Bob Crewe
Encyclopedia
Bob Crewe is an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager
, record producer and fine artist. He is known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio
, a string of Top 10 singles for The Four Seasons
. He is equally known for his hit recordings with The Rays
, Diane Renay
, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Freddy Cannon
, Lesley Gore
, Oliver
, Michael Jackson
, Bobby Darin
, Roberta Flack
, Peabo Bryson
, Patti LaBelle
and his own The Bob Crewe Generation.
, New Jersey
, Crewe demonstrated an early and apparent gift for both art and music. Although lacking in formal musical training, he instinctively gravitated to learning from many of the great 19th and 20th century classical romantic composers as well as giants of jazz and swing, including Stan Kenton
, Harry James
, Duke Ellington
, Benny Goodman
, and Tommy Dorsey
. He studied for almost a year at Parsons School of Design in New York City with the intention of eventually pursuing a career in architecture.
After a European trip as a young man, Crewe returned to the U.S. and landed a succession of recording contracts as a solo singing artist. Although gifted with movie star-worthy good looks, a powerful singing voice, distinctive style and pop star aspirations, his gifts as a songwriter and entrepreneur were to bring him his greatest attention, success and acclaim.
for their XYZ label (picked up nationally by Cameo Records
) produced two big song hits. Produced by Crewe, the record's A-side, "Silhouettes
", became a doo-wop
anthem of the era. Climbing to #3 on The Billboard Hot 100 for 1957, "Silhouettes" displayed the flair for story-driven lyrics, innovative musical "hooks," and a final lyrical twist that were to become known as Crewe trademarks. In 1965, with a slightly faster tempo, "Silhouettes" became a hit again for the British group Herman's Hermits
, reaching #5 on The Billboard Hot 100. Although Bob Dylan also recorded "Silhouettes" during his legendary Basement Tapes sessions of the late '60s, that version remains unreleased.
"Daddy Cool
" was the B side of that same 1957 session. The song, also written and produced by Crewe-Slay, achieved considerable note. Both "Daddy Cool" and "Silhouettes" were covered the same year by the Canadian group The Diamonds
. The Diamonds' version of "Daddy Cool" reached #10 on the Billboard charts
. In 1961, Guy "Daddy Cool" Darrell released another single version on the Warwick label. In 1977, the UK band Darts
made the song their first-ever studio recording and, released as a single, it hit #6.
Crewe and Slay built on those successes with a deal with new Philadelphia-based Swan Records
. Sessions with Billy and Lillie, singers Billy Ford and Lillie Bryant, produced in 1958 the hit "Lah Dee Dah", which reached the #9 position on The Billboard Hot 100; the following year, Billy and Lillie's recording of "Lucky Ladybug" hit #14.
Also for Swan Records
, Crewe and Slay helped continue the rise of hard-driving, raucous popular singer Freddy Cannon
with their Top Ten hits "Tallahassee Lassie" and "Okefenokee."
As a solo singer, Bob Crewe recorded in 1961 a pair of albums, one of which produced a Ralph Burns-produced swing version of Yale University's signature "The Whiffenpoof Song". The record became a major hit in New York and led to Crewe's receiving "teen heartthrob" coverage in such popular teen magazines as 16 Magazine
and to guest appearances with Mickey Rooney
and Connie Francis
on such TV variety shows as the Emmy-winning The Revlon Revue.
Throughout the Fifties and into the Sixties, Crewe, known as much for his musical talent and drive as for his good looks, also achieved success as a top fashion model. Among the young women with whom he did print layouts were actresses-to-be Sandra Dee
and Carol Lynley
. As singer Diane Renay
said in a recent interview on the website chachacharming.com, "(Bob Crewe) was the most incredibly handsome man I had ever met. He exuded talent, culture and sexuality . . . people just seemed to gather around him and follow him wherever he went. When he walked into a room, his presence was like a magnet . . . you know how kids in elementary school are often asked to write a paper about the most unforgettable character they have ever met? Well, Bob Crewe was it for me."
, who had risen to fame at age 15 when, as a member of the Royal Teens
, he co-wrote the hit "Short Shorts." The first Crewe-Gaudio collaboration, "Sherry
," was written by Gaudio and produced by Crewe. It became a #1 single in 1962 for The Four Seasons
(fronted by Frankie Valli
). The pair wrote many other songs for the group, including the #1 hits "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Rag Doll" and "Walk Like a Man," as well as "Ronnie", "Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye)
" and "Connie-O."
Crewe collaborated with Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell
on The Four Seasons hit "Let's Hang On!
." The Four Seasons were also the first to record the enduring Crewe-Gaudio composition "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)", later covered virtually note-for-note by the American singing group The Walker Brothers
, who recorded their #1 selling version in England; their version made the American Top 10 as well. The Crewe-Gaudio collaborations capitalized on the extraordinary and distinctive voice of Frankie Valli, who could effortlessly swoop to a soaring, piercing, emotionally-expressive falsetto that became one of the emblematic and widely-imitated sounds of the era. Record sales racked up by The Four Seasons are estimated as being between anywhere from 100 million to 199 million.
As the "Four Seasons sound" became more and more defined, other signature touches emerged, including dense but pristine-sounding percussion, military-sounding march cadences and drum-stomp of "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man," and the other-worldly glissandos of "Candy Girl". The sophisticated harmonic patterns of The Four Seasons punctuated by the distinctive falsetto of Frankie Valli were at once classic and innovative, as were Crewe's use of a melancholy harmonica in "Big Man in Town
" and the space-era organ of "Save It For Me
".
In addition to his work with The Four Seasons, Crewe also oversaw recording sessions by such artists as Dee Dee Sharp
, the Orlons
, and Ben E. King
. He also cowrote "Navy Blue
" (with Bud Rehak and Eddie Rambeau
) and produced the record for singer Diane Renay
. Renay's recording made the top ten on the US pop chart in early 1964, and number one on the adult contemporary chart.
In 1960, he appeared as himself in NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven
, starring Skip Homeier
and set on the Sunset Strip
of West Hollywood
.
. With the release of the 1965 hit Concrete and Clay
by Eddie Rambeau
, DynoVoice launched a run of twenty-one Top 100 hits. The label found early success with the R&B trio The Toys
, best known for their single "A Lover's Concerto
", a #2 hit single, and "Attack." The Toys were produced by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer for executive producer Crewe. Writing about "A Lover's Concerto", based on a melody inspired by "Minuet in G major
", critic Dave Thompson observed, "Few records are this perfect. Riding across one of the most deceptively hook-laden melodies ever conceived ... 'A Lover’s Concerto' marks the apogee of the Girl Group sound." The song has been subsequently recorded by The Lennon Sisters
, The Delfonics
, Sarah Vaughan
, The Supremes
, Mrs. Miller
, Audrey Hall
and Kelly Chen
.
Another DynoVoice powerhouse came when Crewe in the mid-60s discovered a band called Billy Lee & The Rivieras. The group had limited success until he renamed them Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels. Under his direction, they scored eleven Top 100 hits, most notably Crewe's powerful and muscular arrangements of "Devil with a Blue Dress On
", the group's highest-charting single at #4, as well as "Sock It to Me, Baby!", a #6 hit in 1967, and "Jenny Take a Ride", which reached #10 in 1965.
Another often-recorded song from the 1965 Linzer-Randell album by The Toys is "Can't Get Enough of You Baby
". The number, co-written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, was also recorded by the Bay City, Michigan, rock group Question Mark and the Mysterians, best known for their 1966 hit "96 Tears
". "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" has enjoyed subsequent reinterpretations by Colour Field and Smash Mouth
, among many others.
Crewe's record label scored another hit with Norma Tanega's off-beat, folksy "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog". Crewe also helped bring success to the group The Tremeloes
with their hit Epic Records
cover of "Silence Is Golden", a song originally written for and recorded by The Four Seasons.
Bob Crewe himself (recording as The Bob Crewe Generation) released the 1967 instrumental single "Music to Watch Girls By
" (originally composed as a Diet Pepsi
commercial jingle) on DynoVoice. The song became a Top 20 hit and spawned another successful instrumental version by Al Hirt
and a vocal hit by Andy Williams
. In 1967, Bob Crewe produced and wrote seven of the songs sung by Lesley Gore
on her last commercially successful album, California Nights. The Bob Crewe Generation also recorded the Bob Crewe-Charles Fox
original soundtrack for the 1968 Paramount Pictures
motion picture Barbarella
starring Jane Fonda
and directed by Roger Vadim
. The soundtrack for the cult favorite features vocals by Crewe and the group The Glitterhouse.
In 1967, Crewe and Gaudio scored one of their greatest successes with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You
", recorded by Frankie Valli with The Four Seasons. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
and earned a gold record. Subsequently, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" has been recorded by a number of international vocalists and bands through the years. The 1968 version by singer Andy Williams
climbed to #5 on the UK Singles Chart
. Also achieving chart status over the decades were such other English-language versions as those by The Lettermen
, Maureen McGovern
, and Lauryn Hill
. The song has also been heard in numerous motion pictures, including The Deer Hunter
, The Fabulous Baker Boys
, Conspiracy Theory
, 10 Things I Hate About You
, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Bridget Jones's Diary
.
In 1969, Crewe collaborated with the singer known as Oliver, including the production of his pop hit "Jean
", a song written by poet Rod McKuen
that served as theme to the Oscar-winning film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
starring Maggie Smith
. Crewe also produced a hit single of Oliver performing the optimistic "Good Morning Starshine
" from the rock musical Hair
. The song reached #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening singles surveys.
The Crewe record label released a series of well-received recordings such as Ben Bagley
's Cole Porter Revisited and Rodgers and Hart Revisited featuring vocal performances by such artists as Harold Arlen
, Elaine Stritch
, Dorothy Loudon
, Anthony Perkins
, Ann Hampton Callaway
, Bobby Short
, Jerry Orbach
, Tammy Grimes
and Blossom Dearie
.
Bob Crewe also appeared on ABC-TV's American Bandstand and also Where the Action Is, both with
Dick Clark. He was interviewed and some of his current 60's songs were played for the dancers and
crowds. Bob also once had a crewcut, then changed his blonde/reddish hairstyle. [JS]
era. The Generation's 1970 LP "Let Me Touch You", including covers of Henry Mancini's "Moon River" and "Two For The Road", remains a favorite of lounge music collectors. In 1975, Crewe wrote and produced disco material for The Eleventh Hour who had dance club success with at least three releases on 20th Century Records
: "Hollywood Hot" (45 rpm single, number: TC-2215), "Bumper to Bumper" and "Sock It To Me/It’s Your Thing".
In the mid-seventies, Crewe formed with Sir Monti Rock
III the disco club favorites Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
, best known for their 1975 successes "Get Dancin'" and "I Wanna Dance Wit' Choo". The group is referenced by Elvis Costello
in his song "Invasion Hit Parade" and by The Pet Shop Boys in their song "Electricity."
In 1977, Crewe recorded in Memphis a solo album at the insistence of producer Jerry Wexler
, who had been an early mentor of his. Barry Beckett
co-produced. The album, entitled Motivation
, was a showcase for his singing voice. Although the album did not achieve chart success, it included the great ballad "Marriage Made In Heaven" -- a collaboration between Crewe and Kenny Nolan
. The song later became popular with Carolina Beach bands. . The album also produced the song "It Took a Long Time" (For The First Time In My Life)," also recorded by Patti Labelle
.
Crewe had previously written two other hit singles with Nolan, which became back-to-back #1 records in 1975. "My Eyes Adored You
" was produced by Crewe and performed by Frankie Valli with the Four Seasons. When the record label balked at releasing it, Crewe, certain of its quality and hit potential, bought back the rights for $4000. Despite widespread rejections from music industry pundits, the song became a smash solo hit for Valli, was the #1 chart-topping song of the year.
