50 years ago: The Four Seasons hit #1 with “Sherry”

Sherry The Four Seasons

Writer(s): Bob Gaudio (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 18, 1962 Peak: 15 US, 17 CB, 13 GR, 15 HR, 11 RB, 8 UK, 15 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 17.42 video, 89.5 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Four Seasons appeared to be an overnight success when “Sherry” bounded to #1 in only four weeks, but Frankie Valli (born Francis Castellucio) had been working for a decade and put together the first version of the Four Seasons in 1955. They took the name from a bowling alley in New Jersey. The group went through various line-ups and recorded under a variety of names as well as singing backup for others, including Bobby Darin, Freddy Cannon, and Danny & the Juniors. FB The line-up which recorded “Sherry” was in place in 1961. It included Bob Gaudio who Valli met in 1958 on a Baltimore TV show on which both of their groups appeared. Also essential to the group was songwriter and producer Bob Crewe, who Valli met that same year when recording the solo song “I Go Ape.” FB The Four Seasons released “Bermuda” in 1961 through Goldner’s Gone Records. It didn’t chart, but their next effort – through Vee Jay – gave them their breakout hit. FB Vee Jay had success with doo-wop and R&B in the ‘50s, but their only pop hit at the time was Gene Chandler’s “Duke of Earl.” When Valli played “Sherry” over the phone for Randy Wood, the company’s West Coast Sales Manager, he loved it and took it to local DJ Dick “Huggy Boy” Hugg. After Hugg played it on his show, the station was flooded with calls. SF This is the “Belmonts-meets-Beach Boys on Maurice Williams’ turf.” DM That “plunk-plunk rhythm…sets up the real action, in the drums and tambourine which dance their asses off while Frankie Valli’s falsetto heads to the stratosphere.” DM “Sherry” was written in 15 minutes. Gaudio explained, “I was ready to leave for a rehearsal…and I sat at the piano and it just came out. Not having a tape recorder in those days, the only way I could remember it was to put a quick lyric to it and remember the melody and the words together. I drove down to the rehearsal humming it, trying to keep it in my mind. I had no intention of keeping the lyrics. To my surprise, everybody like the the lyrics so we didn’t change anything.” FB Apparently everything was in place but the title. Gaudio had used “Terry” as a placekeeper, but the group also considered “Jackie” in honor of then-first lady Jackie Kennedy. SJ When the group performed it for Crewe over the phone, he said he liked it, but wanted to change the name. They also considered “Peri Baby.” WK Crewe’s friend, New York City DJ Jack Spector, suggested “Cheri” after his three-year-old daughter SJ and that’s the name that stuck, albeit with a spelling change. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Four Seasons FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 117. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Page 188. SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Brothers, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 63. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 3/14/2021; last updated 4/16/2023.

Today in Music (1962): Gene Chandler hit #1 with “Duke of Earl”

Duke of Earl Gene Chandler

Writer(s): Bernice Williams, Eugene Dixon, Earl Edwards (see lyrics here) Released: November 1961 First Charted: January 8, 1962 Peak: 13 BB, 15 CB, 13 GR, 15 HR, 15 RB, 13 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 26.59 video, 32.83 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Eugene Dixon grew up listening to doo-wop in Chicago. In high school, he performed with a group called the Gaytones. They won a talent contest which led to a singing job with a local radio program. Another local group, the Dukays, asked Dixon to join them. One night, a woman named Bernice Williams saw the group and introduced them to Bill “Bunky” Sheppard, who signed them to Nat Records. FB The song “Duke of Earl” grew out of a vocal exercise in which the group warmed up their pipes singing “ah ah ah” and “doo doo doo” in shifting pitch. Dixon turned the latter into “duke, duke, duke” and added the name Earl, the Dukays’ baritone singer, to create “Duke of Earl.” SF The song tells the tale of him “telling a girl that nothing can stop him, and she’ll be safe as long as she has the Duke of Earl by her side.” SF While the producer and the group loved the song, the label didn’t like the song and released “Night Owl” from the same session instead. FB The song wasn’t done, though. Calvin Carter, the A&R man for rival record company Vee Jay, loved the song and called Ewart Abner, the president, in Paris about getting the okay to purchase the song from Nat Records. FB Abner didn’t even listen to the song, but gave the Carter the okay because if it was important enough to call France, the song must be good. FB Dixon was signed to Nat Records as a member of the Dukays, but could record as a solo artist for Vee Jay. He shortened his first name to Gene and took the last name Chandler after his favorite actor, Jeff Chandler. FB The song became the label’s first million seller. Chandler would dress in a cape, top hat, and monocle to promote the song. FB Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 104. SF Songfacts Related Links: First posted 3/14/2021; last updated 5/12/2025.