Four Lovers
| The Four Lovers | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Newark, New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | Rhythm and blues |
| Years active | 1956–1960 |
| Labels | RCA Victor, Epic |
| Associated acts | The Four Seasons |
| Past members |
Frankie Valli Tommy DeVito Henry Majewski Nicolas DeVito Hugh Garrity Nick Massi Bob Gaudio |
The Four Lovers was a band formed in 1956 that was the result of vocalist Frankie Valli joining The Variatones (Tommy DeVito, lead guitar; Henry Majewski, rhythm guitar; Frank Cattone, accordion; and Billy Thompson, drums) in 1954. The Four Lovers' achieved minor success before a name change to The Four Seasons in 1960. During those five years, group members also included Nicolas DeVito (vocals, electric bass), Hugh Garrity (vocals, guitar), Nick Massi (bass, vocals), and Bob Gaudio (keyboards, vocals).
The Four Lovers big break came in early 1956 when backing up a female singer's audition for two New York record men. One of the two record men, Peter Paul, was suitably impressed enough to become their manager. A week later, they were themselves auditioning for RCA. RCA signed them up that day and the group selected a new name, The Four Lovers. The group that ended up recording as The Four Lovers was Frankie Valli (lead vocal, drums), Thomas DeVito (vocal, guitar), Henry Majewski (vocal, guitar) and Nicolas DeVito (vocal, bass).
The quartet released seven singles and one album under the Four Lovers name, with only their debut single, Otis Blackwell's "You're the Apple of My Eye" achieving significant national sales to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The single got them their first national television appearance, on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.
RCA gave up on the Four Lovers when the group's fifth straight single failed to chart in 1957 and finally dropped the group from its label. The group promptly signed to Epic Records but was quickly dropped when its first single for the label also failed to chart. As a consequence, the discouraged group temporarily disbanded.
In 1958, Valli met record producer Bob Crewe at a recording session, who signed the Four Lovers to a three-year artist contract. During this period, the reconstituted quartet had some significant personnel changes, as bassist/vocalist Nick DeVito left the group in 1958, to be replaced by Nick Massi for just a few months, then by bassist/arranger Charles Calello until 1960, and then by Massi again. Meanwhile, guitarist/vocalist Henry Majewski was replaced by Hugh Garrity for a few months in 1958, and then by keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Bob Gaudio in 1959. The Four Lovers worked steadily as session artists, primarily as background singers and background musicians, in addition to resuming their live performances in various clubs and lounges between New York City and Philadelphia)
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