Date: Sept 15, 1962
Weeks: 5
Although I complained about falsetto vocals before, 50s do-wop like this is the kind of music where it has its best chance of working. It fits with the music here, in a way that it just doesn't when we move into the 70s.
I'm not sure it works all that well in this particular song, though. Lead singer Frankie Valli's seems to make it his style to test the limits of the listener's tolerance for nasally, whiny falsetto. He makes some unconventional pitch changes that border on unpleasant. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt, though. Every time he seems to hit a wrong note and makes my ears want to scream, he then moves to the next pitch in the sequence and releases the tension built up by the "wrong" note. This is particularly evident when he sings and stretches out the word "Sherry" in the chorus. It's clever and stylistic and challenging for the listener. Unfortunately, he kind of ruins it when he sings "bay-ay-by," because his tone just gets whiny, and there is no tension relief from that. There's also a terrible bass part ("Why don't you...") that sounds like it's beyond the singer's natural range. It sounds fake and goofy.
The music is all right. It's basic guitar and bass chords performed over a percussion section that sounds like it consists mostly of hand claps and tambourines. I think the sound is intended to evoke street musicians using a capella percussion, and it's fairly successful at that, even if it doesn't commit to it.
The lyrics seem like basic 1950s "hey I like you so go out with me" stuff. "We'll dance the night away. I'm gonna make you mine." It seems to get a little more raunchy and like he's just admiring her body later on, though. "Why don't you come out with your red dress on. Mmm you look so fine." That's really just about how she looks. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it seems backwards. The lyrics should first talk about how great she looks, and then get into his desire to go out dancing with her. It would be nicer.
My verdict: Don't like it. It's close to likable, and I'm looking forward to trying another 4 Seasons song. But this one doesn't quite work for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment