April 15, 2006

Another Must-See Video Clip of the Original Four Seasons

April 15th, 2006

Here’s another amazing Youtube.com video clip of the original Four Seasons (Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi, and Frankie Valli) on “Hullabaloo!” in 1965 singing “Dawn,” “Rag Doll,” “Toy Soldier,” and “Bye, Bye Baby.”

3 Comments »

  1. Your readers should note that the entire Hullabaloo shows that the 4 Seasons appeared on are both commercially available. On the show in point where the 4 Seasons performed the above songs in a medley, the 4 Seasons appeared at the end of the show in a semi-formal jam session with all the show’s performers including Trini Lopez (host), Vick Carr, Herman (Peter Noone) of Herman’s Hermits and Freddy of Freddy & The Dreamers. The 4 Seasons performed the Dawn album cut “Do You Wanna Dance” and the entire cast did “With a Little Bit of Luck” where Frankie’s falsetto could be heard above all. While it is always great to see old clips of the original 4 Seasons of the ’60s performing, there aren’t that many available, especially when they did non-hit songs. That is why this Hullabaloo “jam session” is so historically important.

    The original 4 Seasons of the ’60s, as well as Frankie Valli solo, appeared many times on the Mike Douglas show but unfortunately not all of them are commercially available. The web site you mention only has the Frankie Valli & Aretha Franklin duet from the Mike Douglass show. There are many many more Mike Douglas show appearances not commercially available including a comedy stage skit the 4 Seasons used to do in concert called “It’s Been So Long.” Mike Douglas also interviewed most of his guests so it was great to hear all the 4 Seasons converse with Mike Douglas. Very funny. On one Mike Douglas show, Mike Douglas even “coaxes” a very reluctant Bob Gaudio into singing a few bars of his most famous song: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” Bob did a very nice job once they found the right key. Bob obviously couldn’t sing it in Frankie’s key.

    Hopefully with all the “hullabaloo” being caused by Jersey Boys, more of the 4 Seasons’ TV clips from ’60s television shows like Mike Douglas, On Broadway Tonight, Candid Camera, To Tell The Truth, and Steve Allen, to name a few, will become available. Of course, some of the Ed Sullivan show appearances are commercially available.

    Comment by David Cace — April 17, 2006 @ 8:41 am

  2. I read recently that the Mike Douglas people were pouring over the videos of all his shows for a potential commercial release.

    It would be a treat to see the 4 Season footage. As you say, there’s lots of it.
    Especially the time they co-hosted for a week. This was around the time of “Who Loves You”

    Here’s hoping!

    Comment by Ray Ricci — April 18, 2006 @ 7:05 pm

  3. That’s right Ray. Actually, the signing of the 4 Seasons to co-host for a week was announced by Mike Douglas during a Four Seasons’ appearance in 1968 or 1969. By the time it actually occurred, however, both Tommy DeVito and Bob Gaudio had left the group (Bob as a performer member anyway). Thus, when the actual co-hosting occurred, only Frankie and Joe Long remained. As I recall, the other “new” members at the time of the co-hosting included Don Ciccone, Gerry Polci, and I believe John Paiva, thus making it FV & The Four Seasons as in 5 physical people. I believe that Joe Long was gone from the group not too soon after the Mike Douglas co-hosting appearances. The only thing I remember besides some performances during the week was an introduction of a game that Don Ciccone had invented. I believe Frank Rovello has had an audio clip of a performance or two from the Mike Douglas co-hosting week on his GILG web site over the years.

    Comment by David Cace — April 27, 2006 @ 3:13 pm

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