I have long since been a fan of Frankie and his unique vocal talents but I had never seen him perform live before. He did not disappoint. He was fantastic.
Frankie was born Francis Stephen Castelluccio in Newark, New Jersey in 1934, so he was alive the last time a Brit won the Men's Singles at Wimbledon (sorry Andy)
This now makes him 78 but his appearance and voice have not altered much over the years
As he came on stage to the instantly recognisable intro to 'Grease' it was evident we were in for a special evening. Hit after hit followed from the early days including 'Dawn', 'Save It For Me', 'Tell It To The Rain' and 'Working My Way Back To You'
Then a slight break in tempo as he sang one of my all-time favourite songs 'My Eyes Adored You' and we were all "carrying her books back from school over Barnegat Bridge and Bay"
Classics like 'Fallen Angel', 'Beggin' ' and 'Swearin' To God' followed and with a tip of the hat to 'Old Blue Eyes' a wonderful rendition of 'I've Got You Under My Skin' made famous by Sinatra
As if he did not have enough of his own hits he then did a selection of great 60s songs by other artists including 'Call Me', 'Spanish Harlem', 'Let It Be Me' and a medley of 'My Girl' and 'Groovin' '
The crowd were on their feet by this time and people were dancing in front of the stage as the real 'biggies' started to come out. 'Who Loves you', 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' (a song I love and which is used in my favourite movie The Deer Hunter and over the years has become my personal 'party piece') and then 'December 63 (Oh What A Night)' which brought out the best in his superb backing band and the new, young, good looking backing singers who were not the Seasons but performed admirably
Just when we thought he was running out of hits along came 'Sherry', 'Big Girls Don't Cry', 'Let's Hang On', 'Rag Doll' and the wonderful 'Walk Like A Man'. "No woman's worth crawlin' on the earth"...sound advice Frankie, sound advice
'Bye Bye Baby' was particularly popular in Glasgow as imaginary Bay City Roller tartan scarves were waved in the air
This list has been done from memory so the order of the songs is not accurate and there are almost certainly some highlights I have missed but I have to say this was the best concert I have seen in a long time, a feeling which seemed to be shared by the rest of the audience as they left
Frankie Valli and the other original members of The Four Seasons were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999, accolades which due to the depth and quality of their output were undoubtedly deserved.
He has even had a musical made about his life and I think it is time I made the effort to go and see Jersey Boys which apparently is very good
Being a Jersey Boy, Frankie even managed to play the part of Rusty Millio in The Sopranos, although I did see him come to an unfortunate end recently on the rerun of the series on Sky Atlantic
I would just like to end this week by saying thank you to Mr Valli for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
You are indeed just too good to be true!
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