortment of session musicians) and Gerry Polci and Don Ciccone joined Valli as a VocalTagTeam. This new lineup had hits like "Who Loves You", "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" (yet another #1) and "Silver Star" but their popularity soon faded again. Valli, meanwhile, had a few solo hits such as "Swearin' to God" and "Film/{{Grease}}". Gaudio and Valli would team up for two more albums, 1985's ''Streetfighter'' and 1992's ''Hope + Glory'', both recorded with a crew of studio musicians and released under the Four Seasons name. Neither sold particularly well, and the group has not released any new music since.

After an unsuccessful stint with Creator/{{Motown}} in 1972-74, "My Eyes Adored You" was released on Private Stock Records as a Frankie Valli solo record and hit #1 in early 1975; Motown must've been hitting themselves over that one as they refused to release it and sold the rights to Valli for $4,000! This success led to renewed interest in The Four Seasons, who signed with Creator/WarnerBrosRecords that year. By that point, Tommy [=DeVito=] and Joe Long had left the group, Bob Gaudio had quit performing (all three were replaced by a rotating assortment of session musicians) and Gerry Polci and Don Ciccone joined Valli as a VocalTagTeam. This new lineup had hits like "Who Loves You", "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" (yet another #1) and "Silver Star" but their popularity soon faded again. Valli, meanwhile, had a few solo hits such as "Swearin' to God" and "Film/{{Grease}}".

* ArtistAndTheBand: They got their current name since 1970. The were previously known as The Four Seasons and their legal name was The Four Seasons Partnership.

* SameFaceDifferentName: They released records under a variety of names: The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, The 4 Seasons Featuring the "sound" of Frankie Valli (yes, that was the actual artist credit), and the Valli Boys. They also did a few novelty songs as The Wonder Who?, complete with "guess who they are" promotional gimmick. And then there's the issue of Frankie Valli's solo recordings, which were Four Seasons records in everything but name (they used the same studio and band personnel, and apart from not featuring Frankie's falsetto nor the other three Seasons, were not radically different in style from the songs released under the Four Seasons banner); Four Seasons compilations usually include some of Valli's bigger solo hits as well, particularly "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Nick Massi has a much more prominent singing part than usual in "Dumb Drum" and takes the lead vocal on "Don't Let Go", both AlbumFiller tracks.

After an unsuccessful stint with Creator/{{Motown}} in 1972-74, "My Eyes Adored You" was released on Private Stock Records as a Frankie Valli solo record and hit #1 in early 1975; Motown must've been hitting themselves over that one as they refused to release it and sold the rights to Valli for $4000! This success led to renewed interest in The Four Seasons, who signed with Creator/WarnerBrosRecords that year. By that point, Tommy [=DeVito=] and Joe Long had left the group, Bob Gaudio had quit performing (all three were replaced by a rotating assortment of session musicians) and Gerry Polci and Don Ciccone joined Valli as a VocalTagTeam. This new lineup had hits like "Who Loves You", "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" (yet another #1) and "Silver Star" but their popularity soon faded again. Valli, meanwhile, had a few solo hits such as "Swearin' to God" and "Film/{{Grease}}".

* GossipyHens: "Mrs. Stately's Garden" from ''Genuine Imitation Life Gazette'' is about a group older women who meet for tea and pass gossip about everyone in town.

By mid-1963, Vee-Jay was struggling to pay the Four Seasons' royalties, which forced them to sue the label and jump over to Philips Records in 1964. Despite this, the hits kept coming: some of the Philips-era hits include "Dawn", "Rag Doll" and "Let's Hang On!". Nick Massi left the group in late 1965, replaced briefly by their arranger Charlie Calello, then by Joe Long. The group's popularity fell by the late 1960s due to changing musical tastes; the 1968 ConceptAlbum ''Genuine Imitation Life Gazette'', while ambitious, was a commercial failure and their contract with Philips ended in 1970.

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thefourseasonsband.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:Clockwise from top left: Nick Massi, Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli, Tommy [=DeVito=].]]

The classic UsefulNotes/NewJersey Italian-American rock band with countertenor Frankie Valli in the lead. His soaring falsetto helped provide the group's trademark sound, though latter hits do not feature the falsetto. Odds are you've heard one of their songs on an oldies station, as they play in constant rotation. Some of their biggest hits (most of which were written by the songwriting collaboration of Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe) include "Walk Like a Man", "Sherry", and "Big Girls Don't Cry". They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

* SameFaceDifferentName: They released records under a variety of names: The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, The 4 Seasons Featuring the "sound" of Frankie Valli (yes, that was the actual artist credit), and the Valli Boys. They also did a few novelty songs as The Wonder Who?, complete with "guess who they are" promotional gimmick. And then there's the issue of Frankie Valli's solo recordings, which were Four Seasons records in everything but name (they used the same studio and band personnel, and apart from not featuring Frankie's falsetto nor the other three Seasons, were not radically different in style from the songs released under the Four Seasons banner).