Another memorable and enduring Bob Crewe-Kenny Nolan
collaboration, "Lady Marmalade
," recorded by Labelle
, became notorious for its sexually provocative, New Orleans-inflected chorus, "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?" The song became a radio and dance club sensation. It achieved status as the #1 chart-topper of 1975 and has since been used in numerous motion pictures including Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers, Beethoven
, Carlito's Way
, The Birdcage
, The Long Kiss Goodnight
, and Semi-Pro
.
produced another Billboard Top 100 success with the romantic duet "You're Looking Like Love To Me," sung by Roberta Flack
and Peabo Bryson
. Another Crewe-Corbetta project united them with singer-songwriter-producer Ellie Greenwich
for whom they produced the original cast album for Greenwich's Broadway musical Leader of the Pack
. The album was a Grammy Award
nominee and the show itself was nominated for a Tony Award
.
In 1985, Crewe was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
"Lady Marmalade" was re-recorded by Christina Aguilera
, Lil' Kim
, Mya and Pink
for the soundtrack of the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!
, and this version stayed at #1 in the U.S. for five weeks. It repeated the same chart position in the United Kingdom and Australia. Rolling Stone
ranked "Lady Marmalade" as the 479th greatest song of all time.
In 1999, when the US performing rights and royalties organization BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated
) announced its Top 100 Songs of the Century, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" landed in the top ten with six million airplays or BMI calculates one million continuous performances of a song of the average length (3 minutes) as representing 5.7 years of continuous airplay.
In addition to his numerous benchmarks and accolades in music, Crewe has also achieved recognition as an artist, having designed a number of album covers as well as having had highly successful one-man gallery showings of his paintings at the Earl McGrath Gallery, Thomas Soloman's Garage and Jan Baum Gallery in Los Angeles.
Since 2005, Crewe has been featured as a supporting character (played originally by Peter Gregus) in Jersey Boys
, the multiple Tony Award
-winning, long-running Broadway musical based on the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons that has gone on to become an international hit. Unlike the real-life Bob Crewe, the character in the stage production is minimized as well as portrayed as flamboyant and flighty, hardly an influential producer, lyricist, and a primary driving force behind the group's success. Although Jersey Boys also considerably downplays his songwriting contributions, Crewe is credited as the show's lyricist.
Currently, Crewe is involved in a number of new writing and producing projects.
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
, record producer and fine artist. He is known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio
Bob Gaudio
Robert John "Bob" Gaudio is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist/backing vocalist for The Four Seasons.-Early career:...
, a string of Top 10 singles for The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (group)
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...
. He is equally known for his hit recordings with The Rays
The Rays
The Rays was an American group formed in New York in 1955, and active in the 1950s. They first recorded for Chess Records. Their biggest hit single was "Silhouettes," a moderately-slow doo-wop piece of pop music that reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957, released on XYZ Records...
, Diane Renay
Diane Renay
Diane Renay , born Renee Diane Kushner, is an American pop singer, best known for her 1964 hit song, "Navy Blue".-Career:...
, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Freddy Cannon
Freddy Cannon
Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. , known as Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".-Biography:...
, Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...
, Oliver
Oliver
The surname Oliver is of several different origins.-Etymology:The surname Oliver is derived from the Old French personal name Olivier. The Oliver surname seems to be French Norman in origin. The Olivers were probably part of William the Conqueror's Norman Invasion of Britain in 1066...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
, Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...
, Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
and his own The Bob Crewe Generation.
Early years
Reared in BellevilleBelleville, New Jersey
Belleville is a Township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 35,926.-History:...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Crewe demonstrated an early and apparent gift for both art and music. Although lacking in formal musical training, he instinctively gravitated to learning from many of the great 19th and 20th century classical romantic composers as well as giants of jazz and swing, including Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
, Harry James
Harry James
Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, and Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
. He studied for almost a year at Parsons School of Design in New York City with the intention of eventually pursuing a career in architecture.
After a European trip as a young man, Crewe returned to the U.S. and landed a succession of recording contracts as a solo singing artist. Although gifted with movie star-worthy good looks, a powerful singing voice, distinctive style and pop star aspirations, his gifts as a songwriter and entrepreneur were to bring him his greatest attention, success and acclaim.
The 1950s
Crewe in 1953 met and partnered professionally with Frank Slay Jr., a young pianist from Texas. Their collaboration created several hit songs (including a small record label XYZ), for which Crewe performed as the demo singer. Crewe and Slay's 1957 recording session with The RaysThe Rays
The Rays was an American group formed in New York in 1955, and active in the 1950s. They first recorded for Chess Records. Their biggest hit single was "Silhouettes," a moderately-slow doo-wop piece of pop music that reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957, released on XYZ Records...
for their XYZ label (picked up nationally by Cameo Records
Cameo Records
Cameo was a USA based budget record label, first flourishing in the 1920s, not connected with a later record label of the same name which was active in the 1950s and 1960s.The Cameo Record Company was based in Manhattan, New York...
) produced two big song hits. Produced by Crewe, the record's A-side, "Silhouettes
Silhouettes (song)
"Silhouettes" is a song made famous by the doo-wop group The Rays in 1957. A competing version by The Diamonds was also successful, and the song was a number 5 hit in 1965 for Herman's Hermits.-Writing and Rays version:...
", became a doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
anthem of the era. Climbing to #3 on The Billboard Hot 100 for 1957, "Silhouettes" displayed the flair for story-driven lyrics, innovative musical "hooks," and a final lyrical twist that were to become known as Crewe trademarks. In 1965, with a slightly faster tempo, "Silhouettes" became a hit again for the British group Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
, reaching #5 on The Billboard Hot 100. Although Bob Dylan also recorded "Silhouettes" during his legendary Basement Tapes sessions of the late '60s, that version remains unreleased.
"Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool (The Rays song)
"Daddy Cool" was a song by US doo-wop group, The Rays and was released on Cameo Records as the B-side of their 1957 single "Silhouettes". It became a #3 hit on the Billboard Pop singles chart. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Frank Slay, who had also written the A-side, "Silhouettes"...
" was the B side of that same 1957 session. The song, also written and produced by Crewe-Slay, achieved considerable note. Both "Daddy Cool" and "Silhouettes" were covered the same year by the Canadian group The Diamonds
The Diamonds
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with sixteen Billboard hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville , Ted Kowalski , Phil Levitt , and Bill Reed .-1950s:...
. The Diamonds' version of "Daddy Cool" reached #10 on the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. In 1961, Guy "Daddy Cool" Darrell released another single version on the Warwick label. In 1977, the UK band Darts
Darts (band)
Darts were a nine-piece British doo-wop revival band that achieved chart success in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The popular London-based band had a number of UK top 20 hits including three successive Number twos with revivals of early U.S...
made the song their first-ever studio recording and, released as a single, it hit #6.
Crewe and Slay built on those successes with a deal with new Philadelphia-based Swan Records
Swan Records
Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States based record label, founded in 1957, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records....
. Sessions with Billy and Lillie, singers Billy Ford and Lillie Bryant, produced in 1958 the hit "Lah Dee Dah", which reached the #9 position on The Billboard Hot 100; the following year, Billy and Lillie's recording of "Lucky Ladybug" hit #14.
Also for Swan Records
Swan Records
Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States based record label, founded in 1957, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records....
, Crewe and Slay helped continue the rise of hard-driving, raucous popular singer Freddy Cannon
Freddy Cannon
Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. , known as Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".-Biography:...
with their Top Ten hits "Tallahassee Lassie" and "Okefenokee."
As a solo singer, Bob Crewe recorded in 1961 a pair of albums, one of which produced a Ralph Burns-produced swing version of Yale University's signature "The Whiffenpoof Song". The record became a major hit in New York and led to Crewe's receiving "teen heartthrob" coverage in such popular teen magazines as 16 Magazine
16 magazine
16 Magazine was a fan magazine based out of New York City. It was the first magazine marketed to adolescents that focused exclusively on celebrities...
and to guest appearances with Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
and Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
on such TV variety shows as the Emmy-winning The Revlon Revue.
Throughout the Fifties and into the Sixties, Crewe, known as much for his musical talent and drive as for his good looks, also achieved success as a top fashion model. Among the young women with whom he did print layouts were actresses-to-be Sandra Dee
Sandra Dee
Sandra Dee was an American actress. Dee began her career as a model and progressed to film. Best known for her portrayal of ingenues, Dee won a Golden Globe Award in 1959 as one of the year's most promising newcomers, and over several years her films were popular...
and Carol Lynley
Carol Lynley
Carol Lynley is an American actress and former child model.-Life and career:Lynley was born Carole Ann Jones in New York City, the daughter of Frances , a waitress, and Cyril Jones. Her father was Irish and her mother, a native of New England, was of English, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Native...
. As singer Diane Renay
Diane Renay
Diane Renay , born Renee Diane Kushner, is an American pop singer, best known for her 1964 hit song, "Navy Blue".-Career:...
said in a recent interview on the website chachacharming.com, "(Bob Crewe) was the most incredibly handsome man I had ever met. He exuded talent, culture and sexuality . . . people just seemed to gather around him and follow him wherever he went. When he walked into a room, his presence was like a magnet . . . you know how kids in elementary school are often asked to write a paper about the most unforgettable character they have ever met? Well, Bob Crewe was it for me."
The early 1960s
In the early 1960s, Bob Crewe began writing with Bob GaudioBob Gaudio
Robert John "Bob" Gaudio is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist/backing vocalist for The Four Seasons.-Early career:...
, who had risen to fame at age 15 when, as a member of the Royal Teens
Royal Teens
The Royal Teens were a New Jersey rock and roll band that formed in 1956, consisting of Bob Gaudio on piano, Tom Austin on drums, Billy Dalton on guitar, and Billy Crandall on saxophone. They are best known for their single "Short Shorts", which was a #3 hit in the United States in 1958. The...
, he co-wrote the hit "Short Shorts." The first Crewe-Gaudio collaboration, "Sherry
Sherry (song)
"Sherry" is a song written by Bob Gaudio and originally recorded by The Four Seasons. It was their first nationally-released single and also their first number one hit, initially reaching the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on September 15, 1962...
," was written by Gaudio and produced by Crewe. It became a #1 single in 1962 for The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (group)
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...
(fronted by Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
). The pair wrote many other songs for the group, including the #1 hits "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Rag Doll" and "Walk Like a Man," as well as "Ronnie", "Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye)
Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye)
"Bye, Bye, Baby " is a popular song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, a member of The Four Seasons whose version of the song made it to #12 on the U.S. singles charts in 1965...
" and "Connie-O."
Crewe collaborated with Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell
Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell
Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell are American songwriters who wrote numerous pop and rock songs in the 1960s and 1970s, generally working together and with Bob Crewe...
on The Four Seasons hit "Let's Hang On!
Let's Hang On!
"Let's Hang On!" is a song composed by Bob Crewe, Sandy Linzer, and Denny Randell that was popularized by The Four Seasons in 1965. The single reached the number three position in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the group's highest placement since "Rag Doll" hit the top spot in July 1964.This...
." The Four Seasons were also the first to record the enduring Crewe-Gaudio composition "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)", later covered virtually note-for-note by the American singing group The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...
, who recorded their #1 selling version in England; their version made the American Top 10 as well. The Crewe-Gaudio collaborations capitalized on the extraordinary and distinctive voice of Frankie Valli, who could effortlessly swoop to a soaring, piercing, emotionally-expressive falsetto that became one of the emblematic and widely-imitated sounds of the era. Record sales racked up by The Four Seasons are estimated as being between anywhere from 100 million to 199 million.
