The Four Seasons Trivia

1. From where did composer Bob Gaudio state he got the idea for the song "Big Girls Don't Cry"?

From Quiz "Sherry & 11 Others" - The Four Seasons

Answer: A television movie

"Big Girls Don't Cry" was written by composers Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio in 1962 and released by the Four Seasons on their album "Sherry & 11 Others" in that year. Bob Gaudio stated later that he was dozing off in front of the television one evening when the 1955 film "Tennessee's Partner" was playing. He woke up just in time to see the male lead (John Payne) slap the female lead (Rhonda Fleming) across the face, and begin to rough her up. Fleming is supposed to have responded "Big girls don't cry" to this outrage, and immediately Gaudio had his inspiration for the song. The trouble with this version of the song's birth, is that Gaudio had the wrong movie. Bob Crewe later stated that HE was dozing off in front of the television when the 1956 movie "Slightly Scarlet" (same stars) was playing, and in which Payne was roughing up Fleming once more. Charming fellow. Either way, "Big Girls Don't Cry" reached number one on the billboard charts in 1962, slaps and all.

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Later Days

Answer: Charles Calello

Charles Calello replaced Nick Massi in the Four Lovers when Massi quit back in 1958, only to leave when Massi decided he wanted to come back. Calello then became a full-time arranger, and he was always part of the Four Seasons story as the session arranger. He first came to the center of the Four Seasons sound when he significantly re-arranged Bob Gaudio's song "Dawn (Go Away)", which he referred to in an interview as the "first Calello track" on which he "controlled the musical taste of the record." But Calello's rise within the group meant that the contributions of both Massi and Tommy DeVito became less and less, as both were reduced to backing singers. After "Let's Hang On!", Massi, who thought of himself as the vocal arranger, decided to leave again. Calello only stayed in the group for a few months in 1965, and the only hit single featuring him as a member was "Working My Way Back to You". He was replaced by Joe Long, who remained in the group into the 1970s.

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Jersey Days

Answer: Two of the members formed a partnership, excluding the other two

According to Time Magazine, after the Four Lovers failed to get the Four Seasons Bowling Alley gig for which they auditioned, keyboardist/songwriter Bob Gaudio and lead singer Frankie Valli made a handshake agreement back at Valli's apartment in Newark to form the Four Seasons Partnership, with each as a 50% partner. Gaudio recalled that he said, "Neither one of us knows where we're going to wind up, but maybe we should hedge our bets. You get 50% of me, and I get 50% of you." Although Gaudio retired from touring in the early 1970s, he and Valli are still 50-50 partners in the Four Seasons Partnership almost 50 years later (as of 2009). They own the name "The Four Seasons", the touring act, and virtually all of the group's recordings.

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: The Four Lovers

The group was actually formed in 1954 by Frankie Valli and Tommy DeVito and performed under a myriad of names before releasing their first charting single called "You're The Apple of My Eye" which peaked on the Billboard charts at number 62 in 1956. The group performed using 18 different stage names between 1956 and 1960, some of which included Frankie Valley and The Travelers, Frankie Valle and the Romans, The Topics and The Village Voices. They finally settled on The Four Seasons in 1960.

From Quiz "Sherry & 11 Others" - The Four Seasons

Answer: The Roaring Twenties

"Yes Sir, That's My Baby" was written in 1925 by composer Walter Donaldson and lyricist Gus Kahn. Successful follow up recordings of this bright and breezy number were made by six different performers in the 1920s, and the famous actor, singer and dancer, Eddie Cantor, revived the song again in 1930 with his popular rendition of same. Not ready to disappear into the realms of history, "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" hit the charts again in 1960 when Ricky Nelson crooned a slower version of the number, and this was followed up later in the same decade by old blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. All in all, this popular perennial has been recorded by over 100 entertainers over the years. And its inspiration? A small mechanical toy pig owned by Eddie Cantor's daughter. Donaldson and Kahn were visiting the Cantor home in 1925 when his daughter wandered out with her favourite toy, and wound it up. As it began to march around in strict rhythm, two notes kept emerging from its mouth, and that combination of rhythm and music was all that the composers needed to bring home the bacon.

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: Bowling alley

Early in 1961 the group auditioned for a job in a lounge which was connected with a bowling alley in Union Township, New Jersey and failed to get the job. Bob Gaudio has been quoted as saying "We figured we'd come out of the audition with something, so we took the name of the bowling alley".

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: The Royal Teens

Gaudio was a member of The Royal Teens in 1958 when their single "Who Wears Short Shorts?" shot to number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts. As a side note, another member of The Royal Teens was a 14 year old Al Kooper, who later would go on to form Blood Sweat and Tears.

