Did anyone catch the Star Spangled Banner done by the Four Seasons in the Tostito Bowl? Unbelievable arrangement and harmonies.

Frankie looked dead Timing was off too....his backups held it together.

You've got to be kidding

A real separation exists between the REAL pros and the rest of the world...

Fran agrees with me also....we were just discussing it. You could see Frankie waiting for his back up singers to sync him again.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-02-2008).]

About 10 years ago I heard Frankie at the Fremont MI Gerber Baby Food Festival. Two local horn players that they picked up have played with us in our bigband for 25 years. Frankie was wearing something in his ears back then. I noticed tonight that Frankie still had something in his ears. I was hoping that they were "in the ear monitors" but now I believe that they are hearing aids. I had a hunch that they were hearing aids when I heard him but I thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

Tom

Tom , I am pretty sure they were in ear monitors..

With Frankie's money..they would be so small you would not see them..if they were aids..

[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 01-02-2008).]

Not ear monitors.......deafness......READ:.....


Originally a solo singer recording under the name Frankie Valley, he joined the Variatones in 1954. They made their first records as the Four Lovers but achieved lasting success when they became the Four Seasons in 1962. Although he was lead singer with the group, Valli also had a solo recording career, starting with "(You're Gonna) Hurt Yourself" in late 1965. He scored a million-seller in 1967 with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". From the same album came further US hits, "I Make A Fool Of Myself", and "To Give (The Reason I Live)" while "You're Ready Now" was a reissued success in Britain in 1971.

Valli and producer Bob Gaudio now set up a dual career, with Valli recording for Private Stock and a new Four Seasons group for Warner Brothers Records. Valli had his first solo number 1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You", followed by "Swearin' To God" and a revival of Ruby And The Romantics' "Our Day Will Come". In 1978 he sold two million copies of the Barry Gibb -composed theme song from Grease. The follow-ups, "Fancy Dancer" and "Where Did We Go Wrong" (a duet with Chris Forde) sold poorly and in 1980 Valli had a series of ear operations to cure his increasing deafness. He subsequently rejoined the Four Seasons and enjoyed further success when "Big Girls Don't Cry" was included in the movie Dirty Dancing.

In 1990, the Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and for the rest of the decade Valli continued to lead the group on the lucrative oldies circuit.

Saw him on a PBS fundraiser special several weeks ago, and, sadly, the rest of the group were almost leading him around. They were half his age or younger. Still, he looked pretty good, given his age.

I think it's time for him to hang it up.
The next night I saw Johnnie Mathis. He looked and sounded good, and he's got to be in his 70's.

Russ

Better yet his brother BOBBY Valli is trying to make it on Frankies coat tails too.....Fran did a show with him a few months agao at the club.

http://www.bobbyvalli.net/

Donny....I agree with you.....Saw a concert at the Sands in AC and his young drummer hit all the high notes and Frankie just kept jutting the mic at the audience trying to get them to do the show for him.....but
I still think he's better than Frankie Avalon....
TR

Not knocking Frankie in his time he was great and produced some fantastic songs that I grew up with and will always enjoy.
But time makes things change as we all know.
he just recorded a Cd also...

"Romancing The 60's"
http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-60s-Frankie-Valli/dp/B000VDDCII

PBS has been holding a lot of fund raisers and using many of the older groups. Some are still incredible, while others are just awful. I think my biggest dissapointment lately was while watching Good Morning America where they featured Barry M. (can't print his last name or I'll probably hear from his layers) singing Copa Cabana. It was just awful. He performed a couple other songs that were really popular in the past and they were equally as bad. It brought back memories of Sinatra when he was in his final months of being on stage, a time when he could no longer remember the lyrics to songs that made him famous. Unfortunately, I'm not far away from this myself. I figure that I may have a couple more years, then I'll send all my jobs to someone younger.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Taking a look - and listen - at his web site, it seems that Bobby is trying to make it on more than Frankie's coat tails ... and it's no wonder Frankie was the star in the family ...
Listening to "Eyes 2" on the site, it sounds like Bobby was using a poor vocal harmonizer ...
Just another 'wannabe' ...
t.

Gary , You are right about the PBS shows ... some guys, like Johnny Maestro, still sound as good, and sing in the same keys ... Others should just lip-synch the original recording ...
As for Sinatra, he used tele-prompters for years... At a concert in Providence, I was sitting where I could see the tele-prompter and even his 'ad-libs' were printed for him ...

As for yourself, you certainly sound like you have more than a "couple of more years" ...
And when the time comes, who ever you hand your gigs over to had better be some STUD !!! ...
t.

In defense of Barry M. I was in Vegas several months ago and caught his act. He Was Fabulous!!! He has not lost a step!!! And yes he sang LIVE!!!!
Also attended a Paul Anka concert here in Long Island ... He was Terrific!!!

Here's my 2 cents. First of all, Frankie Valli has been deaf in one ear for many years. It has definitely affected his performances. Barry M has been lowering his keys for years and he still has trouble reaching the not so high notes. It was sad to watch Frank Sinatra in his final years. I saw him some 10 times throughout his later life and he didn't age well. Johnny Mathis has just turned 70 and he still sounds great. Tony Bennett is 81 and he can still put on a great performance. I saw and met Perry Como later in his life and he was not only wonderful, but also very personable. Getting old is a bitch and everyone deals with it differently. I hope I can still to what I love well into my 70's and 80's.

Ciao,

Joe

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Songman55
Joe Ayala

Not to belabor the point but Manilow was never on my list of "Great" singers like Mathis, Sinatra or Bennett. But IMO he is no better or worse than he was 20 years ago and he is a terrific showman!!
I am a very big Sinatra fan but only the stuff he did before the 70's and yes he did not age gracefully. Bennett is now a very "Crafty" singer he knows how to use what he has left, God bless him!! I hope he lives forever!!

[This message has been edited by JCkeeys (edited 01-04-2008).]

Here is the actual "performance" of The Star Spangled Banner.
http://gilgweb.com/FOXFB-01-02-2008wmv.html

IMHO, the use of our National Anthem mostly for the benefit of the performer has degraded its meaning. If I ruled the world........

Thanks for the link...I enjoyed it as much as the first time.

I thought it was great! a different rendition than we're used to. But you could recognise Frankie's unique voice.
You can tell it's pre recorded, but the networks started doing that with everybody a few years ago.
talk about half dead Frankie was on the Sopranos a couple of years ago and I didn't think he would make it till the end of the hour.

Absolutely right. A country's anthem is the sonic equivalent of its flag. To contort the melody is no different than defacing the flag and, as such, in my view, constitutes an insult.

The worst perpetrators in this are usually anthem 'singers' at sports events.

Agree with what you said about Bennett Jc, he truly knows what to do with what he has.

The thing is, he's turned into the most charismatic performer I think I've seen in many years.

He seems to be more "magical" as he gets older.

I saw Dean Martin's last performance (umm...unfortunately on youtube only!) and that was sad, compared to the singer he once was.
In his prime, he was extraordinary - I wouldn't dare mention Manilow in the same sentence as DM.

I think Manilow is a much better songwriter than performer...

err....back OT now - sorry.