As the "Four Seasons sound" became more and more defined, other signature touches emerged, including dense but pristine-sounding percussion, military-sounding march cadences and drum-stomp of "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man," and the other-worldly glissandos of "Candy Girl". The sophisticated harmonic patterns of The Four Seasons punctuated by the distinctive falsetto of Frankie Valli were at once classic and innovative, as were Crewe's use of a melancholy harmonica in "Big Man in Town
Big Man in Town
"Big Man in Town" is a song popularized by The Four Seasons and written by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio. The single was released by Philips Records in October 1964 and reached the #20 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart....
" and the space-era organ of "Save It For Me
Save It for Me
"Save It for Me" is a song written by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe. A song recorded in 1964 by The Four Seasons for their Rag Doll album, it was released as the follow-up record to the album's title song, which had hit the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in July 1964...
".
In addition to his work with The Four Seasons, Crewe also oversaw recording sessions by such artists as Dee Dee Sharp
Dee Dee Sharp
Dee Dee Sharp is an American R&B singer, who began her career recording as a backing vocalist in 1961.-Career:...
, the Orlons
The Orlons
The Orlons are an American R&B group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that formed in 1960. They received gold discs for the million selling achievements of three of their singles...
, and Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
. He also cowrote "Navy Blue
Navy Blue (song)
"Navy Blue" is the name of a song written by Bob Crewe, Bud Rehak and Eddie Rambeau. The song tells the story of a girl who was lonely for her steady boyfriend while he was away from home in the U.S...
" (with Bud Rehak and Eddie Rambeau
Eddie Rambeau
Eddie Rambeau is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.-Career:While performing in a high-school musical he had written, Rambeau met songwriter and musician Bud Rehak, who went on to become his manager...
) and produced the record for singer Diane Renay
Diane Renay
Diane Renay , born Renee Diane Kushner, is an American pop singer, best known for her 1964 hit song, "Navy Blue".-Career:...
. Renay's recording made the top ten on the US pop chart in early 1964, and number one on the adult contemporary chart.
In 1960, he appeared as himself in NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven
Dan Raven
Dan Raven is a crime drama starring Skip Homeier , a former child actor in films, which aired on NBC between January 23, 1960, and January 6, 1961. The setting of the series is the famous Sunset Strip of West Hollywood, California...
, starring Skip Homeier
Skip Homeier
-Career:Homeier began acting as Skippy Homeier at the age of six, on the radio show Portia Faces Life. From 1943 until 1944 he played the role of Emil in the Broadway play, Tomorrow the World. Cast as a child indoctrinated into Nazism, who is brought to the United States from Germany following the...
and set on the Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
of West Hollywood
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...
.
The mid to late 1960s
In 1965, Crewe formed his own record label, DynoVoice RecordsDynoVoice Records
DynoVoice Records was an American record label, founded in 1965 by songwriter/producer Bob Crewe. DynoVoice, along with its NewVoice Records subsidiary, was originally distributed by Bell Records, and later by Dot Records. The label existed until 1969 when it was merged into the Crewe Group of...
. With the release of the 1965 hit Concrete and Clay
Concrete and Clay
"Concrete and Clay" is the title of a 1965 #1 hit single recorded by the UK pop group Unit 4 + 2: the song was written by group membersTommy Moeller and Brian Parker....
by Eddie Rambeau
Eddie Rambeau
Eddie Rambeau is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.-Career:While performing in a high-school musical he had written, Rambeau met songwriter and musician Bud Rehak, who went on to become his manager...
, DynoVoice launched a run of twenty-one Top 100 hits. The label found early success with the R&B trio The Toys
The Toys
The Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968.-Members:The trio consisted of:* Barbara Harris sang lead most of the time....
, best known for their single "A Lover's Concerto
A Lover's Concerto
"A Lover's Concerto" is a pop song written by American songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and recorded in 1965 by The Toys. Their version of the song was a major hit in both the United States and the UK during 1965. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #2.Critic Dave Thompson wrote,...
", a #2 hit single, and "Attack." The Toys were produced by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer for executive producer Crewe. Writing about "A Lover's Concerto", based on a melody inspired by "Minuet in G major
Minuet in G major
The Minuet in G major is a keyboard piece included in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. Until 1970 it was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach The Minuet in G major is a keyboard piece included in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. Until 1970 it was attributed to Johann Sebastian...
", critic Dave Thompson observed, "Few records are this perfect. Riding across one of the most deceptively hook-laden melodies ever conceived ... 'A Lover’s Concerto' marks the apogee of the Girl Group sound." The song has been subsequently recorded by The Lennon Sisters
The Lennon Sisters
The Lennon Sisters are a singing group consisting of four siblings: Dianne , Peggy , Kathy , and Janet . They were all born in Los Angeles, California of German/Irish and Mexican ancestry. The original quartet were the eldest four in a family of twelve siblings...
, The Delfonics
The Delfonics
The Delfonics are a pioneering Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include "La-La ", "Didn't I ", "Break Your Promise," "I'm Sorry," and "Ready or Not Here I Come "...
, Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, Mrs. Miller
Mrs. Miller
Elva Ruby Connes Miller , who recorded under the name Mrs. Miller, was an American singer who gained some fame in the 1960s for her series of shrill and off-key renditions of then-popular songs such as "Moon River", "Monday, Monday", "A Lover's Concerto" and "Downtown".Singing in an untrained,...
, Audrey Hall
Audrey Hall
-Biography:Hall began her career singing with Dandy Livingstone in the duo Dandy & Audrey. They recorded the song "Morning Side of the Mountain" in 1969, the success of which led to an album of the same name. They released a second album on the Trojan label, I Need You. Livingstone also produced...
and Kelly Chen
Kelly Chen
Kelly Chen is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. Kelly has also been known as a diva in Asia. She has a great success in Asia Entertainment industry with nearly 20 million record sales of 38 albums...
.
