Jersey Boys Blog

In Jersey Boys, we’re introduced to Bob Crewe (played by Peter Gregus), the flamboyant, horoscope-obsessed song writer/record producer who helped to put the Four Seasons on the road to chart topping success in the 1960s. Crewe has had a very illustrious career as a musician, songwriter, record producer, and artist.

Bob Crewe was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985. While Crewe is perhaps best remembered for the parade of hits he co-wrote with Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio, his music career began much earlier. Crewe, now 74 (born 11/12/1931), is a Newark, New Jersey native who got his first taste of success on the music charts with writing partner Frank Slay in the early 1950s. With Slay, Crewe wrote a variety of hits, including “Silhouettes” for The Rays; “Lah Dee Dah” for Billy and Lillie; and Freddy Cannon’s “Tallahassee Lassie.”

Crewe signed the Four Seasons in the early ’60s, at first using them as backup vocalists for other artists. In 1962, the Four Seasons’ recorded the number one smash hit “Sherry,” written by member Bob Gaudio. Following the success of “Sherry,” Crewe and Gaudio teamed up to write hit after hit for the Newark foursome, including, number one hits “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” and “Rag Doll.” The hits continued as the ‘60s progressed, including “Ronnie,” “Save It for Me,” “Bye Bye Baby,” and Valli’s monumental solo hit, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

Although Crewe was partially responsible for the Four Seasons becoming the hit-making machines of the 1960s, he continued working as songwriter and producer with many other artists, including Diane Renay, who had a smash hit titled “Navy Blue,” and Leslie Gore, who hit the charts with “California Nights.” During the mid-sixties, Bob Crewe discovered a band known as Billy Lee and The Rivieras, which he later re-named, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels. The group had major success on the charts with such Crewe-arranged smashes as “Jenny Take a Ride,” “Devil With the Blue Dress On” and “Sock It to Me Baby.”

In the late 60s, Crewe moved on to form The Bob Crewe Generation, where he used studio musicians and original material for instrumental music collections including the Top 10 hit “Music to Watch Girls By.” He later teamed with writer, Charles Fox, in penning the soundtrack for Dino De Laurentis’ film, Barbarella.

As the ’60s were coming to a close, Crewe had also established his own recording firm, Crewe Records, which owned hits by Oliver and Lesley Gore, among others. Later, Crewe wrote and produced the song, “Eternity,” which became an international hit for Vicki Carr. Following a short stay with Motown Records, when he produced what turned out to be Bobby Darin’s final album, Crewe rejoined forces with Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli, and bought back from Motown the tape master for Valli’s “My Eyes Adored You,” a song co-written with Kenny Nolan, which became a number one hit for Valli on Private Stock Records in the winter of 1975. Also in 1975, another joint effort for Crewe and Nolan, “Lady Marmalade,” went on to become a smash hit and helped re-establish Patti LaBelle as a major artist.

In the early 1980s, Crewe and Gaudio teamed with another writer, Jerry Corbetta, who was lead singer of Sugarloaf (“Green-Eyed Lady”). Together, they wrote the hit song “You’re Looking Like Love to Me,” for Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson. Crewe also collaborated with Corbetta and the writer, Ellie Greenwich, in producing the original cast album for Greenwich’s Broadway musical, Leader of the Pack.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame provides an extensive discography of the songs written by Crewe.

In addition to his music, Crewe has also made a name for himself in the art world. He has designed numerous album covers and has been featured in several one-man gallery showings, including The Earl McGrath Gallery and Thomas Solomon’s Garage in Los Angeles.