Tommy DeVito (musician)
| Tommy DeVito | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 19, 1928 Belleville, New Jersey, US |
| Genres | Rock, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Associated acts | The Four Seasons |
Tommy DeVito (born June 19, 1928) is an American musician and singer, best known as a founding member, baritone vocalist, and lead guitarist of the rock band The Four Seasons.
DeVito was born in Belleville, N.J., the youngest of nine children in an Italian-American family.
At 8, he taught himself to play his brother’s guitar by listening to country music on the radio.
By the time he was 12, he was playing for tips in neighborhood taverns.
He quit school after the eighth grade. (Belleville High made him an honorary graduate in 2007.) By 16 he had his own R&B band and was making $20 or $25 a night.
Tommy DeVito's musical career began in the early 1950s when he formed "the Variety Trio" with his brother Nick DeVito and Hank Majewski. This core group performed under various names and changing lineups. The band expanded to a quartet and changed its name to "the Variatones" including the addition in 1954 of singer Francis Castelluccio (later known as Frankie Valli). When they were signed to a recording contract with RCA Victor, in 1956, the quartet of DeVito/DeVito/Hank Majewski/Valli had renamed themselves "the Four Lovers". Tommy and Frankie remained the only consistent members of the Four Lovers, as the group released seven singles and one album under the Four Lovers name. Their 1956 debut single, Otis Blackwell's "You're the Apple of My Eye", achieved enough national sales to appear as a minor hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The single landed Tommy his first national television appearance, when the Four Lovers appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.
While his brother Nick left the group, Tommy DeVito continued his musical pursuits, reforming and realigning the group. By 1960 The Four Lovers consisted of DeVito and Valli along with lyricist/singer/keyboardist Bob Gaudio and vocal arranger Nick Massi, and were mainly used as a backup band for producer Bob Crewe under contract. This is the lineup which adopted the name "The Four Seasons," (actually, they were billed numerically as the 4 Seasons) named after a bowling alley in Union, New Jersey, that had a lounge where they'd auditioned. Signed by songwriter/producer Bob Crewe, the Four Seasons cut their first single under that name, "Bermuda," in November 1961. It was released by Gone Records, but did not succeed. Their next single did, in 1962 Gaudio's composition #1 single "Sherry." Released by Vee Jay Records in July 1962, "Sherry" hit number one in September, the first of three consecutive chart-topping hits by the Four Seasons, the others being "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man".
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