That 'Four Seasons' Sound

Special Fan Club Offer Newmarket Racecourse

Exclusive offer for UK Appreciation Society - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at Newmarket Racecourse on Friday 29th June. For £37 per person the package will include: 1 x Premier Enclosure Admission (which includes the racing and the concert) 1 x Racecard (I can confirm this will have Frankie Valli on the front cover) 1 x Glass of Beer or Wine 1 x An Official Frankie Valli programme This is normally priced at over £50.00. In order to claim the offer - and as it is limited to only 200 tickets (so first come first served) - call 01638 675500 and quote FAN2012. Concert details here:- http://www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk/concerts/2012-concert-dates/adnams-newmarket-nights/friday-29th-june-frankie-valli-and-the-four-seasons/ Many thanks to Clair Bryant, Marketing Manager at Newmarket Racecourses for offering us this very special offer. Published by Lynn Boleyn 19.6.12 www.seasonally.co.uk

FRANKIE VALLI - UK TOUR 2012 AND FAN CLUB GET TOGETHERS

We are really looking forward to meeting up with all the fans once again, especially those who have made the trip from USA, Spain, Germany and The Netherlands.  We have arranged a few get togethers in London and Manchester. 

 The first get together in London will be a Reunion at De Hems Dutch Café Bar in Soho (11 Macclesfield Street, London, W1D 5BW) on Monday 25 June, where we held the ‘Jersey Boys Preview Night Reunion’ in March 2008.  Meet up in upstairs bar from 6.00 pm. onwards.  Please let Lynn know if you are intending to join us so that we can let De Hems know rough numbers—thanks!  Email:  lynn.boleyn@sky.com or telephone 01384 830862 (home) or 07747 563623 (mobile)

http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/dehemsdutchcafebarsoholondon/

 The second one will be on Tuesday 26 June at The Royal Albert Hall where we can help Ken celebrate his 65th Birthday in style!  Meet up in the EAST Arena Foyer Bar from 5.30 p.m. onwards.  There will be a special roped-off area for us in this bar and we have been requested to pre-order our drinks.  Pre-order forms attached or available from Lynn.  You will need your concert tickets to get into the Arena Foyer. Please let Lynn know names and numbers attending the show and get together.

 The third one will be on Wednesday 27 June at The Royal Albert Hall.  Again, meet up in the EAST Arena Foyer Bar from 5.30 p.m. onwards where there will be a roped-off area for us.  Again, we have been requested to pre-order our drinks—please do this via Lynn.

 Pre-Orders For Drinks at Royal Albert Hall

 Please email Lynn with your pre-orders—please ensure you state which night or nights you require the drinks for!  Lynn will then pre-order all the drinks in bulk.  If you have not received a
pre-order form please contact Lynn and she will forward one to you.  Cheques for the drinks should be made payable to Lynn Boleyn.

 

MANCHESTER GET TOGETHER

 The fourth Get Together will be at the MEN in Manchester on Sunday 1 July in the VIP  Premier Lounge where we can help Ray Nichol celebrate his 66th Birthday!  Meet from 6.00 p.m. onwards.   You will need your concert tickets to get into The Premier Lounge.  (please note that The View Bar is not open on the 1 July).  Please let Lynn know names and numbers if attending this get together—thanks.

http://www.men-arena.com/corporate/?page_id=1238

 There are just a few front row seats left for the Manchester show and you can access them here:

http://www.ticketline.co.uk/frankie-valli-and-the-four-seasons?presale=rzlcqv2#presale

 Enjoy the shows and do let us have all your concert reviews and we will publish a selection of them in a future Blog.  

 

Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons In Concert in UK 

 23 June—Hampton Court Palace

26 June—Royal Albert Hall 

27 June—Royal Albert Hall 

29 June—Newmarket Racecourse 

 1 July - Manchester Arena 

 3 July—Glasgow—Clyde Auditorium 

 5 July—Epsom Downs Racecourse 

  

 

UK Four Seasons Appreciation Society

Ken Charmer- George Ingram- Lynn Boleyn and Ray Nichol 

www.seasonally.co.uk 

 

50 Wonderful Years of Music Making

We are all looking forward to seeing Frankie again in the UK after 18 years.   Philip Elms (or
should I say Sir Philip!) has arranged a special memento for Frankie and we would like to thank Phil and Craig for organising this very special gift for Frankie celebrating 50 wonderful years of music making.

