Oh, what a story. Frankie Valli, who came to fame in 1962 as the lead singer of the Four Seasons, is hotter than ever in the 21st century. Thanks to the volcanic success of the Tony winning musical Jersey Boys, which chronicles the life and times of Frankie and his legendary group, such classic songs as “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Rag Doll,” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” are all the rage all over again. With the play in its twelfth blockbuster year on Broadway, and five other casts performing Jersey Boys nightly from Las Vegas to London, the real Frankie Valli is also packing venues around the world.
But please don’t say that Frankie is back. The truth is, he never went away. Sure, the majority of the 71 chart hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (including 40 in the Top 40, 19 in the Top 10 and eight No. 1’s) came during the 1960s, but the music didn’t just disappear. He has toured almost continuously since 1962, and his songs have been omnipresent in such movies as The Deer Hunter, Dirty Dancing, Mrs. Doubtfire, Conspiracy Theory and The Wanderers. As many as 200 artists have done cover versions of Frankie’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” from Nancy Wilson’s jazz treatment to Lauryn Hill’s hip-hop makeover.
There’s something about Frankie’s music that makes young people of every generation want to get up and dance. Amid the disco era, the Seasons hit it big with “Who Loves You,” which reached No 3 in 1975, and “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night), a No. 1 record in 1976.
But who could imagine that the first four decades would be only the beginning—that Frankie Valli would celebrate the new century with a new album and a heavy sold-out global concert schedule? No other pop star has ever received the kind of fresh lease on life that Jersey Boys has given Frankie Valli. In 2009 Jersey Boys made it into the Southern Hemisphere by having a wildly successful run in Melbourne, Australia, before moving to Sydney, Australia, and then New Zealand.
For as far into the future as anyone can see, Jersey Boys will introduce the music of Frankie Valli to new generations. The man himself shows no signs of slowing down. As his character says at the end of Jersey Boys: “Like that bunny on TV with the battery, I just keep going and going and going.” For as long as he wants to sing, people will want to listen.
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