I may try to play the ‘indie street-cred’ card once every in a while but when it all boils down, I’m a big softie. The Crystals, The Ronnettes and The Supremes just blow my mind every time I hear them, not just for their heart on sleeves lyrics but the sheer quality of the orchestral pop their voices were matched by. One of my favourite bands of this whole genre though, has to be The Four Seasons, a group focussed around the writing partnership of Frankie Valli (lead singer) and Bob Gaudio (keyboards and tenor vocals).
You may not ‘know’ the band but you’ve certainly heard them. Their early work along the lines of Walk Like A Man and Sherry are pretty much synonymous with the early sixties. However, it’s their later toils that I’d like to draw your attention to. As time went by, Valli and Gaudio grew more confident in their ability to write damn good pop songs without having to feeling the need to pander to a musical lowest common denominator. Their lyrical content grew a new found maturity as well, giving a stronger emphasis to both love and loss whilst keeping their trademark big choruses. As a result the band hit the jackpot for a second time with hits such as Can’t take My Eyes Off You and Beggin, a song which has most recently found fame through a Pilooski remix heavily featured in the latest Adidas advertisement.
Their latest and greatest compilation CD is named after the Jersey Boy’s musical that has been produced from the legacy of The Four Seasons, I’m going up to London to watch in early April and couldn’t be more excited. If you don’t have a spare £60 knocking around though, you can purchase the comp for the meagre price of £5 from HMV.co.uk. With thirty tracks spread over two discs, it covers the entire career of The Four Seasons and with the onset of Easter, its breezy pop is making a strong resurgence on my personal playlist.
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