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Frankie Valli (born Francis Casteluccio) had been hard at work trying to become a star for the better part of a decade before the Four Seasons achieved their breakthrough. They had come together as a group in several stages over the previous four years, changing their name in 1961 from the Four Lovers after failing an audition at a New Jersey bowling alley called The Four Seasons. It was keyboard player Bob Gaudio who wrote the song that would launch the group’s career. He later told Billboard magazine that he banged out “Sherry” in 15 minutes before a scheduled rehearsal. Without a tape recorder, Gaudio explained, “I drove down to rehearsal humming it, trying to keep it in my mind. I had no intention of keeping the lyrics, [but] to my surprise, everybody liked them, so we didn’t change anything.”
“Sherry” was released as a single in August 1962 and made it all the way to the top of the pop charts just four weeks later, on September 15. In the next six months, the Four Seasons would earn two more #1 hits with “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like A Man,” making them the only American group ever to earn three consecutive #1 hits. “Rag Doll” gave the group its fourth #1 in the summer of 1964, and many other Top 40 hits followed in the subsequent 12 years before the Four Seasons made a triumphant return to the top of the pop charts with their fifth #1 hit “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” in March 1976.
“Sherry” was released as a single in August 1962 and made it all the way to the top of the pop charts just four weeks later, on September 15. In the next six months, the Four Seasons would earn two more #1 hits with “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like A Man,” making them the only American group ever to earn three consecutive #1 hits. “Rag Doll” gave the group its fourth #1 in the summer of 1964, and many other Top 40 hits followed in the subsequent 12 years before the Four Seasons made a triumphant return to the top of the pop charts with their fifth #1 hit “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” in March 1976.
The Four Seasons earn their first #1 hit with “Sherry”
Posted from history.com
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Classic performance - The 4 Seasons performing 'Sherry'
Thank you my friend TSgt Joe C. for reminding us that the very talented Frankie Valli and The Four Season that on September 15, 1962, they started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sherry', it made No.8 in the UK.
"This was originally called "Terry." The group loved it and performed it over the telephone for their producer, Bob Crewe, who liked everything about it but the name. After considering "Jackie" (after Jackie Kennedy), and "Peri" (after a record label Crewe had a stake in), the group changed the name of the song to "Sherry," after Cheri Spector, the daughter of one of Crewe's best friends, a DJ named Jack Spector."
Sherry
Lyrics
"Sherry, Sherry baby
Sherry, Sherry baby
Sherry baby (sherry baby) baby (Sherry baby)
Sherry can you come out tonight?
(Come, come, come out tonight)
Sherry baby (Sherry baby)
Sherry can you come out tonight?
(Why don't you come out, come out)
Come out to my twist party
(Come out) Where the bright lights shine
(Come out) We'll dance the night away
I'm gonna make you mine
Sherry baby (Sherry baby)
Sherry can you come out tonight
(Come come, come out tonight)
(Come come, come out tonight)
You'd better ask your mama (Sherry baby)
Tell her everything is alright
(Why don't you come out, come out)
With your red dress on
(Come out) Mmm. you look so fine
(Ccome out) Move it nice and easy
Girl, you make me lose my mind
Sherry baby (sherry baby) baby (Sherry baby)
Sherry can you come out tonight?
(Come, come, come out tonight)
(Come, come, come out tonight)
Sherry, Sherry baby
(Come, come, come out tonight)
Sherry, Sherry baby
(Come, come, come out tonight)
Sherry"
Background from songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1935
"This was originally called "Terry." The group loved it and performed it over the telephone for their producer, Bob Crewe, who liked everything about it but the name. After considering "Jackie" (after Jackie Kennedy), and "Peri" (after a record label Crewe had a stake in), the group changed the name of the song to "Sherry," after Cheri Spector, the daughter of one of Crewe's best friends, a DJ named Jack Spector.
