The Four Lads
| The Four Lads | |
|---|---|
The group in 1969
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Traditional pop |
| Years active | 1950–present |
| Labels | Okeh, Columbia |
| Website | thefourlads |
| Members | Don Farrar Aaron Bruce Alan Sokoloff Frank Busseri |
| Past members | Corrado "Connie" Codarini John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish James F. "Jimmy" Arnold Sid Edwards Johnny D'Arc |
The Four Lads is a Canadian male singing quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the group earned many gold singles and albums. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Moments to Remember," "Standin' on the Corner," "No, Not Much," "Who Needs You?" and "Istanbul."
The Four Lads made numerous television appearances including the award-winning PBS special, Moments to Remember.
The current incarnation of the group features the original member Frank Busseri (bass), plus Don Farrar (lead tenor), Aaron Bruce (second tenor), and Alan Sokoloff (baritone).
The original quartet grew up together in Toronto, Ontario, and were members of St. Michael's Choir School, where they learned to sing. The founding members were Corrado "Connie" Codarini, bass (died April 28, 2010); John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish (born March 2, 1931), tenor; James F. "Jimmy" Arnold (January 4, 1932 – June 15, 2004), lead; and Frank Busseri, baritone and group manager. Codarini and Toorish had formed a group with two other St. Michael's students, Rudi Maugeri and John Perkins, who were later to become founding members of another group, The Crew-Cuts.
The group was known variously as The Otnorots (taken from the name "Toronto" spelled backwards) and The Jordonaires (not to be confused with a similarly named group, The Jordanaires, that was known for singing background vocals on Elvis Presley's hits). When Maugeri and Perkins left the group to concentrate on their schoolwork, Codarini and Toorish joined with Arnold and Busseri in a new quartet. At home, they practiced until they achieved their clean-cut harmonies, whether for spirituals, sacred music, or pop. They originally called themselves The Four Dukes but found out that a Detroit group already used that name, so changed it to The Four Lads. In 1950 they began to sing in local clubs and soon were noticed by scouts. Recruited to go to New York, they were noticed by Mitch Miller, who asked them to do backup for some of the artists he recorded. One of these artists, Johnnie Ray, became a major hit in 1951 with "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud That Cried" with the Four Lads backing him. This made them well known. In 1954 in Manhattan, the Four Lads had a recording session and decided they needed young voices. Lillian Pasciolla, and her friend who was President of the Four Lads Fan Club were visiting and were invited to sing "Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer" with them. They are both in the original recording along with the Four Lads.
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