Being a fan of Frankie Valli, I don’t know why I had never heard this song until seeing Jersey boys. Now that I’ve heard it is is one of my favorites. Its
so beautiful!
Sharon, “Fallen Angel” got a lot of radio airplay in smaller markets on Adult Contemporary formatted stations. It reached #9 on the AC chart, but only #36 on the Hot 100 chart.
Since many “Top 40″ type radio stations had already reduced their playlist to 25 or 30 songs, it was not played on “Top 40″ radio stations in many larger markets and cities.
So depending on where you lived and what type of stations you might have listened to in 1976, you could have missed it.
Also, unless a song was a big hit, reaching near the very top of AC charts or Top 10 on the Hot 100, it would not have been on the charts for more than a few weeks. The biggest songs were played for 10-15 weeks as “currents”.
And consider also that AOR or Album Oriented Rock stations would not play Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, because they were softer, more “Pop” oriented, and more oriented toward single tracks than whole albums.
In a recent interview of the touring Jersey Boys in Detroit with retiring DJ Dick Purtan, which was linked on the Jersey Boys Blog a few weeks ago, he revealed that he was not familiar with “Beggin”, which hit #16 nationally. It turned out that the station that he was at in 1967 (the legendary Keener 13 in Detroit) did play the song, but only for four weeks and only reaching mid chart on that station.
its really too bad that frankie does not do this song
any longer , it is also one of my favorites
being near atl city i was at two of the three shows
this past weekend at the borgota, since i last saw the show last november
, frankie has shortened the show by four songs, i really wish they would add more of the hits
to the show
This is a typical situation for Frankie Valli, in the late 70′s he had many albums that just didnt get the radio play, but had great love songs. For example, play Lady Put the Light out album (1977) or the Frankie Valli is the Word album (1978) or the “Valli” album in 1976. Incredible love songs, sung beautifully by Frankie, but got mostly local airplay. I have the cd’s of these now and play them at wine tastings i do and people are amazed that Frankie sang some of these great love songs and nobody got to hear them. Its a shame, so many lost hits that never happenned.
What a soulful singer Frankie is. His depth as a singer never ceases to amaze me.
We get both verses of Fallen Angel in this performance – only one verse is used in Jersey Boys – changes the meaning of the song, especially given the circumstances in which it is sung in Jersey Boys.
A live version of Fallen Angel can also be found on the “Reunited Live” album.
Stubbleyou, there is an odd irony about what you mention. Though the first time I heard “Moonlight Memories” in 1985 by the Four Seasons was on a medium market size radio station in Michigan, the only other place I heard it was in a restaurant around Orange County, California in 1986. I don’t know if it was on the radio there or on a “Muzak” type subchannel used in many restaurants. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it was somewhere between Anaheim and Newport Beach.
The Special Limited Edition was always one up there on my list, and hearing “Fallen Angel” in Jersey Boys and thinking of Francine,tears & Heart felt that one. She will always have a place in my Heart, As so the family.
Our local oldies radio station in Las Vegas wouldnt play Fallen Angel saying it’s too depressing and wasnt popular enough. After 6 months of arguing the point they agreed to play it “by request” only. The original song wasnt about anything negative. It was about a couple getting back together. They argued also that not many people would recognize it. Well, maybe it’s because no one plays it. LOL
Being a fan of Frankie Valli, I don’t know why I had never heard this song until seeing Jersey boys. Now that I’ve heard it is is one of my favorites. Its
so beautiful!
Comment by sharon — April 9, 2010 @ 12:38 pm
Dominic.
Comment by maro — April 9, 2010 @ 2:10 pm
Sharon, “Fallen Angel” got a lot of radio airplay in smaller markets on Adult Contemporary formatted stations. It reached #9 on the AC chart, but only #36 on the Hot 100 chart.
Since many “Top 40″ type radio stations had already reduced their playlist to 25 or 30 songs, it was not played on “Top 40″ radio stations in many larger markets and cities.
So depending on where you lived and what type of stations you might have listened to in 1976, you could have missed it.
Also, unless a song was a big hit, reaching near the very top of AC charts or Top 10 on the Hot 100, it would not have been on the charts for more than a few weeks. The biggest songs were played for 10-15 weeks as “currents”.
And consider also that AOR or Album Oriented Rock stations would not play Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, because they were softer, more “Pop” oriented, and more oriented toward single tracks than whole albums.
In a recent interview of the touring Jersey Boys in Detroit with retiring DJ Dick Purtan, which was linked on the Jersey Boys Blog a few weeks ago, he revealed that he was not familiar with “Beggin”, which hit #16 nationally. It turned out that the station that he was at in 1967 (the legendary Keener 13 in Detroit) did play the song, but only for four weeks and only reaching mid chart on that station.
So it’s not just you that missed certain songs.
Comment by Ted Hammond — April 9, 2010 @ 5:13 pm
its really too bad that frankie does not do this song
any longer , it is also one of my favorites
being near atl city i was at two of the three shows
this past weekend at the borgota, since i last saw the show last november
, frankie has shortened the show by four songs, i really wish they would add more of the hits
to the show
Comment by john rish — April 9, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
This is a typical situation for Frankie Valli, in the late 70′s he had many albums that just didnt get the radio play, but had great love songs. For example, play Lady Put the Light out album (1977) or the Frankie Valli is the Word album (1978) or the “Valli” album in 1976. Incredible love songs, sung beautifully by Frankie, but got mostly local airplay. I have the cd’s of these now and play them at wine tastings i do and people are amazed that Frankie sang some of these great love songs and nobody got to hear them. Its a shame, so many lost hits that never happenned.
Comment by Jallex — April 9, 2010 @ 9:37 pm
What a soulful singer Frankie is. His depth as a singer never ceases to amaze me.
We get both verses of Fallen Angel in this performance – only one verse is used in Jersey Boys – changes the meaning of the song, especially given the circumstances in which it is sung in Jersey Boys.
A live version of Fallen Angel can also be found on the “Reunited Live” album.
Comment by David Cace — April 9, 2010 @ 10:59 pm
Gorgeous.
Like Sharon, I too had never heard this song before Jersey Boys. As Ted suggests, perhaps that was because I am in the big Los Angeles area market.
Comment by stubbleyou — April 9, 2010 @ 11:10 pm
Stubbleyou, there is an odd irony about what you mention. Though the first time I heard “Moonlight Memories” in 1985 by the Four Seasons was on a medium market size radio station in Michigan, the only other place I heard it was in a restaurant around Orange County, California in 1986. I don’t know if it was on the radio there or on a “Muzak” type subchannel used in many restaurants. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it was somewhere between Anaheim and Newport Beach.
Comment by Ted Hammond — April 10, 2010 @ 3:12 pm
The Special Limited Edition was always one up there on my list, and hearing “Fallen Angel” in Jersey Boys and thinking of Francine,tears & Heart felt that one. She will always have a place in my Heart, As so the family.
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Comment by Patti-Massi-Candeliere — April 18, 2010 @ 7:16 pm
Our local oldies radio station in Las Vegas wouldnt play Fallen Angel saying it’s too depressing and wasnt popular enough. After 6 months of arguing the point they agreed to play it “by request” only. The original song wasnt about anything negative. It was about a couple getting back together. They argued also that not many people would recognize it. Well, maybe it’s because no one plays it. LOL
Comment by Russ — September 12, 2012 @ 11:39 am