Nice comment! You certainly picked out the cream of the comments from the boxed set. But for me, the most exciting part of this set is finally owning some of the live performances taken from television shows and concert appearances from the sixties and seventies. And, as Mike Magbaleta noted and commented on so well, the first two video tracks on the dvd were perhaps the most special for they contained performances by all four of the original Jersey Boys: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and, most especially, the late Nick Massi. I would love to see a second volume of videos released on dvd containing even more selections of live performances; not the lip-synched versions found on the old television shows such as ‘Where the Action Is,’ but performances recorded live from ‘The Ed Sullivan Show,’ ‘The Mike Douglas Show,’ and ‘The Midnight Special,’ just to name a few.

Perhaps if the boxed set sells well enough, then someone like Mr. Charles Alexander might be able to pick up on this concept. Just a thought.

Dennis Diken and my friend Charles Alexander, kudos for a wonderful job of detailing the history of the group and the songs, and the genesis of “Jersey Boys.”

I was so, so touched by the quotes from so many musical geniuses, laughing out loud at some and almost being moved to tears by others. Some of the more memorable ones, in my opinion, in addition to the ones above were:

From Paul Shaffer on “Ronnie”: “One day, after about the fifth play, my mother cried out, ‘Forgive Ronnie already and come have lunch!’ Next to Ronnie, Mom, you were my first love.”

From Billy Joel on “Rag Doll”: “I wrote ‘Uptown Girl’ as the flip side to ‘Rag Doll’”.

From Andrew Loog Oldham on “Big Man in Town”: “If I heard it today, I’d think that Martin Scorcese had made a Western and this was the theme.”

From Felix Cavaliere on “Can’t Get Enough of You Baby”: “When I saw ‘Jersey Boys’, I saw people finally realized the amount of hits, status, and success these guys had, and I was in tears. We’re getting our day in the sun. This is American music at its best.”

From Daniel Reichard on “Opus 17″: “At times, the songs feel as if they were written especially with you in mind.”

From Joey Dee on “To Give”: “‘To Give’ was an entirely appropriate song for Frankie. No one gives more to an audience.”

From Crescenso Capice Jr. on “Idaho” about the arrival of our boys to Idaho, the state: “Jersey Boise. Don’t worry folks. They’ll get there right after Godot.”

AND MY FAVORITE:

From Nicole Kidman on “My Eyes Adored You”: “Life is made up of connections and separations, and this song seems to sum up that experience really vividly”….”The wonderful thing about this song is that it is full of yearning and some regret for lost possibilities, yet the feeling it conveys is one of optimism, hope, and (most importantly) respect.”

Thanks guys. “Jersey Beat” is a wonderful treasure.