Another DynoVoice powerhouse came when Crewe in the mid-60s discovered a band called Billy Lee & The Rivieras. The group had limited success until he renamed them Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels. Under his direction, they scored eleven Top 100 hits, most notably Crewe's powerful and muscular arrangements of "Devil with a Blue Dress On
Devil with a Blue Dress On
"Devil with a Blue Dress On" is a song written by Shorty Long and William "Mickey" Stevenson, first performed by Long and released as a single in 1964. A 1966 cover version by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels peaked at #4 on the U.S...
", the group's highest-charting single at #4, as well as "Sock It to Me, Baby!", a #6 hit in 1967, and "Jenny Take a Ride", which reached #10 in 1965.
Another often-recorded song from the 1965 Linzer-Randell album by The Toys is "Can't Get Enough of You Baby
Can't Get Enough Of You Baby
"Can't Get Enough of You Baby" is a song written by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer and recorded by various artists, including the Protopunk band ? & the Mysterians in 1967. Their version reached # 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released as a single. The song was recorded in 1966 by The...
". The number, co-written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, was also recorded by the Bay City, Michigan, rock group Question Mark and the Mysterians, best known for their 1966 hit "96 Tears
96 Tears
"96 Tears" is a popular song recorded by ? in 1966. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and on the RPM 100 in Canada and is ranked #210 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-History:...
". "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" has enjoyed subsequent reinterpretations by Colour Field and Smash Mouth
Smash Mouth
Smash Mouth is an American rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994, and was originally composed of Steve Harwell, Greg Camp, Paul De Lisle and Kevin Coleman as lead vocals, guitar, bass and drums respectively...
, among many others.
Crewe's record label scored another hit with Norma Tanega's off-beat, folksy "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog". Crewe also helped bring success to the group The Tremeloes
The Tremeloes
The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex, and still active today.-Career:They formed as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes influenced by Buddy Holly and The Crickets...
with their hit Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
cover of "Silence Is Golden", a song originally written for and recorded by The Four Seasons.
Bob Crewe himself (recording as The Bob Crewe Generation) released the 1967 instrumental single "Music to Watch Girls By
Music to Watch Girls By
"Music to Watch Girls By" was the first Top 40 hit by Bob Crewe using his own name, recorded by his group The Bob Crewe Generation. Crewe first heard the song performed in a "jingle demo" for a Diet Pepsi commercial. The "big-band, horn driven" recording went to #15 on the pop chart and #2 on the...
" (originally composed as a Diet Pepsi
Diet Pepsi
Diet Pepsi is a no-calorie carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi-Cola with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-branded as Diet Pepsi the following year, becoming the first diet cola to be distributed on a...
commercial jingle) on DynoVoice. The song became a Top 20 hit and spawned another successful instrumental version by Al Hirt
Al Hirt
Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
and a vocal hit by Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
. In 1967, Bob Crewe produced and wrote seven of the songs sung by Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...
on her last commercially successful album, California Nights. The Bob Crewe Generation also recorded the Bob Crewe-Charles Fox
Charles Fox (composer)
Charles Ira Fox is an American composer for film and television. His most heard compositions are probably the "love themes" , and the dramatic theme music to ABC's Wide World of Sports and the original Monday Night Football.....
original soundtrack for the 1968 Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
motion picture Barbarella
Barbarella (film)
Barbarella is a 1968 Franco-Italian science fiction film based on Jean-Claude Forrest's French Barbarella comics. The film was directed by Roger Vadim and stars Jane Fonda, who was Vadim's wife at the time.-Plot:...
starring Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
and directed by Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim was a French screenwriter, director, and producer as well as a journalist, author and actor, who launched Brigitte Bardot's career in the film And God Created Woman.-Early life:...
. The soundtrack for the cult favorite features vocals by Crewe and the group The Glitterhouse.
In 1967, Crewe and Gaudio scored one of their greatest successes with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Can't Take My Eyes off You
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold record. It was Valli's biggest "solo" hit until he hit #1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You"...
", recorded by Frankie Valli with The Four Seasons. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and earned a gold record. Subsequently, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" has been recorded by a number of international vocalists and bands through the years. The 1968 version by singer Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
climbed to #5 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Also achieving chart status over the decades were such other English-language versions as those by The Lettermen
The Lettermen
The Lettermen are an American male pop music vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959...
, Maureen McGovern
Maureen McGovern
Maureen Therese McGovern is an American singer and Broadway actress, well known for her premier renditions of the Oscar winning songs "The Morning After" from the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, and "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno in 1974.-Early life:McGovern was...
, and Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
. The song has also been heard in numerous motion pictures, including The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter is a 1978 drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, and George Dzundza...
, The Fabulous Baker Boys
The Fabulous Baker Boys
The Fabulous Baker Boys is a 1989 American romantic drama musical film written and directed by Steve Kloves, and starring real life brothers Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges as two brothers struggling to make a living as lounge jazz pianists in Seattle...
, Conspiracy Theory
Conspiracy Theory (film)
Conspiracy Theory is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Richard Donner.The original screenplay by Brian Helgeland centers on an eccentric taxi driver who believes many world events are triggered by government conspiracies, and the U.S...
, 10 Things I Hate About You
10 Things I Hate about You
10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film. It is directed by Gil Junger and stars Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, David Krumholtz, and Larry Miller...
, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty-something single working woman living in London. She writes about her career, self-image, vices, family, friends, and romantic...
.
In 1969, Crewe collaborated with the singer known as Oliver, including the production of his pop hit "Jean
Jean (song)
"Jean" is the title of a popular song from 1969 . It was written by the American poet and composer Rod McKuen, who also recorded a version of the song....
", a song written by poet Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen is an American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks, and classical music...
that served as theme to the Oscar-winning film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award...
starring Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
. Crewe also produced a hit single of Oliver performing the optimistic "Good Morning Starshine
Good Morning Starshine
"Good Morning Starshine" is a pop song from the musical Hair. It was a #3 hit in the United States in June of 1969 for the singer Oliver.-History:...
