Maps of Music

Frankie Valli...Is the Word (1978)

Where the lyrics of Frankie Valli...Is the Word take you, and where it was really made.

Grease was RSO's film, yet this follow-up album came out on Warner Bros. because Valli refused to sign with RSO.

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Frankie Valli...Is the Word: 1978 album by Frankie Valli
Released in 1978 on the Warner Bros. Records label
Lead-off track is the 'Grease' theme, which had been on the Grease soundtrack
Ten tracks in total, including songs by Barry Gibb, Bill LaBounty, Kevin Tighe, and Lenny Lee Goldsmith
Released as a follow-up to the success of the 'Grease' single

The Four Seasons, the band Valli had fronted since 1960, broke up in 1977 to pursue other projects
Valli had released Lady Put the Light Out in 1977
Private Stock Records ceased operations in early 1978, leaving Valli without a record label
While recovering from surgery to restore his hearing, he received an offer from RSO Records to take part in the Grease movie adaptation
He was given the choice of the theme song or 'Beauty School Dropout' and chose the theme, believing it would be the bigger hit
Valli was unwilling to sign with RSO because of Robert Stigwood's control over his clients' careers
Valli and Bob Gaudio had a policy of retaining and licensing the rights to their music
Valli approached Warner Bros. Records, which had released the two previous Four Seasons albums
The album title echoes the chorus of the hit single

1	Grease	3:27
2	Needing You	3:24
3	Sometimes Love Songs Make Me Cry	4:24
4	Without Your Love	4:09
5	Over Me	3:29
6	Save Me, Save Me	3:25
7	You Can Do It	3:27
8	A Tear Can Tell	3:55
9	You Better Go	3:42
10	No Love at All	3:11

Born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in Newark, New Jersey, to an Italian family; eldest of three sons
Took his stage name from "Texas" Jean Valli, a female hillbilly singer who mentored him
Inspired to sing at age seven after seeing Frank Sinatra at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan

Began singing in 1951 with the Variety Trio; later played in groups including the Variatones and the Four Lovers
The Four Lovers renamed themselves The 4 Seasons around 1960, taking the name from a rejecting bowling alley in Union, New Jersey
Lineup of Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi

As lead singer of the Four Seasons, scored 29 top-40 hits, including number-one hits "Sherry" (1962), "Big Girls Don't Cry" (1962), "Walk Like a Man" (1963) and "Rag Doll" (1964)
Solo number-one hits "My Eyes Adored You" (1974) and "Grease" (1978), with nine solo top-40 hits overall
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999
Received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in May 2024 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2025
Musical Jersey Boys (2005) dramatized his life; Valli appeared as an actor in Miami Vice, The Sopranos and other series

Stereo Review: Peter Reilly, November 1978, wrote that the Grease film had given Valli's career new life
Stereo Review: Reilly said Valli still sounds deadeningly like the early Frankie Valli
Stereo Review: Reilly said the album shows Valli intends to prolong his adolescence into recording eternity
Bruce Westbrook, writing in August 1978, called the album a listless, trivial boring recording
Westbrook named only the leadoff track 'Grease' and two other songs, 'You Better Go' and 'Save Me, Save Me', as worthwhile
Westbrook wrote that the rest of the album is strictly background music, undistinguished and uninspiring

AllMusic: William Ruhlmann, in a retrospective review, said the album's release served to demonstrate that 'Grease' was more of a phenomenon tied to the movie and the Bee Gees than to Valli himself

Valli chose the theme song over 'Beauty School Dropout', betting that the theme would be the bigger hit, even though he could not act or appear on screen in the film, a long-held wish of his.
The Four Seasons broke up in 1977, the same year Valli released Lady Put the Light Out.
Private Stock Records stopped operating in early 1978, just before the RSO offer arrived while Valli was recovering from hearing surgery.
Warner Bros. Records had released the two previous Four Seasons albums, which is why Valli approached it.
The album's title echoes the chorus of the hit 'Grease is the word'.