FRANKIE VALLI & THE FOUR SEASONS: The Motown Years

RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2008 Limited Edition CD

It was a dream come true: Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, who had shared and sometimes battled on the charts with Motown in their respective ‘60s heydays, signed with the company in 1972. There were two albums, several singles, no hits—at least not right away—and then a mutual parting. But the prized, sophisticated recordings, long sought after by fans, and even more desired since the global success of the musical Jersey Boys, were stuck back in the vault. These rare recordings include the legendary members of The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio and Tommy DeVito and Joe Long

Now for the first time ever, Hip-oSelect.com collects the great Motown albums and singles of the Four Seasons and solo Frankie Valli released from 1972 through 1975. The Motown Years, a 2-CD set compiled with the cooperation of the group, features the album Chameleon and the LP issued as a Valli solo set, Inside You, along with every U.S. and U.K. single not included on either LP. Here’s a glimpse inside the set’s booklet sleeve notes by noted chronicler Brian Chin:
“Chameleon, produced by [the Four Season’s Bob] Gaudio, and written by him with collaborations from his then-wife Brit, Bob Crewe, and the group’s newly-arrived keyboard and organ player, Al Ruzicka, plainly responds to the signals of game-changing albums like Carole King’s Tapestry and the first post-Beatles solo albums. Confessional, adult-oriented relationship stories dominate the album…”
Eventually Frankie and the group looked to go back to independent production. In 1975, just as they broke away, Motown U.K. released “The Night,” a popular underground club track, as a single—and it leapt into the British national Top 10. But by then the Four Seasons had bought back a track they had worked up for Motown: “My Eyes Adored You.” It became a No. 1 Frankie Valli solo hit on Private Stock, while “December 1963 (Oh What Night),” written while they were at Motown, became a group No. 1 at Warner Bros. Both songs retained their Jobete Publishing copyright.
The rest of the music they left behind at Motown has endured. Rejoice, Seasons fans. The Motown Years is finally here.

It was a dream come true: Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, who had shared and sometimes battled on the charts with Motown in their respective ‘60s heydays, signed with the company in 1972. There were two albums, several singles, no hits—at least not right away—and then a mutual parting. But the prized, sophisticated recordings, long sought after by fans, and even more desired since the global success of the musical Jersey Boys, were stuck back in the vault.

Now, for the first time ever, Hip-oSelect.com collects the great Motown albums and singles of the Four Seasons and solo Frankie Valli released from 1972 through 1975. The Motown Years, a 2-CD set compiled with the cooperation of the group, features the album Chameleon and the LP issued as a Valli solo set, Inside You, along with every U.S. and U.K. single not included on either LP. Here’s a glimpse inside the set’s booklet sleeve notes by noted chronicler Brian Chin:

“Chameleon, produced by [the Four Season’s Bob] Gaudio, and written by him with collaborations from his then-wife Brit, Bob Crewe, and the group’s newly-arrived keyboard and organ player, Al Ruzicka, plainly responds to the signals of game-changing albums like Carole King’s Tapestry and the first post-Beatles solo albums. Confessional, adult-oriented relationship stories dominate the album…”

Eventually Frankie and the group looked to go back to independent production. In 1975, just as they broke away, Motown U.K. released “The Night,” a popular underground club track, as a single—and it leapt into the British national Top 10. But by then the Four Seasons had bought back a track they had worked up for Motown: “My Eyes Adored You.” It became a No. 1 Frankie Valli solo hit on Private Stock, while “December 1963 (Oh What Night),” written while they were at Motown, became a group No. 1 at Warner Bros. Both songs retained their Jobete Publishing copyright.
The rest of the music they left behind at Motown has endured. Rejoice, Seasons fans. The Motown Years is finally here.

Now available at: http://www.hip-oselect.com/scr.public.productdetails.asp?product_id=693CB7F0-EFCD-40A8-9562-0F974A1C193E