MobTunes

Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons gave doo-wop a backbeat, influenced the {|Beach Boys|} with their daunting harmonies, rocked the charts in two separate decades, scored some of the biggest sales in pop history, and possessed -- thanks to the stratospheric falsetto that loomed at the top of Frankie Valli's three-and-a-half-octave range -- one of the most ear-opening lead singers on the planet. But somehow, when lists of great pop bands are assembled, they never seem to make the cut. As Valli himself might put it, big stars don't cry. Still, the 51-song Fankie Valli & the 4 Seasons Anthology goes a long way to making a case for this groundbreaking pop group. The songwriting team of 4 Seasons member Bob Gaudio and producer {|Bob Crewe|} made the music deeper than the teen sheen of songs like "Sherry" and "Let's Hang On" might suggest. Revisiting these AM-radio staples, the ambitious vocals swirl like a perfectly choreographed game of Twister around Valli's astounding, gender-bending voice. And Crewe's ingeniously swelling arrangements -- such as the brassy chorus of "Can't Take My Eyes off You" or the ringing bells and sweeping strings on Valli's 1965 solo effort "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" (later a hit for the {|Walker Brothers|}) -- have a dramatic flair that would make {|Neil Diamond|} jealous. Of course, they had a sense of humor too, most notably reflected in the truly bizarre cover of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's Alright," which the band wisely released under the nom de rock the Wonder Who? But the hits make a mockery of the precious few lowlights here. Listen to the closing tracks -- "My Eyes Adored You" "Swearin' to God," the disco glory of "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)," and Valli's solo turn on "Grease" -- and you are hearing one of the greatest second acts in rock history. Like their onetime rivals the Beatles, Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons made music that cut across generational bounds. And like the best pop, it still does.