It is a difficult time with the UK Press announcing that the Government is effectively putting 'Life On Hold' as winter approaches as we all seek to stay safe and get through these unprecedented times. The sad loss of 92 year old founder 4 Season Tommy DeVito to Covid related problems only reinforces the dangers for older people in life as many Four Seasons fans feel the strain and increasingly turn back on Facebook and You Tube to the music for support. It is a sad time for his family and the fanbase who love the backstory. We have a separate blog re his contribution to our music and our lives.
As UK Fan Group managers Lynn Boleyn and I have been striving to give all fans the set of music that will completely 're-connect' the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons with their history and their fans and it would have been good to have done that at this time. It was just over 3 years ago we met Ian Crocket and Bob Fisher at Snapper Records in London and talked about what the fans wanted in a Mega Box Set.........we both said without hesitation......the MOTOWN UNRELEASED.....and an update from the Partnership vaults of the MONO Catalogue from the 1960s which has NEVER been released on CD. For 3 years now Ian, us and his team have been investing the time and effort to bring this to fruition.....something we see as intensely important during these pandemic times.
I spoke to Ian Crocket yesterday re progress in these challenging times and the inevitable delays to projects he is getting. Whilst we have gathered and are working on the huge artwork parts of the project, the continued closure of Curb Records and Universal Motown [until January] has put back re-mastering and quality checks so we are now looking at the set being complete and available next August. Snapper continue to invest in the project and contracts are in place. So it is a case of hanging in there and seeing the crisis through.
As all lament the sad passing of Tommy DeVito it is thanks to him that we have some awesome Unreleased Songs going into the Box Set as a result of getting hold of his 1960s Archive cassette. This has contributed 6 tracks to the compilation from the earliest days of the Four Seasons. Four are terrific good quality soundboard tracks from a Live 1964 show featuring 'Stay/Since I Don't Have You/Cry Myself To Sleep/Dawn' and two early Demos of 'I Still Care' and 'Like You' with Nick Massi's excellent vocal arrangements. Thanks Tommy!!!!
I will be featuring some other excerpts from Tommy's Archive Tape in our Facebook Group[ The Four Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign] and some date back to the days of The Four Lovers.
So hang on in and we will keep you posted as the Re-Mastering re-commences as we start to hear the MONO albums reproduced again for the 21st century and we continue to push this 2500 limited edition through to delivery and ordering dates. More news and rarities as and when we can.
Take Care and Stay Safe.
Ken Charmer
Recent Comments