From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frankie Valli
Background information
Birth name	Francis Stephen Castelluccio
Born	May 3, 1934 (age 73)
Origin	First Ward, Newark, New Jersey
Genre(s)	Pop/Rock/Doo wop[1]
Occupation(s)	singer
Voice type(s)	falsetto
Associated acts	The Four Seasons

This article has multiple issues: It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since May 2007. It needs to be expanded.Tagged since May 2007. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.

Frankie Valli (born May 3, 1934^[2]) is best known as the falsetto-voiced lead singer of The Four Seasons, a music act of the 1960s, which continues to perform. Valli and the other original members of The Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990^[3] and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.^[1]

Contents 1 Music career 1.1 1950s-1960s 1.2 1970s 1.3 Discography 2 Television appearances 3 Personal life 4 Trivia 5 Notes 6 External links

Valli scored 29 Top 40 Hits with The 4 Seasons, 1 Top 40 Hit under The 4 Seasons alias of 'The Wonder Who?' and 9 Top 40 Hits as a solo artist. As a member of The 4 Seasons, Valli scored Number One Hits with "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like A Man", "Rag Doll", and "December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)". As a solo artist, Valli scored Number One Hits with "My Eyes Adored You" and "Grease". His best known solo recording, though, is "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", which reached Number 2 in 1967. "You're Ready Now", a Valli solo recording from 1966, became a surprise hit in England as part of the Northern soul scene and hit Number 11 on the British pop charts in December 1970.

Valli began his professional singing career in 1951 with the Variety Trio (Nickie DeVito, Tommy Devito, and Nick Macioci). In late 1952, the Variety Trio disbanded and Valli, along with Tommy DeVito, became part of the house band at The Strand in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He cut his first single in 1953 as "Frankie Valley," a name he adopted from "Texas" Jean Valley, his favorite female singer. Around this time, Valli and Tommy DeVito left the house band at The Strand and formed The Variatones with Hank Majewski, Frank Cattone and Billy Thompson. In 1956, as part of an audition backing a female singer, the group themselves impressed New York record man Peter Paul, who had them auditioning at RCA Victor a week later. Renamed The Four Lovers, the group recorded several singles and one album's worth of tracks. They had a minor hit with "Apple of My Eye" in 1956. Nickie DeVito and Hank Majewski left in 1958 to be replaced by Nick Macioci (now Nick Massi) and Hank Garrity. Massi was in and out of the group, and, occasionally Charles Calello joined on accordion. The group continued to perform until 1959, when Bob Gaudio became a member. After a few more changes, the group was renamed "The 4 Seasons" in 1960.

As the lead singer of The 4 Seasons, he had a string of hits beginning with the Number One Hit "Sherry" in 1962. Nick Massi was replaced in 1965 by Charlie Calello, the group's arranger, and, then shortly after, Charlie was replaced by Joseph LaBracio, who went by the pseudonym Joe Long.

In 1975, Valli's song My Eyes Adored You hit number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100.

In 1976, Valli covered the Beatles song "A Day in the Life" for the ephemeral musical documentary All This and World War II.

Valli sang the theme song from the 1978 film version of Grease, which was a #1 hit.

Singles:

Main article: List of U.S. singles by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

Albums:

For albums recorded as part of The Four Seasons, see Discography of The Four Seasons

Albums recorded before 1975 were recorded with the assistance of The Four Seasons.

• 1967: Frankie Valli Solo - Philips Records (a.k.a. "The Four Seasons Present Frankie Valli Solo")
• 1968: Timeless - Philips
• 1970: Half and Half - Philips (half Four Seasons, half Valli "solo")
• 1975: Close Up - Private Stock
• 1975: Valli Gold - Private Stock
• 1976: Valli - Private Stock
• 1977: Lady Put the Light Out - Private Stock
• 1978: Frankie Valli Hits - Private Stock
• 1978: Frankie Valli... Is the Word - Warner Bros. Records
• 1979: Heaven Above Me - MCA
• 1980: Very Best of Frankie Valli - MCA
• 2007: Romancing the 60's - Motown

Valli made several appearances on the HBO series The Sopranos portraying New York mob captain Rusty Millio.

Valli played himself in an episode of Full House.

Valli was born Francis Stephen Castelluccio in the First Ward of Newark, New Jersey.

Valli is father of three daughters, Antonia, Francine, and Celia, a son, Francesco, and twins, Emilio and Brando.

They are now living in Long Island, New York.

John Lloyd Young won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Valli in the musical Jersey Boys.

• Frankie Valli at TV.com
• The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, a fan's website for Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
• Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons 1966