Bob Gaudio, who was the organist/singer with The Four Seasons, wrote this song and quickly became the group's primary songwriter. Previously a member of The Royal Teens (Short Shorts), he formed The Four Seasons with Frankie Valli the previous year. According to Gaudio, this song came to him very quickly, and he wrote it in less than 15 minutes. He says it took the group longer to decide upon a name for the song than it took him to write it.
When The Four Seasons wrote and recorded a demo of this song, they didn't have a record deal. Frankie Valli was friends with Randy Wood, who was the West Coast Sales Manager for Vee Jay Records. Vee Jay was a owned by a black couple and had a lot of success distributing Doo-Wop and R&B songs in the '50s. Their only Pop hit to this point was Gene Chandler's "Duke Of Earl." Valli played the song for Wood over the phone, and Wood loved it. Valli sent him a copy, and Wood took it to a local DJ named Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg, who played it on his show. Listeners flooded the station with calls, and the song was released on Vee Jay, where it became a massive hit. The Four Seasons never had an official contract with Vee Jay - they submitted material to the label song by song for distribution - and after 7 more Top-40 hits with the label, The Four Seasons sued over non-payment of royalties and signed with Mercury/Philips. Vee Jay went under, leaving behind a legacy as the most successful black-owned record label pre-Motown, and as the first American label to distribute The Beatles.
In composing songs for The Four Seasons, Gaudio and the group's arranger Charlie Callello analyzed the hot songs of the era, and tried to incorporate elements of those into "Sherry." This meant big production, a girl's name in the title, and a storyline where our hero is begging the girl to come out with him. They even got The Twist craze into the song, inviting Sherry to the "Twist Party." The result was a very contemporary, commercial sound that provided a template for many future hits for the Four Seasons.
Frankie Valli's soaring falsetto vocals were a big part of the group's sound, which was emphasized in the packaging of this song and album, which was credited to "Four Seasons featuring The Sound Of Frankie Valli."
As "Sherry"'s reign on the charts was ending after an astonishing five weeks at #1, The Four Seasons released another single that spent another five weeks at #1: "Big Girls Don't Cry." It was recorded in a session that produced the group's first album as the Four Seasons: Sherry And 11 Others.
Before breaking through with this hit, the group was known by a few different names, including The Four Lovers and The Varietones. They did make an Ed Sullivan Show appearance as The Four Lovers, but couldn't score a hit. The group ended up singing backup on songs for other artists, including Danny & The Juniors and Johnny Halo. They spent much of the summer of 1962 performing local New Jersey bars before "Sherry" hit it big."
The 4 Seasons - Sherry live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myIG9PEwXZw
FYI Debbie Pomeroy Cloud Kathlean KeeslerSGT Tim Fridley (Join to see) Michael Horne SSG David Andrews SGT Mark Halmrast CW5 Jack Cardwell Cynthia CroftSPC Gary Welch SGT Rick Colburn SMSgt Tom Burns SP5 Geoffrey Vannerson SPC Paul C. SFC Stephen Lucas MSgt Dale Johnson Capt (Join to see) CWO3 Randy Weston Alan K.
"This was originally called "Terry." The group loved it and performed it over the telephone for their producer, Bob Crewe, who liked everything about it but the name. After considering "Jackie" (after Jackie Kennedy), and "Peri" (after a record label Crewe had a stake in), the group changed the name of the song to "Sherry," after Cheri Spector, the daughter of one of Crewe's best friends, a DJ named Jack Spector."
Sherry
Lyrics
"Sherry, Sherry baby
Sherry, Sherry baby
Sherry baby (sherry baby) baby (Sherry baby)
Sherry can you come out tonight?
(Come, come, come out tonight)
Sherry baby (Sherry baby)
Sherry can you come out tonight?
(Why don't you come out, come out)
Come out to my twist party
(Come out) Where the bright lights shine
(Come out) We'll dance the night away
I'm gonna make you mine
Sherry baby (Sherry baby)
Sherry can you come out tonight
(Come come, come out tonight)
(Come come, come out tonight)
You'd better ask your mama (Sherry baby)
Tell her everything is alright
(Why don't you come out, come out)
With your red dress on
(Come out) Mmm. you look so fine
(Ccome out) Move it nice and easy
Girl, you make me lose my mind
Sherry baby (sherry baby) baby (Sherry baby)
Sherry can you come out tonight?
