The Four Lads

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The Four Lads is a Canadian vocal ensemble that was successful in traditional American pop music in the 1950s , with influences from the earlier big band and swing era, particularly in Canada and the USA.

prehistory

The band members already knew each other from the boys' choir at St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto , where they learned to sing in John Ronan's school and performed gospel songs . At first it was Corrado "Connie" Codarini, John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish, Rudi Maugeri and John Perkins, who in their spare time called the "Otnorots" (Toronto read backwards) and the "Jordonaires" (not to be confused with the "Jordanaires") who later became known as the background group for Elvis Presley ) appeared.

Career

Maugeri and Perkins left the band very quickly - they later became members of the Crew-Cuts - but James "Jimmy" Arnold and Frank Busseri joined them in 1947 and the four initially founded "The Four Dukes" with this line-up. Jimmy Arnold sang the main voice as tenor, Frank Busseri sang as baritone, Connie Codarini as bass and Bernie Toorish as tenor. Toorish also acted as the band's arranger . As was customary at the time, the band initially had engagements in clubs and hotels in their hometown. In an impromptu appearance at the Casino Theater in Toronto, they imitated the now famous Golden Gate Quartet without knowing that Orlandus Wilson from the Golden Gates was in the audience. Wilson was so impressed with the performance that he immediately called his manager Mike Stewart in New York and held the phone in the direction of the stage. Stewart agreed to Wilson's proposal and signed the young quartet unseen.

Mike Stewart immediately got the band an engagement at Le Ruban Bleu in Harlem , one of New York's finest nightclubs. The two-week engagement, which had been agreed on as a trial, turned into around 30 weeks. However, the owner of the club pointed out to the quartet that there was already a band in Detroit called "The Four Dukes". Thereupon Arnold, Busseri, Codarini and Toorish renamed themselves "The Four Lads".

During their time at Le Ruban Bleu, The Four Lads were discovered by Mitch Miller , who was constantly on the lookout for talent for the renowned Columbia Records . He initially offered them to make recordings as a background group for his artists. So they had their first commercial success in the fall of 1951 for Okeh Records , a subsidiary of Columbia, as the back-up of Johnnie Ray on his record Cry , and the B-side The Little White Cloud That Cried . Both songs were arranged by Bernie Toorish. Since Johnnie Ray himself was still a newcomer at the time, nobody had expected the success beforehand: Cry stayed at number 1 in the US charts for eleven weeks, Little White Cloud for two weeks at number 2. Ray immediately switched to Mother label Columbia Records. 1952 followed three more hits for the Lads in the background of Johnnie Ray: Please Mr. Sun , which reached number 6 in the charts, Here Am I Brokenhearted (number 8) and What's the Use (number 13). When Doris Day , one of Columbia's most successful stars, recorded two of the ballads from the Walt Disney cartoon Peter Pan , they accompanied the Four Lads in the background.

In the same year, Mitch Miller produced the Four Lads for Okeh Records, their own debut single, The Mocking Bird , which climbed to number 23 on the US charts in the summer of 1952. The Lads then switched to their mother label Columbia and released their next single Somebody Loves Me , which reached number 22 in the charts. In 1953 the breakthrough came for the Four Lads: Istanbul (Not Constantinople) made it to number 10 in the charts and earned them the first gold record . In the same year, Down by the Riverside was released (number 17 on the charts). In the fall of 1954, the Lads achieved their first top 10 placement (7th place) with Skokiaan , an African-influenced song named after a tribal Zulu drink . In addition, they remained active as a background group, including the play Rain, Rain, Rain by Frankie Laine , which also appeared in 1954 and had been arranged by Bernie Toorish.

Mitch Miller, who continued to choose the Four Lads repertoire, had a flair for hits. That finally became evident in 1955, when they landed at number 2 on the US singles chart with the ballad Moments to Remember and recorded their second gold record. In 1956, No Not Much followed with the same result and Standin 'on the Corner (Watching All the Girls Go By) , which reached number 3 on the charts. The latter song came from the Broadway musical The Most Happy Fella , penned by Frank Loesser .

The band's notoriety increased through appearances on well-known television programs such as the Perry Como and Dave Garroway Show . Although success for traditional vocal ensembles became increasingly difficult to achieve with the advent of rock 'n' roll , the Four Lads continued to stay in the charts until the late 1950s. Between 1951 and 1959, 28 of their singles reached chart positions. Five of these were gold records: Istanbul (1953), Moments to Remember (1955), No, Not Much (1956), Standin 'on the Corner (1956) and Who Needs You? (1957). When Standin 'on the Corner appeared again in 1960, the Four Lads achieved their only chart success in Great Britain, with a number 32 in the UK charts.

In 1962, Connie Codarini left the band and opened Penny's Poorhouse , a restaurant named after his wife , in Medina, Ohio . It was for him that Johnny D'Arc came to the Four Lads. In the early 1970s, Bernie Toorish retired and became an insurance agent. Sid Edwards joined the band for him. In the 1980s, Jimmy Arthur also left the band to give voice lessons from then on. As the only founding member, Frank Bussari continued the band, which played in engagements in American and Canadian clubs.

After the first member of the second generation, Johnny D'Arc, died in 1999, Jimmy Arnold died of lung cancer on January 15, 2004 in Sacramento at the age of 72. Connie Codarini died on April 28, 2010 at the age of 80 in Concord , North Carolina . Frank Busseri died on January 28, 2019 at the age of 86 in Rancho Mirage , California .

Honors

In 1975 Billboard Magazine recognized the Four Lads with a 167th place in its list of the top 200 recordings of the past 30 years .

In 1984 the Four Lads were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame as part of the Juno Awards ceremony . At the same time they received, together with the Crew-Cuts and the Diamonds , the Juno Award for their life's work.

In 2003 the Four Lads were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame .

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