" from the rock musical Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
. The song reached #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening singles surveys.
The Crewe record label released a series of well-received recordings such as Ben Bagley
Ben Bagley
Ben Bagley was an American musical theatre and record producer.-Career:Born in Burlington, Vermont, Bagley moved to New York City during the early 1950s, and in 1955, at age 22, he produced his first hit, Shoestring Revue, starring Beatrice Arthur and Chita Rivera , and with songs by Charles...
's Cole Porter Revisited and Rodgers and Hart Revisited featuring vocal performances by such artists as Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
, Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
, Dorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon was an American comedy actress and singer. She won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Miss Hannigan in Annie.-Early life and career:Loudon was born in...
, Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
, Ann Hampton Callaway
Ann Hampton Callaway
Ann Hampton Callaway is a multiplatinum-selling singer, composer, lyricist, pianist, and actress. She is best known for writing and singing the theme to the TV series The Nanny, writing songs for Barbra Streisand and starring in the Broadway musical Swing!.-Career:Callaway was described by the New...
, Bobby Short
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He...
, Jerry Orbach
Jerry Orbach
Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach was an American actor and singer. He was well known for his starring role as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As well, Orbach was a noted musical theatre star...
, Tammy Grimes
Tammy Grimes
-Early life:Grimes was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of Eola Willard , a naturalist and spiritualist, and Nicholas Luther Grimes, an innkeeper, country-club manager, and farmer. She attended high school at the then-all girls school, Beaver Country Day School, in Chestnut Hill,...
and Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie was an American jazz singer and pianist, often performing in the bebop genre and remembered for her girlish voice.-Early career:...
.
Bob Crewe also appeared on ABC-TV's American Bandstand and also Where the Action Is, both with
Dick Clark. He was interviewed and some of his current 60's songs were played for the dancers and
crowds. Bob also once had a crewcut, then changed his blonde/reddish hairstyle. [JS]
The 1970s
The Bob Crewe Generation reappeared as a chart act briefly in the mid-1970s, recording material for the discoDisco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
era. The Generation's 1970 LP "Let Me Touch You", including covers of Henry Mancini's "Moon River" and "Two For The Road", remains a favorite of lounge music collectors. In 1975, Crewe wrote and produced disco material for The Eleventh Hour who had dance club success with at least three releases on 20th Century Records
20th Century Records
20th Century Fox Records, also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, was a subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox.-History:It began in 1958 as 20th Fox Records. In 1963, 20th Fox Records became 20th Century-Fox Records...
: "Hollywood Hot" (45 rpm single, number: TC-2215), "Bumper to Bumper" and "Sock It To Me/It’s Your Thing".
In the mid-seventies, Crewe formed with Sir Monti Rock
Monti Rock
Monti Rock III is a flamboyant American musician and performer from New York City.-Career:Born on 29 May 1942, to a Puerto Rican family in the Bronx, Monti parlayed his role as celebrity hairdresser into a role center stage...
III the disco club favorites Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes were a disco group of the 1970s headed by Sir Monti Rock III .-Career:...
, best known for their 1975 successes "Get Dancin'" and "I Wanna Dance Wit' Choo". The group is referenced by Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
in his song "Invasion Hit Parade" and by The Pet Shop Boys in their song "Electricity."
In 1977, Crewe recorded in Memphis a solo album at the insistence of producer Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
, who had been an early mentor of his. Barry Beckett
Barry Beckett
Barry Edward Beckett was a keyboardist who worked as a session musician with several notable artists on their studio albums...
co-produced. The album, entitled Motivation
Motivation (album)
Motivation is the first studio album of Moti Special, released in 1985 by Teldec label. The band members were: Danish guitarist Nils Tuxen, Romanian keyboardist Michael Cretu, bassist and vocalist Manfred "Thissy" Thiers, and drummer Reinhard "Dickie" Tarrach...
, was a showcase for his singing voice. Although the album did not achieve chart success, it included the great ballad "Marriage Made In Heaven" -- a collaboration between Crewe and Kenny Nolan
Kenny Nolan
Kenny Nolan is a Los Angeles, California based singer-songwriter.He is best remembered for his 1977 self-penned song "I Like Dreamin'", which achieved the #3 chart position on the Billboard Hot 100 early that year....
. The song later became popular with Carolina Beach bands. . The album also produced the song "It Took a Long Time" (For The First Time In My Life)," also recorded by Patti Labelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
.
Crewe had previously written two other hit singles with Nolan, which became back-to-back #1 records in 1975. "My Eyes Adored You
My Eyes Adored You
"My Eyes Adored You" is a popular song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. It was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in early 1974. After the MoWest label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to lead singer Frankie Valli for $4000...
" was produced by Crewe and performed by Frankie Valli with the Four Seasons. When the record label balked at releasing it, Crewe, certain of its quality and hit potential, bought back the rights for $4000. Despite widespread rejections from music industry pundits, the song became a smash solo hit for Valli, was the #1 chart-topping song of the year.
Another memorable and enduring Bob Crewe-Kenny Nolan
Kenny Nolan
Kenny Nolan is a Los Angeles, California based singer-songwriter.He is best remembered for his 1977 self-penned song "I Like Dreamin'", which achieved the #3 chart position on the Billboard Hot 100 early that year....
collaboration, "Lady Marmalade
Lady Marmalade
"Lady Marmalade" was also covered by Italian pop star Sabrina. It was released in 1987 as the album's second single by Baby Records. In some countries, including France and the Netherlands, the song was known as "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? " and was released in 1988.-Track listings:7" maxi#...
," recorded by Labelle
Labelle
Labelle is an American all female singing group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the Philadelphia/Trenton areas, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris, forming as a new version of the former group, later changing...
, became notorious for its sexually provocative, New Orleans-inflected chorus, "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?" The song became a radio and dance club sensation. It achieved status as the #1 chart-topper of 1975 and has since been used in numerous motion pictures including Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers, Beethoven
Beethoven (film)
Beethoven is a 1992 American family comedy film, directed by Brian Levant and starring Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt. The film is the first in the Beethoven film series....
