Musicmakers for all seasons

The character of Tommy DeVito, one of the Four Seasons in the Tony Award-winning hit musical Jersey Boys, has a very interesting theory about what usually happens to kids who grow up in the projects in Newark, New Jersey back in the ’50s. “If you’re from my neighborhood, you got three ways out: You could join the army. You could get mobbed up. Or you could become a star.”

Fortunately for him, his friend Frankie Valli saw a performance by Frank Sinatra when he was a young boy. Sinatra was also a kid from New Jersey who became a star. The then seven-year-old Frankie decided to also be a star and later took Tommy, plus two of his friends, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio with him. They chose to be the singing Four Seasons and became stars.

Nick, Bob and Tommy do not perform anymore but local fans will get a chance to check out how Frankie turned out. Now 80 years old, the Jersey Boy who made good with his wonderful pop tunes, together with his new Four Seasons, will be at Resorts World Manila’s Newport Performing Arts Theater tonight. Prepare for an enjoyable evening of timeless hits.

Frankie, first as a member of the group Four Seasons and later as a solo act came up with some of the most infectious, most enduring pop hits of the past 50 years. And it all happened at the time when The Beatles with the British Invasion in their wake was laying ruin to American pop music. The Four Seasons was one of the vocal groups who managed to prevail.

As it has often been said, the Beach Boys from California held fort in the West Coast with their surfing tunes. Berry Gordy’s Motown in Detroit was somewhere in between, while the Four Seasons in New Jersey took care of the East. And their songs have since remained big favorites by many throughout the years.

Remember Robert Downey Jr., strutting to the rhythm of Walk Like A Man in the movie Heart And Souls? That was a hit by the Four Seasons from 1963. And what were Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts singing in The Conspiracy Theory? That was Can’t Take My Eyes Off  Of You, a big hit by Frankie in 1967.

It all began with Sherry composed by Bob in 1962. With Frankie’s incredible falsetto in the foreground, the Four Seasons produced a sound that was new and exciting. Until that time falsetto singing was most of the time relegated to the background vocals. But thanks to some inspiration, these boys from Jersey changed that and have since then sold over a hundred million records worldwide.

More hits came along one after the other. Rag Doll, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Dawn (Go Away), Ronnie, Save It For Me, Big Man In Town, Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Goodbye), Let’s Hang On, Working My Way Back To You, C’mon Marianne, Don’t Think Twice (It’s All Right), Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me), I’ve Got You Under My Skin and December 1963 (Oh What A Night).

Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You was Frankie’s first solo release and it became a monster seller that has been covered by artists all over the world. So was My Eyes Adored You. And later came Grease, a song composed by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees that was added to the soundtrack of the motion picture based on the hit Broadway musical of the same title. And they just had to have Frankie do that important recording. Maybe this was because, Frankie was the inspiration for the Bee Gees falsetto singing.

Then just when you thought Frankie and the Four Seasons were ready for the nostalgia circuit, there came the musical Jersey Boys. Written by Rick Elice, the show told the story of the Four Seasons from the perspective of its four members. Of course, the hit songs became part of the musical and everybody loved them again. So while their parents and grandparents watched and reminisced about that long ago time, a new generation of kids also watched and fell in love with the music of Frankie and the Four Seasons.

Jersey Boys proved so good, it won four Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Lighting and for the performances of John Lloyd Young who played Frankie and Christian Hoff as Tommy for Best Featured Actor. I do not know if this is happening soon but Jersey Boys will next be a motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood. Then we can watch the world fall in love with Frankie and the Four Seasons and their songs all over again.

Meanwhile, here is something about them that is happening now. Tickets to Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Live in Manila are priced at P14,000, P11,000; P9,000; P7,000 and P5,000. Tickets are available through ticketworld.com.ph; ticketnet.com.ph; smtickets.com and at Resorts World Manila, 908-8000 local 7700.