From Quiz "Sherry & 11 Others" - The Four Seasons

Answer: Greek

"Never on Sunday" was recorded in 1960 under the "United Artists" label. Written by Manos Hatzidakis, and first performed by artist Melina Mercouri, it appeared in the comedic film of the same name as the song in 1960. The catchy rhythm of this number was bound to make it a success, no matter who sang it, and it certainly was that. Not only has it been translated into various other languages over time, "Never on Sunday" has also been performed over the years by an equally impressive number of artists. Its English versions include renditions by such entertainers as Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Doris Day, Andy Williams, Trini Lopez, Connie Francis, Eartha Kitt and Petula Clark. Then of course there's the version by the Four Seasons, as catchy an interpretation as ever you'll hear, and with Frankie Valli's falsetto really bringing the song home. I wonder what his normal speaking voice sounds like?

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Jersey Days

Answer: Joe Pesci

In Joe Pesci's Oscar-winning performance in the 1990 movie "Goodfellas", his character (based on the real-life gangster Tommy DeSimone) was named Tommy DeVito. Pesci and DeVito are still friends over 50 years later, and Pesci was one of the producers of "Jersey Boys".

From Quiz "Sherry & 11 Others" - The Four Seasons

Answer: Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka co-wrote "Oh Carol" with lyricist, Howard Greenfild, in 1958. Its popularity saw it reach position number nine on the American billboard charts early in 1959. It Italy, however, where it soared to number one position on their charts, after its release in that country in 1960, "Oh Carol" earned the ageless Neil Sedaka his first number one hit altogether. Sedaka, indeed, could rival Frankie Valli with his own very high pitched voice. He sang that song to perfection. On the other hand, the Four Seasons' version of "Oh Carol" is quite disappointing. Not only have they mixed different voice ranges throughout the song, they have actually added insult to injury by changing the melody, a cardinal sin against any composer! Fortunately the rest of this great album makes up for this musical blunder.

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Later Days

Answer: Can't Take My Eyes off of You

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons had singles in the Top Ten simultaneously when the Gaudio-Crewe song "Can't Take My Eyes off of You" went to number two in the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1967 (Valli's only Top Ten hit in the 1960s) and "C'mon Marianne" went to number nine. However, the group did not have another Billboard Top Ten single under any name until 1974, seven years later.

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Jersey Days

Answer: Bob Crewe

Bob Crewe was a movie-star-handsome singer-songwriter who also worked as a photo model. In 1957, his song "Silhouettes" became a major hit, and he became an in-demand producer almost overnight as a result. After using Frankie Valli as a backing singer in 1958, he signed the Four Lovers to a three-year deal to serve as backing singers and musicians on his sessions, and he continued to produce them when they became the Four Seasons (and to act as Bob Gaudio's lyricist). He produced all the Four Seasons records until 1969 and almost all Frankie Valli "solo" records until 1977.

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: Sherry

"Sherry", written by Bob Gaudio hit the U.S. Billboard charts in August of 1962 and shot to the number one position. Gaudio once claimed that the song took about 15 minutes to write. Pretty good return for such a short effort of work. The song remained at number one for five consecutive weeks. Gaudio also was quoted as saying that the song had a number of working titles before its release, one of which was "Jackie Baby" in honor of then First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.** **per wikipedia

From Quiz "Sherry & 11 Others" - The Four Seasons

Answer: Sherry

"Sherry" was written by Bob Gaudio and recorded by the Four Seasons in July 1962. Gaudio had originally called the song "Jackie Baby" after President Kennedy's wife, but fortunately he soon changed the name to "Terrie Baby" before finally settling on the name that took this song to the number one position on the American charts in September 1962, a position it held for a follow up five weeks. This song displays the enormously talented Frankie Valli's voice to perfection. It isn't strained, it doesn't sound forced in any way, it just comes through as a beautiful pure and natural falsetto. It really is perfection. Possibly in another time and place - Italy one imagines - Frankie Valli would have made a wonderful castrato, a singer of classical music and opera. Fortunately though, in more modern times, the scissors remained in the drawer, and Frankie went on to marry three times and produce quite a number of offspring, while still retaining his uniquely high voice range.

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: It had never been done before

The Four Seasons became the first vocal group in the history of the Billboard charts to have three consecutive non-holiday number one hits. They rivaled The Beach Boys as the number one selling group in the United States during the period of 1962 to early 1964. Of course all this was prior to The British Invasion and the appearance of that famous group from England.

