October 7, 2007

What Set The Four Seasons Apart?

October 7th, 2007

Hedy Wiess, Chicago Sun-Times Theater Critic talked to Bruce (“Cousin Brucie”) Morrow and Craig Inciardi, associate curator for Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame about what set Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons apart and gave them such long-lasting appeal.

According to veteran New York disc jockey Bruce Morrow,

Of course they came out of the doo-wop era, and identified with groups like the Moonglows and the Platters, and even before them, the Ink Spots. And they had the flavor of the streets of New York and Newark. But they had something else, and that was a bit of the early rock ‘n’ roll beat. It was that combination of the classic doo-wop harmonies and the stronger beat that had such an appeal.

Morrow added,

They knew the world of working people — those who grew up with little money and had to struggle to make it — and that was where their audience came from in return. At the same time, they tended to be optimistic, to see the silver lining in life. Theirs was escape music on some level — the ‘girl’ songs like ‘Sherry,’ ‘Marlena,” ‘Marcie,’ and ‘Candy Girl.’ ” Plus everyone could sing these songs; they were especially great for shower falsettos like me.

Craig Inciardi, associate curator for Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (into which the Four Seasons were inducted in 1990), first heard the group as a kid, when his parents played the records.

They really were a transitional band whose music straddled the late 1950s and early ’60s and represented both eras quite well. And while they had the vocal style of doo wop — and Valli’s unique nasal falsetto that gave him a sound like no one else’s — they were a guitar band, too. They were never a blues-based band; they weren’t coming from the Chuck Berry side of things. But you didn’t start hearing any Beatles-esque kind of songs from them either. They had a great songwriting team, and like all strong bands they evolved while remaining true to their original template.

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