 Congratulations Frankie, Bob Gaudio and all Seasons past and present on this fantastic achievement.

 Oh What A Year For London and the UK!

 It has certainly been a fantastic time in London recently with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
Celebrations and no doubt you have all seen the wonderful images on television of this spectacular event.  Frankie’s shows in the UK are certain to be just as special and then we will be looking
forward to the London 2012 Olympics.   What a great year!

 

Happy Birthday Jersey Boys

 Happy 4th Birthday to Jersey Boys, London.  Still going strong!  Booking until October 2013. 

To  book tickets to see the show click here:

http://www.jerseyboyslondon.com/

Performances:

Tuesday—Saturday 7.30 p.m.

Tuesday and Saturday 3 p.m.

Sundays 5 p.m.

 

Compiled by Lynn Boleyn   15.6.12
www.seasonally.co.uk  

 Contact Details for Lynn:-

170 Beachcroft Road 

Wall Heath 

West Midlands DY6 0HS

 Tel 01384 830862 (home)

Tel 07747 563623 (mobile)

 

Lynn’s Top 10 Things To Do In London!

 

1. A cruise down the River Thames from Westminster to Tower Bridge and back!  A great
    way to see the sights of London and to find what what they are.  

          http://www.citycruises.com/

 

    2.   Take a walk along the South Bank and see the sights from the other side of the river and all the street entertainers…. and its’s free!

 

3.   Take a Duck Tour and see the sights of central London and the river without leaving your seat! £21 Adults; £14 children.   http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/

 

4.   London Eye—fantastic views from the top of the Eye—don’t forget your camera!

 

5.   Take a trip back in time and visit the Tower of London and see where Anne Boleyn got her head chopped off!

 

6.   Covent Gardens is a great place to see and shop and don’t forget Harrods!

 

7.   London’s newest attraction—The Harry Potter Studio Tour—see behind the scenes—    tickets £28 adults; £21 children.  http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/

 

8.   The changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace 11.30 a.m. daily.

 

9.   Take a walk through Hyde Park and visit the Diana Memorial                                    
http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/hyde-park/about-hyde-park

 

10. Visit the West End and see a great show like Jersey Boys/Wicked/Singing In the Rain.

    

.

Harmony, Perfect Harmony?

Beach Boys and Four Seasons die-hard fans have one thing in common. They are distrustful of re-launches, farewell tours and new albums

We all remember Frankie Valli’s hugely disappointing (at least to this writer) ‘Romancing The 60s’ CD – his last album in 2007 – and Beach Boys Fans will remember the drum machine laced ‘Summer In Paradise’(1992) - A critical and commercial failure, the album's release reportedly caused independent distributor Navarre to become bankrupt. Both these albums relied heavily on computer aided production

So anyone can be forgiven for looking at the the Beach Boys 50^th Anniversary and Frankie Valli’s forthcoming UK Tour (celebrating 50 years since ‘Sherry’ was released) with a degree of cynicism.

Are these a last piece of money-grabbing before retirement and ‘passing’(the Beach Boys Tour is set to bring in around $45m) or a creative gesture to equally ageing and loyal fans, to say….”Thank You” – whilst being a final celebration of the 60s harmony group sound.

 

As The Guardian’s review of the Beach Boys latest studio album ‘That’s Why God Made The Radio’ says……. “It's easy to be sceptical about the Beach Boys' reunion. Indeed, if you look at the messageboards, diehard fans seem the most distrustful of the lot, which figures: for all the warmth and open-heartedness of the band's best music, if there's one thing being a Beach Boys fan teaches you, it's scepticism. There are only so many times you can be told Brian Wilson has been restored to full physical and mental health, the better to make himself and a lot of other people a great deal of money, before you develop what the Clash called a "bullshit detector", and Beach Boys fans have been told that on a regular basis – and with a great deal of evidence to the contrary – for the last 36 years”

Now why does it seem the same for Four Seasons fans? And how should we react to both these major 2012 events? After all as John Carucci says in his review, “There's a fine line between recreating your timeless signature sound and becoming a nostalgia act for your own music”

But listening to the sounds once again created like in the mid 60s it appears that the Beach Boys have a clear message with their album offering fond recollections of those halcyon days (with it seems some good reviews)

