I should admit I have been slightly obsessed with Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons lately. While I was in Reno a couple weeks back, I watched a program highlighting a slew of current Broadway shows. There were live performances from 'Billy Elliot' and 'Rock of Ages' as well as taped segments about upcoming theater events (The Spiderman Musical looks pretty cool if they can get it off the ground).
One of these spots that left the biggest impression on me was the promo for 'Jersey Boys'. In fact, I've had The Four Seasons' 1975 hit "Who Loves You" stuck in my head for weeks now.
The 'Jersey Boys' Broadway show tells the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons and their rise to fame in popular music in the 1960's. I was first introduced to Frankie Valli's singing as a kid when we would listen and dance to the 'Grease Soundtrack' in my sister's downstairs bedroom.
Frankie Valli sang the title song to 'Grease' called "Grease Is The Word". Later in life I discovered that particular track was extra-cool, having been written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees. How could someone not love a mash up of Bee Gees' songwriting and Four Seasons' singing?
Today's track is the Christmas tune "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" but is sung in the classic Four Seasons' style. The song came off of their 1962 holiday album, brilliantly titled 'The 4 Seasons Greetings'. The album was later re-released in 1966 with the more obvious sounding name, 'The Four Seasons' Christmas Album'.
The Four Season's Christmas record came out a mere three months after the release of their first real album, a compilation of all their early 60's singles called 'Sherry & 11 Others'. In fact the main reason I like this version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" so much is that it reminds me a lot of their 1962 hit songs "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry".
So click the link to hear The Four Seasons singing about Santa's pending arrival. And here's hoping I get to see 'Jersey Boys' in the new year.
No comments:
Post a Comment