From Quiz "Sherry & 11 Others" - The Four Seasons

Answer: Otis Blackwell

Otis Blackwell wrote the song "You're the Apple of My Eye", a 1956 single by The Four Lovers, which peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The song was given to the group after the Otis Blackwell song they were originally supposed to sing, "Don't Be Cruel", was passed to Elvis. Once The Four Lovers became The Four Seasons, they redid the song for their debut album with the title "Apple of My Eye". Otis Blackwell was an African-American singer and songwriter born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1931. Though he started his music career as a singer, he was much more successful as a songwriter. His work was influential in the early days of Rock and Roll, and he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and the National Academy of Popular Music's Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2010, he was posthumously awarded the Ahmet Ertegun Award in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Jersey Days

Answer: Bermuda

"Bermuda" was a song written in 1951 by Cynthia Strother that became the first single for the Bell Sisters (who were actually Cynthia and her sister Kay Strother). The Four Seasons gave the song a calypso arrangement. The B-side, Bob Crewe's "Spanish Lace", featured flamenco-style guitar and had previously been issued by the group under Gaudio's pseudonym Turner Disentri, with no success. However, this single succeeded in getting the Four Seasons a contract with a more important label.

From Quiz "Sherry & 11 Others" - The Four Seasons

Answer: Staring out the window at the rain

"Teardrops" is a lovely ballad by the Four Seasons. It begins with some rather unusual instrumental backing and then slides straight into its wistful lyrics about lost love, before finally building up to a heartbreaking crescendo. This lovely song was written by Roy Calhoun, Edwin Charles, Barry Goldner and Helen Stanley, and made successful by Bobby Vinton's follow up version in 1963. Don't feel TOO sorry for the character singing this song though. He ran out on his girlfriend and has regretted it ever since. Tsk. An example of its lyrics follow: "I sit in my room looking out at the rain My tears are like crystals They cover my windowpane I'm thinking of our lost romance And how it should have been Oh, if we only could start over again... I have to gain faith, hope and charity God only knows the girl who will love me Oh, if we only could start over again"

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Jersey Days

Answer: Vee-Jay

Vee-Jay was a famous black-owned label based in Gary, Indiana, which had had periodic hits (e.g., "Duke of Earl" by Gene Chandler) prior to signing the Four Seasons after "Bermuda" (which sounded black due to the calypso influence). Their first release for Vee-Jay, "Sherry", quickly went to number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard rhythm & blues charts, and it was quickly followed to number one by "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man". Vee-Jay executives were so excited that they made a licensing deal with the British label EMI to acquire two more white artists: singer Frank Ifeld and ... the Beatles, who were touring England with Ifeld at the time. Vee-Jay got a five-year deal on both. However, Vee-Jay went broke in 1963 due in part to its rapid growth, and the Four Seasons ended up leaving Vee-Jay over nonpayment of royalties in late 1963. Vee-Jay also lost the Beatles after just three singles ("Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" and "From Me To You") and one album ("Introducing the Beatles", which yielded "Twist and Shout" as a fourth hit single).

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: Rag Doll

"Rag Doll" took the group to the top of the charts for fourth time. The song was written by Bob Gaudio with an assist from Bob Crewe. The interesting thing about this song, which arguably was their finest, is the way the song came about. "According to songwriter Bob Gaudio, the recording was inspired by the activities of a young girl as he was stopped in traffic in Manhattan. As he waited for the traffic signal to change, a dirty-faced girl proceeded to clean the windshield of his automobile for some spare change. When Gaudio reached into his wallet, he was surprised to find that all he had was currency, and none of the bills were smaller than $20. He gave the girl in tattered clothes a $20 bill. Her look of utter astonishment stayed in Gaudio's mind as he approached the recording studio. "Rag Doll", with a few tweaks by Bob Crewe, was the result."** **Wikipedia

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Later Days

Answer: The Night

"The Night" had appeared on the 1972 Motown album "Chameleon", but Motown scrapped it as a U.S. single after the album flopped. In the UK, though, the Four Seasons had become stars of the Northern Soul movement and were much more popular than they were in the States. Motown released the single there on its Mowest label and then re-issued it during the Four Seasons' comeback in 1975. The song reached number seven in the U.K. charts that year. It would be one of two 1970s Four Seasons songs that went Top Ten in the U.K. (as well as a third going to number eleven) without cracking the Billboard Top 30 in the U.S. Ruzicka was the band's touring keyboard player, although Gaudio played most of the band's session keyboards, and he wrote or co-wrote three of the songs on the album.

