The Four Lads
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| The Four Lads | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genre(s) | Traditional Pop |
| Years active | 1950-Present |
| Label(s) | Okeh, Columbia |
| Website | www.the4lads.com |
| Former members | |
| Corrado "Connie" Codarini John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish James F. "Jimmy" Arnold Frank Busseri |
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The Four Lads is a Canadian male singing quartet. They grew up together in Toronto, Ontario, and were members of St. Michael's Choir School, where they learned to sing. The founding members were Corrado "Connie" Codarini, bass; John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish (born March 2, 1931), tenor; James F. "Jimmy" Arnold, (January 4, 1932 - June 15, 2004) lead; and Frank Busseri, baritone and group manager. Codarini and Toorish had formed a group with two other St. Michael's students, Rudi Maugeri and John Perkins, who were later to become founding members of another group, The Crew-Cuts.
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[edit] History
The group was known variously as The Otnorots (a name taken from the name "Toronto" spelled backwards) and The Jordonaires (not to be confused with a similarly named group, The Jordanaires, that was known for singing background vocals on Elvis Presley's hits). When Maugeri and Perkins left the group to concentrate on their schoolwork, Codarini and Toorish joined with Arnold and Busseri in a new quartet. At home, they practiced until they achieved their clean-cut harmonies, whether for spirituals, sacred music, or pop. They originally called themselves The Four Dukes but found out that a Detroit group already used that name, so changed it to The Four Lads. In 1950 they began to sing in local clubs and soon were noticed by scouts. Recruited to go to New York, they were noticed by Mitch Miller, who asked them to do backup for some of the artists he recorded. One of these artists, Johnnie Ray, became a major hit in 1951 with Cry and The Little White Cloud that Cried with the Four Lads backing him. This made them well known.
Their first single was The Mocking Bird on Columbia's Okeh label (master #ZSP-9710), released in 1952, with I May Hate Myself in the Morning (#ZSP-9711) on the B-side. The Mocking Bird was rerecorded for release on the Columbia label twice in subsequent years during the 1950s.
In 1953 they made their own first gold record,[1] Istanbul (Not Constantinople), which launched them to stardom and kept them busy throughout the 50s and 60s in the U.S. and Canada. Today, a reconstituted group, with original singer Frank Busseri, sings to the nostalgia crowds.
Their most famous hit was Moments to Remember in 1955,[2] and their next best known was Standin' on the Corner, from the Broadway musical production The Most Happy Fella, in 1956. A gospel album with Frankie Laine took them back to their roots and produced the hit single Rain, Rain, Rain. Their songs have appeared on numerous compilations and re-issues in the 90s and 2000s.
Corrado Codarini was replaced in 1962 by Johnny D'Arc (who remained with the Lads until 1980), and Sid Edwards replaced Bernie Toorish in the early 1970s.
Jimmy Arnold died of lung cancer in Sacramento, California at the age of 72. John D'Arc died in 1999 at the age of 60.
[edit] Awards and recognition
In 1984 The Four Lads were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).[3] They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.[4]
[edit] Gold records
- "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" (recorded August 12, 1953)
- "Moments to Remember" (recorded June 21, 1955)
- "No, Not Much" (recorded November 16, 1955)
- "Standin' on the Corner" (recorded March 1, 1956)
- "Who Needs You?" (recorded October 18, 1956)
[edit] Other records
- "The Mocking Bird"/"Won'cha" (recorded April 16, 1952, redone in 1958) Columbia 4-41266
- "Down by the Riverside" (recorded January 30, 1953)
- "Gilly, Gilly, Ossenfeffer, Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea" (recorded February 27, 1954)
- "Skokiaan" (recorded August 4, 1954)
- "No, Not Much" (recorded November 16, 1955)/"I'll Never Know" (recorded June 21, 1955)- Columbia 4-40629
- "My Little Angel" (recorded February 29, 1956) (flip side of "Standin' on the Corner") - Columbia 4-40674
- "A House with Love in It"/"The Bus Stop Song" (recorded July 17, 1956)-Columbia 4-40736
- "I'll Never Know" (1956)
- "I Just Don't Know" (recorded April 4, 1957)
- "Who Needs You"/"It's So Easy to Forget" - Columbia 4-40811 1956
- "Put a Light in the Window" (recorded October 27, 1957)
- "There's Only One of You" (recorded February 16, 1958)
- "Enchanted Island" (recorded February 16, 1958)
- "The Girl on Page 44" (recorded November 1958)
- "Happy Anniversary" (recorded September 23, 1959)
- "The Fountain of Youth" (1959)
- "Got a Locket in My Pocket"/"The Real Thing" - Columbia 4-41443 1959
- "Giuggiola (Joo Joo Lah)" (1961)
- "I Should Know Better/555 Times- Kapp 404 1961
- "Winter Snow" - Dot (1962; based on "Midnight In Moscow")
- That Great Gettin' Up Mornin' (Sony, September 1, 1995)
[edit] See also
- Canadian rock
- Music of Canada
- Dodge City's 50's School
[edit] References
- ^ "Gold & Platinum certification of albums at RIAA". www.riaa.com. http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/search_results.asp. Retrieved on 26 November, 2006.
- ^ "U.S. Billboard chart rankings". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_index.jsp. Retrieved on 26 November, 2006.
- ^ Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 22 February, 2009.
- ^ "Vocal Group Hall of Fame inductees". vocalgroup.org. http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees.htm. Retrieved on 26 November, 2006.