, Carlito's Way
Carlito's Way
Carlito's Way is a 1993 crime film directed by Brian De Palma, based on the novels Carlito's Way and After Hours by Judge Edwin Torres. The film adaptation was scripted by David Koepp. It stars Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzman, John Leguizamo, Jorge Porcel, Joseph Siravo, and...
, The Birdcage
The Birdcage
The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, and stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski. The script was written by Elaine May...
, The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Long Kiss Goodnight is a 1996 action thriller film starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson, written by Shane Black and directed by Renny Harlin.-Plot:...
, and Semi-Pro
Semi-Pro
Semi-Pro is a 2008 American sports screwball comedy film from New Line Cinema. The film was directed by Kent Alterman and stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tierney. The film was shot in Los Angeles near Dodger Stadium , in Detroit and in Flint, Michigan...
.
The 1980s and beyond
In 1984, a collaboration by Crewe and writers Jerry Corbetta and Bob GaudioBob Gaudio
Robert John "Bob" Gaudio is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist/backing vocalist for The Four Seasons.-Early career:...
produced another Billboard Top 100 success with the romantic duet "You're Looking Like Love To Me," sung by Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
and Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...
. Another Crewe-Corbetta project united them with singer-songwriter-producer Ellie Greenwich
Ellie Greenwich
Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas ", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others...
for whom they produced the original cast album for Greenwich's Broadway musical Leader of the Pack
Leader of the Pack (musical)
Leader of the Pack is a musical with liner notes by Anne Beatts and additional material by Jack Heifner, music by Ellie Greenwich, and lyrics by Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Phil Spector, George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Kent, and Ellen Foley.-Background:...
. The album was a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominee and the show itself was nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
.
In 1985, Crewe was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
"Lady Marmalade" was re-recorded by Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
, Lil' Kim
Lil' Kim
Kimberly Denise Jones , better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who was a member of the group Junior M.A.F.I.A.....
, Mya and Pink
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....
for the soundtrack of the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 romantic jukebox musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Following the Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orphean myth, La Traviata, and La Bohème...
, and this version stayed at #1 in the U.S. for five weeks. It repeated the same chart position in the United Kingdom and Australia. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked "Lady Marmalade" as the 479th greatest song of all time.
In 1999, when the US performing rights and royalties organization BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
) announced its Top 100 Songs of the Century, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" landed in the top ten with six million airplays or BMI calculates one million continuous performances of a song of the average length (3 minutes) as representing 5.7 years of continuous airplay.
In addition to his numerous benchmarks and accolades in music, Crewe has also achieved recognition as an artist, having designed a number of album covers as well as having had highly successful one-man gallery showings of his paintings at the Earl McGrath Gallery, Thomas Soloman's Garage and Jan Baum Gallery in Los Angeles.
Since 2005, Crewe has been featured as a supporting character (played originally by Peter Gregus) in Jersey Boys
Jersey Boys
Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is a documentary-style musical, based on one of the most successful 1960s rock 'n roll groups, the Four Seasons...
, the multiple Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning, long-running Broadway musical based on the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons that has gone on to become an international hit. Unlike the real-life Bob Crewe, the character in the stage production is minimized as well as portrayed as flamboyant and flighty, hardly an influential producer, lyricist, and a primary driving force behind the group's success. Although Jersey Boys also considerably downplays his songwriting contributions, Crewe is credited as the show's lyricist.
Currently, Crewe is involved in a number of new writing and producing projects.
Selected U.S. singles (written and/or produced by)
US peak chart position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart follows the song title. Only singles that reached a position of #30 or higher on the Hot 100 are listed here.- 1957: "Silhouettes", #3.
- 1957: "Daddy Cool", #10.
- 1958: "La Dee Dah", #9.
- 1959: "Lucky Ladybug", #14.
- 1962: "Sherry", #1
- 1962: "Big Girls Don't Cry", #1
- 1963: "Walk Like a Man, #1
- 1964: "Dawn (Go Away)", #3
- 1964: "Ronnie", #6
- 1964: "Rag Doll, #1
- 1964: "Save It For Me", #10
- 1964: "Big Man in Town", #20
- 1965: "Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye)", #12 ("Bye Bye Baby" on initial release)
- 1965: "Let's Hang On!", #3
- 1965: "A Lover's Concerto," #2
- 1965: "Jenny Take A Ride," #10
- 1966: "Devil With A Blue Dress On," #4.
- 1967: "Sock It To Me, Baby," #6
- 1967: "Music To Watch Girls By," #15
- 1967: "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," #2
- 1969: "Jean," #2
- 1969: "Good Morning, Starshine," #6
- 1974: "Lady Marmalade", #1
- 1975: "The Proud One", #22
- 1975: "Swearin' To God", #6
- 1975: "My Eyes Adored You," #1
- 2001: "Lady Marmalade", #1
Discography
- Kicks, Warwick W-2009 (1960, out-of-print)
- Crazy In The Heart, Warwick W-2034 (1961, out-of-print)
- All The Song Hits Of The Four Seasons, Philips 600150 (1964, out-of-print)
- Bob Crewe Plays The Four Seasons' hits, Philips 600238 (1967, out-of-print)
- Music To Watch Girls By, DynoVoice 9003 (1967, out-of-print)
- Music To Watch Birds By, DynoVoice 1902 (1967, out-of-print)
- Barbarella (Original Soundtrack Recording), originally published by Famous Music Corporation (1968, out-of-print), re-released by Soundtrack Classics SCL 1411 (2004)
- Let Me Touch You, CGC 1000 (1970, out-of-print)
- Street Talk, Elektra RecordsElektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
7E-1083 (1976, out-of-print) - Motivation, Elektra Records 7E-1103 (1977, out-of-print)
- The Best of The Bob Crewe Generation, Varèse Vintage 302 066 703 2 (Feb 2006)