The Four Lads

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The Four Lads
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre(s) Traditional Pop
Years active 1950-1960s
Label(s) Okeh, Columbia
Website http://www.the4lads.com
Former members
Corrado "Connie" Codarini
John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish

James F. "Jimmy" Arnold

The Four Lads were a Canadian singing group. They grew up together in Toronto, Ontario, and were members of St. Michael's Choir School, where they learned to sing. The founding members were Corrado "Connie" Codarini, bass; John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish (born March 2, 1931), tenor; James F. "Jimmy" Arnold, (January 4, 1932 - June 15, 2004) lead; 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.

Contents

[edit] History

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 in 1951 with Cry and The Little White Cloud that Cried with the Four Lads behind him. This made them well known.

Their first single was The Mocking Bird on Columbia's Okeh label (master #ZSP-9710), released in 1952, with I May Hate Myself in the Morning (#ZSP-9711) on the B-side. The Mocking Bird was rerecorded for release on the Columbia label twice in subsequent years in the 1950s.

In 1953 they made their own first gold record,[1]. Istanbul (Not Constantinople), which launched them to stardom and kept them busy throughout the 50s and 60s in the U.S. and Canada. Today, a reconstituted group, with original singer Frank Busseri, sings to the nostalgia crowds.

Their most famous hit was Moments to Remember in 1955,[2] and their next best known was Standin' on the Corner, from the Broadway musical production The Most Happy Fella, in 1956. A gospel album with Frankie Laine took them back to their roots and produced the hit single Rain, Rain, Rain.

Corrando Codarnini was replaced in 1962 by Johnny D'Arc, and Bernie Toorish in the early 1970s by Sid Edwards.

Jimmy Arnold died of lung cancer in Sacramento, California at the age of 72.

[edit] Awards & Recognition

The Four Lads were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.[3]

[edit] Gold records

[edit] Other records

[edit] See also

[edit] References

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)
  1. ^ Gold & Platinum certification of albums at RIAA. www.riaa.com. Retrieved November 26, 2006
  2. ^ U.S Billboard chart rankings. billboard.com. Retrieved November 26, 2006
  3. ^ VocalGroup Hall of Fame inductees. vocalgroup.org. Retrieved November 26, 2006

[edit] External links