The Four Lads
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Thefourlads.BMP
The Four Lads were a singing group. They grew up together in Toronto, Ontario, and were members of St. Michael's Cathedral Choir School, where they learned to sing. The founding members were Corrado "Connie" Codarini, bass; John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish (born March 2, 1931), lead; James F. "Jimmy" Arnold, (January 4, 1932-June 15, 2004) first tenor; 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. 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 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 unknown artist Johnnie Ray, became a major hit with "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud that Cried" with the Four Lads behind him. This made them well known.
In 1953 they made their own first gold record, "Istanbul", which launched them to stardom and kept them busy throughout the 50s and 60s in the USA and Canada. Today, a reconsituted group, with original singer Frank Busseri, sings to the nostalgia crowds.
Their most famous hit was "Moments to Remember" in 1955, and their next best known was "Standin' on the Corner" in 1956.
They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.
Jimmy Arnold died of lung cancer in Sacramento, California at the age of 72.
Gold records
- "Istanbul" (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)
Other records
- "A House With Love In It" (recorded July 17, 1956)
- "Down By The Riverside" (recorded January 30, 1953)
- "Enchanted Island" (recorded February 16, 1958)
- "Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen By The Sea" (recorded February 27, 1954)
- "Happy Anniversary" (recorded September 23, 1959)
- "I Just Don't Know" (recorded April 4, 1957)
- "I'll Never Know" (1956)
- "My Little Angel" (recorded February 29, 1956) (flip side of "Standin' on the Corner")
- "Put A Light In The Window" (recorded October 27, 1957)
- "Skokiaan" (recorded August 4, 1954)
- "The Bus Stop Song" ("Paper of Pins") (recorded July 17, 1956)
- "The Fountain Of Youth" (1959)
- "The Girl On Page 44" (recorded November, 1958)
- "The Mocking Bird" (recorded April 16, 1952)
- "There's Only One Of You" (recorded February 16, 1958)
External links
- The Four Lads home page (http://www.the4lads.com/)
- Vocal Group Hall of Fame page on The Four Lads (http://www.vghf.com/four_lads.htm)
- VH1.com page on The Four Lads (http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/four_lads_1/bio.jhtml)
- Jam! page on The Four Lads (http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicPopEncycloPagesF/four.html)
- Moments To Remember : The Four Lads (http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/fourlads.html)
- Biography from the Jakewood (Ohio) Sun-Post (http://www.lkwdpl.org/lore/lore94.htm)
- Canadian Encyclopedia article on The Four Lads (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0001267)