How Brian Wilson found the creativity that almost re-connects today’s production with the awesome ‘Pet Sounds’ is amazing. We hear the familiar cascading harmonies flow like the surf their vocals relate us too in a tribute that shows their creativity , experience and the quality of today’s sound  production team. The highlight is clear as the LA Times notes….” The conclusion of a theme teased at the album's start with a Wilson-penned instrumental, “Think About the Days,” the final nine minutes of “Radio,” divided into the songs “From There to Back Again,” “Pacific Coast Highway” and “Summer's Gone,” are as exquisitely rendered as anything in the group's catalog. That they also feel like a perfect career-ending benediction certainly adds to the album's weight, but even had the recordings been created at the band's 1966 prime, they would be a vital piece of the Beach Boys' legacy. “

So as we welcome Frankie Valli we will (we hope) be able to rely on his production team (led by Robbie Robinson) to allow us to celebrate his age and reflect(not sadly I must stress) on past times and sounds.

One thing diehard 60s group fans share is a compulsive identity with the groups sound – then: not now – and whether we love The Platters, The Drifters or The Tokens, we have all sought to freeze it – bottle it – and have it carry on: which is of course impossible.

Maybe what this Beach Boys album offers is the best we can expect. Somehow – almost chillingly – it captures the spiritual hook that we all have for the warm sounds of the 60s. As one reviewer says…” They may not have played their own instruments on their latest album as originally promised (except for some inspired riffage from David Marks), but they still feel like a true band. And while That’s Why God Made The Radio may not be in the same league as SMiLE or Pet Sounds, it’s an immensely satisfying and interesting outing from a group long thought to have transformed into a living jukebox”

Of course Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio can’t match this. We wouldn’t want them to try…..’Hope and Glory’ (1992) is a reminder of what can happen with too much technology. BUT they could pay respect to the harmony sound they helped pioneer in two ways.

• Review all of their and Universal Motown’s unreleased archive to recover and promote a celebration package of their past catalogue(as Wilson and the remaining Beach Boys did so brilliantly with the ‘SMILE’ sessions re-issue)
• Find young artists to promote and perform the harmony sound they ‘borrowed’ from doo-wop. This would give new life to the sounds around when they formed The Four Seasons.

Harmony shouldn’t die when we and the creators of those 60s gems pass away. This new Beach Boys album may dwell on ageing but it is about celebrating the ‘sound’ and it shows the time is right to fight to preserve it.

If Valli and Gaudio cared as passionately about the music as we do – and , it would now appear, do the Beach Boys – then they know how to convince us. After all we have had 35 years of false promises since they said they would be launching The NEW Four Seasons back in 1978. Still we do have The Hit Men . Now they do care about music and the fans.

Ken Charmer

Hear five songs from the new Beach Boys album here

 

 

 

 

The Four Seasons Sessionography – Part 5 The Motown Years

There isn’t much original research surfacing these days re the Four Seasons career, as legal negotiations continue re the unpublished story Tommy De Vito co-wrote with late Four Seasons fan Rex Woodard and it may be sometime till we see this original story on which (allegedly) Jersey Boys is based. And Charlie Calello’s book is still being edited so little new there.

However we do have some interesting detail re the mid-sixties period coming along later this year as we all prepare in the UK for Frankie Valli’s UK Summer Tour 2012. We’ll get reviews and views posted here in due course.

With no NEW music surfacing for collectors we have had to be content this year compiling our data re Four Seasons recordings and releases in the 50s to 70s sessionography series from a template developed in Word by Tom Cramlington.

We are glad we have now been able to complete this with the last section.

When it came to the Motown Years sessions (1971 – 1974) we discovered that so much material is unreleased that we needed a new layout to combine the released and unreleased and the master numbers and other data available.

We decided to combine all that we had into an Excel spreadsheet that would easily distinguish the two groups of recordings.

So on our Sessionography web site (see here)

http://www.seasonally.co.uk/Sessionography.htm

 we provide a link to this file so the world can see the extent of the work Frankie and the group did at their labels and elsewhere.

Or get the file for the Motown sessions directly here.

http://www.seasonally.co.uk/Sessions/MotownTapeIndexJune2012.xls

Please read our amended Introduction notes re this and if you want to read our previous blog notes re the story of the releases indicated as on the Tapes Index in the Motown vaults you will find this below in two Parts.

• ‘The Mowest Story’ (now available as a pdf file here)
• Bob Crewe at Motown Download the FULL story as a pdf here

We hope to speak to Frankie Valli on his UK tour in June 2012 and see if he has any interest in the unreleased material still within the Motown vault. 

Casey Chameleon