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Jersey Days

Answer: Candy Girl

Of the Four Seasons' first six singles, three (all written or co-written by Gaudio) climbed to number one: "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man". The other three, written by others ("Bermuda", "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" and "Ain't That a Shame") all failed to reach the Top Twenty. The streak finally ended with their next single, "Candy Girl", written by Larry Santos (who achieved his own hit record 13 years later, in 1976 ("We Can't Hide It Anymore")). The song reached number three in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. The Seasons' next two Billboard top-twenty hits not written by Gaudio were "Stay" (by Maurice Williams; number sixteen) and "Let's Hang On!" (by Bob Crewe, Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell; number three), but "Candy Girl" was the first.

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: It was recorded using a different name

The group was having a world of success in late 1964 and early 1965 with songs such as "Bye Bye Baby", "Save It For Me", and "Ronnie" among others. They had decided to record an album consisting of Bob Dylan covers, but Valli did not like how he sounded, and decided to do "Don't Think Twice" in his trademark falsetto voice as a joke. Some joke. The record company wanted to release the song, but for contractual reasons, could not release it under the Four Seasons or Frankie Valli name, so it was released under the pseudonym "The Wonder Who". If you were a fan of the Four Seasons at the time there was nothing to wonder about. The falsetto voice was unmistakable. The song eventually became a number 12 Billboard Hot 100 hit in late 1965. At the time, Valli had a song on the charts under his own name called "You're Gonna Hurt Yourself", and The Four Seasons had "Working My Way Back To You" on the charts as well, so they had 3 different songs under three different names on the charts all at once, a pretty good feat to say the least.

From Quiz "Sherry & 11 Others" - The Four Seasons

Answer: Girl in My Dreams

Like "Apple of My Eye", "Girl In My Dreams" was originally recorded in 1956 when the group was still known as The Four Lovers, and it appeared on the B side of the "You're the Apple of My Eye" single. The song was originally composed by Maxwell Davis, Jules Taub, Joe Josea, and Sam Ling. The Cliques also released a version of the song in the same year. The Four Seasons perform it beautifully and we'll finish this quiz with some of its lyrics. "Girl in my dreams Where are you? Girl in my dreams I'm so blue How I yearn How I long for you" And so on. Happy memories, everyone.

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: Will You Love Me Tomorrow

"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" peaked at number 24 on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1968 and became the 22nd Top 30 hit for the group in the six year span between 1962 and 1968. Included were four number one hits and eight other Top 10 placings.

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Jersey Days

Answer: Dawn

"Dawn (Go Away)", with music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Sandy Linzer, is about a lower-class boy trying to convince his upper-class girlfriend to dump him in favor of a wealthy boy. It was finished in August 1963 but withheld from Vee-Jay in a royalty dispute. Inexplicably, it was rejected by the Four Seasons' preferred destination, Atlantic Records, a label similar to Vee-Jay in its rhythm & blues orientation. "Dawn (Go Away)" ended up on Philips Records, an affiliate of Mercury and Polydor Records that primarily released European singles (e.g., The Singing Nun, Paul Mauriat) and classical music. It was a smash hit but only rose to number three on the Billboard Top 100 due to Beatlemania, as the Beatles had five singles ("I Want to Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You", "Please Please Me", "Twist and Shout" and "Can't Buy Me Love") on four different labels (Capitol, Swan, Vee-Jay and Tollie) in the top five at the same time.

From Quiz 60s U.S. Bands: The Four Seasons

Answer: Motown

Kind of surprising, but Motown signed the group to their label, but the result was almost catastrophic. Between 1971 and 1974 the group recorded a number of tunes for Motown, but the cuts went nowhere. They recorded a number of songs in late 1973 and early 1974 for a planned album, but Motown refused to release it. The group left Motown in 1974

From Quiz The Four Seasons: Later Days

Answer: Repeal of "Prohibition" (December 5, 1933)

The lyrics for "December 5, 1933 (Oh, What a Night)" described the celebration of the end of Prohibition in the U.S. On that day, Utah ratified the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive proclamation of repeal of the Volstead Act, making the sale of alcoholic beverages legal again. However, lyricist Judy Parker (who was then Bob Gaudio's girlfriend and later his wife) thought that the song's concept didn't work and re-wrote the lyrics to describe a first sexual experience, also changing the date by 30 years. By the way, the classic Marilyn Monroe first issue of Playboy really did come out in December 1953, and the "Manhattan Project" to build the atomic bomb in New Mexico really did begin operations on December 2, 1943.

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