(Come, come, come out tonight)
(Come, come, come out tonight)
Sherry, Sherry baby
(Come, come, come out tonight)
Sherry, Sherry baby
(Come, come, come out tonight)
Sherry"
Background from songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1935
"This was originally called "Terry." The group loved it and performed it over the telephone for their producer, Bob Crewe, who liked everything about it but the name. After considering "Jackie" (after Jackie Kennedy), and "Peri" (after a record label Crewe had a stake in), the group changed the name of the song to "Sherry," after Cheri Spector, the daughter of one of Crewe's best friends, a DJ named Jack Spector.
Bob Gaudio, who was the organist/singer with The Four Seasons, wrote this song and quickly became the group's primary songwriter. Previously a member of The Royal Teens (Short Shorts), he formed The Four Seasons with Frankie Valli the previous year. According to Gaudio, this song came to him very quickly, and he wrote it in less than 15 minutes. He says it took the group longer to decide upon a name for the song than it took him to write it.
When The Four Seasons wrote and recorded a demo of this song, they didn't have a record deal. Frankie Valli was friends with Randy Wood, who was the West Coast Sales Manager for Vee Jay Records. Vee Jay was a owned by a black couple and had a lot of success distributing Doo-Wop and R&B songs in the '50s. Their only Pop hit to this point was Gene Chandler's "Duke Of Earl." Valli played the song for Wood over the phone, and Wood loved it. Valli sent him a copy, and Wood took it to a local DJ named Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg, who played it on his show. Listeners flooded the station with calls, and the song was released on Vee Jay, where it became a massive hit. The Four Seasons never had an official contract with Vee Jay - they submitted material to the label song by song for distribution - and after 7 more Top-40 hits with the label, The Four Seasons sued over non-payment of royalties and signed with Mercury/Philips. Vee Jay went under, leaving behind a legacy as the most successful black-owned record label pre-Motown, and as the first American label to distribute The Beatles.
In composing songs for The Four Seasons, Gaudio and the group's arranger Charlie Callello analyzed the hot songs of the era, and tried to incorporate elements of those into "Sherry." This meant big production, a girl's name in the title, and a storyline where our hero is begging the girl to come out with him. They even got The Twist craze into the song, inviting Sherry to the "Twist Party." The result was a very contemporary, commercial sound that provided a template for many future hits for the Four Seasons.
Frankie Valli's soaring falsetto vocals were a big part of the group's sound, which was emphasized in the packaging of this song and album, which was credited to "Four Seasons featuring The Sound Of Frankie Valli."
As "Sherry"'s reign on the charts was ending after an astonishing five weeks at #1, The Four Seasons released another single that spent another five weeks at #1: "Big Girls Don't Cry." It was recorded in a session that produced the group's first album as the Four Seasons: Sherry And 11 Others.
Before breaking through with this hit, the group was known by a few different names, including The Four Lovers and The Varietones. They did make an Ed Sullivan Show appearance as The Four Lovers, but couldn't score a hit. The group ended up singing backup on songs for other artists, including Danny & The Juniors and Johnny Halo. They spent much of the summer of 1962 performing local New Jersey bars before "Sherry" hit it big."
The 4 Seasons - Sherry live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myIG9PEwXZw
FYI Debbie Pomeroy Cloud Kathlean KeeslerSGT Tim Fridley (Join to see) Michael Horne SSG David Andrews SGT Mark Halmrast CW5 Jack Cardwell Cynthia CroftSPC Gary Welch SGT Rick Colburn SMSgt Tom Burns SP5 Geoffrey Vannerson SPC Paul C. SFC Stephen Lucas MSgt Dale Johnson Capt (Join to see) CWO3 Randy Weston Alan K.
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