Comments on: Today in Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons History

By: Linda Campbell

Linda Campbell — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:22:25 +0000

Original ‘Jersey Boys’ John Lloyd Young comes the closest to Frankie, both in voice and interpretation, of anyone. He has the same spirit and heart. After hearing him, the only other Frankie that will do is THE Frankie Valli himself. What a gem to find this one! Thank you!

By: Ted Hammond

Ted Hammond — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:32:35 +0000

Our local stations and those in adjacents markets also picked up “My Eyes Adored You” around Thanksgiving, 1974, Howard. Here in Michigan, we didn’t have nearly the long drought in FV4S airplay as in some areas. “Electric Stories” was a Top 10 hit in Grand Rapids in late 1968, and “And That Reminds Me” was a relatively big hit in 1969 in Southeastern MI. “Hickory” even got radio airplay in Detroit and Flint in 1973, possibly because it was on the Motown label. So we knew that even in the lean in between years before MEAY, FV4S were still recording.

Even in the late 1970s, “Silver Star”, “Down The Hall”, “Spend The Night In Love”, “Emily’s (Salle de Danse)”, and “New York Street Song (No Easy Way)” were getting airplay here.

I think the Lettermen were appealing to the Adult Contemporary audience and airplay that Frankie Valli had not yet achieved with their Goin’…/Can’t… Medley. I never understood why CTMEOY was not a big AC hit to begin with, though.

My guess is that the Four Seasons popularity in Michigan is probably second only to that in New Jersey. So the Detroit venue of Jersey Boys later this year should hopefully also do well.

By: Howard Tucker

Howard Tucker — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:41:08 +0000

I remember first hearing this song after Thanksgiving in 1974, either on WABC-AM or WPIX-FM in New York; and it was a wonderful surprise after not hearing from Frankie for quite a while.

Interestingly, Ted, two months after MEAY reached #1 after the record-setting 18 weeks, Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” tied it two months later. That record was finally broken by the Miracles, “The Love Machine”, taking 20 weeks to reach #1 on 3-6-76. And the following week, “The Love Machine” was dislodged from the top spot by none other than “December, 1963″ (which took only 12 weeks to reach #1).

What puzzles me, though, is that no other version of “My Eyes Adored You” has charted as a single since Frankie’s, to my knowledge. Seems everyone covered “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, with the Lettermen hitting the Top 10 just a year after Frankie.

By: Ted Hammond

Ted Hammond — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:20:14 +0000

Acoording to Joel Whitburn’s “Top 10 Singles Charts” and “Pop Singles Annual”, “My Eyes Adored You” moved 4-3-2-1 on the chart, reaching #1 in its 18th week on the chart. At the time, it was a record for the longest time to reach #1. Composed by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, it was followed the next week by 4-3-2-1 mover “Lady Marmalade”, also a Crewe/Nolan composition. 1975 had more #1 songs than just about any year in the history of the charts, meaning many stayed just one week at the top of the chart. Another interesting fact is that “My Eyes Adored You” reached #1 WITHOUT a STAR OR BULLET, which Billboard stopped in November, 1975, awarding automatic stars/bullets to #1 songs.

By: L

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:31:55 +0000

So interesting. Thank you of providing this information. I look forward to more background pieces on the songs.