FRANKIE SAYS RE-EDIT

August 14, 2007 10:06 AM

Frankie Valli is very old but he is not dead, (MySpace, music plays on load) so you can keep those periods packed away. That first link showcases Pilooski's shockingly subtle and effective remix of Beggin', which should have been the radio hit of summer 2007, except for the small problem of not getting airplay in the States. You can compare different video treatments of the full song here (cyriak's trippy animation), here (pretty dancing people), and here (Northern Soul slideshow). The original 1967 version of the song should still be available here.
posted by maudlin (22 comments total)

Dude. 73 is not "very old." You had me thinking he was 90.
posted by katillathehun at 10:20 AM on August 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

If he were 90 this song would be pretty rockin' for a 50 year old in 1967.
posted by DU at 10:25 AM on August 14, 2007

Hey, who am I to argue with Pop Justice? (I meant to include that link, but it got lost in the editing process.)
posted by maudlin at 10:26 AM on August 14, 2007

Frankie Valli rocked it freestyle on The Sopranos the last season. Even got a Jersey Mobster Death Scene.

I'm still waiting for the Nancy Sinatra remix lovin.

(fires up Ableton Live...)
posted by djrock3k at 10:31 AM on August 14, 2007

Your favorite '60s singer very nearly ruined radio for a generation.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:51 AM on August 14, 2007

Now Brooke Astor was OLD. 105 years old when she passed away yesterday.
posted by smackfu at 10:54 AM on August 14, 2007

And the seasons dwindle down
to a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days I'll remixing Frankie Valli songs
These precious days I'll spend remixing
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:17 AM on August 14, 2007

Frankie's date of birth has been a subject of debate for some time but it is now considered to be May 3rd 1934, in Newark, New Jersey.

golly. old indeed. What will you say of me, who was born some 5 years earlier than Frankie? Betie Davis old age is not for sissies.
posted by Postroad at 12:08 PM on August 14, 2007

Your favorite '60s singer very nearly ruined radio for a generation.

Singlehandedly? Must have been quite a feat.
posted by blucevalo at 12:09 PM on August 14, 2007

Oh, it was.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:27 PM on August 14, 2007

I'd never noticed that classic House piano riff on the original. That's something of a revelation.

The other big Wigan Casino/Frankie Valli record, The Night ,also seems to have a Piloosky remix, though I prefer the original myself.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:28 PM on August 14, 2007

I saw the Four Seasons in a double bill with the Four Tops a few years ago. You couldn't have asked for a better concert.

Many years prior to that, my father worked tech crew whenever a concert was held on campus at his college, so he got to run the lightboard for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Now, most bands let the crew do their own thing, but the Four Seasons had a tour manager or whatever-he-was who insisted on getting up in the booth and micromanaging everything my father did. "Bring up the red lights here... bring up the blue lights here... now darken the whole stage and shine a spot right on Frankie!"

My father turned to the guy and deadpanned, "Which one's Frankie?"

The manager left him alone after that.

(As a final thought, I'd like to add that the album cut of "C'mon Marianne" contains one of the finest drum fills I've ever heard.)
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:01 PM on August 14, 2007

Valli already had his comeback ages ago with Oh, What a Night.

He should do what Anka did and record an album of covers of new songs.
posted by amberglow at 1:07 PM on August 14, 2007

.


What? It won't be long, and this way, I don't have to use it in the perfunctory obit thread.
posted by klangklangston at 1:23 PM on August 14, 2007

Echoing what others have said - 73 is not "very old."
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:24 PM on August 14, 2007

Frankie and Evel should get together and compare warwounds showbiz scars.

Y'know? No one has ever made a front page post in MetaFilter that mentions how Frankie Avalon is not dead and in fact still occasionally makes public appearances even though he's sixty-seven and could kick the bucket any nanosecond! Somebody should really do something about that, before it's too late!
posted by ZachsMind at 3:49 PM on August 14, 2007

old indeed. What will you say of me, who was born some 5 years earlier than Frankie?

we are very fond of you, you old goat ;-)

I think it's great you're here on Mefi, Postroad. I sometimes wish you would comment or post more on some of the interesting times you have lived through - like hanging out with the beats, etc. You have very good taste in art and links too - I brave through miles of naked flesh on your site just to get to them.
posted by madamjujujive at 3:51 PM on August 14, 2007

As for prematurely dropping a dot KlangKlangSton, it doesn't work that way. You will be expected to drop a dot when Frankie Valli bites it right along with the rest of us. Doing it too early does not get you off the hook. I think it's written in blood in the Jessamyn Commandments. I'd have to check my Concordance of Matthowieism to be sure.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:52 PM on August 14, 2007

If 73 is not 'very old' and instead 'old', then what's 50? : )

I heard this new mix a couple of months ago when playing around with a friend's iPod. It has taken to me...or I have taken to it, whatever. Anyway, Frankie stole my heart when I was six and used to groove out to Walk Like A Man.
posted by liquorice at 3:59 PM on August 14, 2007

Frankie Valli was the impetus towards my breaking up with my girlfriend and having to move into a flop house. I was working security for a show he did, and the parking attendent, seeing him standing on the loading dock taking a moment to himself before the show remarked "There's that sawed off little wop." I don't remember the specific words in the stream of profanity I directed at her, but I know it contained the word "cunt" because I heard about it the rest of the night from my gf - "I can't believe you used that word!" She never forgave me for it. I don't regret it. The man deserves respect.
posted by figment of my conation at 9:03 PM on August 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

Anyway, Frankie stole my heart when I was six and used to groove out to Walk Like A Man.

I can't remember the first time I heard that song, but yeah--it's a great song to groove to.

Oh, and I just had the pleasure of listening to Can't take my eyes off you yesterday. Sigh.
posted by hadjiboy at 9:27 PM on August 14, 2007

Oooo-ooh-oo-ooh-oooooh!
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:46 AM on August 15, 2007