You're the Apple of My Eye
Encyclopedia
"You're the Apple of My Eye" is a song written by Otis Blackwell
and initially recorded and released as a single in 1956
by The Four Lovers, the precursor to The Four Seasons
. Recorded after they were denied the opportunity to record another Blackwell song, "Don't Be Cruel
", "You're the Apple of My Eye" was The Four Lovers' first exposure to U.S. national
publicity, reaching the #62 position on the Billboard
Hot 100 and earning the quartet an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
. One of two Four Lovers singles that RCA Victor Records released simultaneously, it was the quartet's only foray onto the Hot 100 before the formation of The Four Seasons five years later.
, Nick and Tommy DeVito
, and Hank Majewski) was the eventual result of Valli joining The Variety Trio in 1954 to form The Variatones (which briefly included mutual friends on a part-time basis). The group performed at various New Jersey
clubs and lounges and established a reputation for its musical versatility, incorporating country music, pop music
, doo wop, Broadway standards, rhythm and blues
, and an occasional foray into Italian love songs.
An RCA Records executive saw a Four Lovers performance and was impressed with the presentation enough to recommend the quartet to the company's artists and repertoire department. They were signed to the RCA Victor label for a series of records to be released in 1956 and 1957. In May 1956, "You're the Apple of My Eye"/"The Girl of My Dreams" and "Lovey Dovey"/"Please Don't Love Me" were released simultaneously by RCA. The four sides were recorded in a single April session (with two other songs that were released as a single in January 1957).
in 1956. It was composed by Drifters lead singer Clyde McPhatter
and Atlantic Records
producer Jerry Wexler
. The Four Lovers' version was similar in style to the original, but didn't come close to attaining the level of success of either the original or "You're the Apple of Your Eye".
The B-side of the group's second single, "Please Don't Leave Me", was composed by Antoine "Fats" Domino
and was originally recorded by him in 1953. It is one of the more blues-based songs in the Fats Domino catalog — and one of the most blues-based songs ever recorded by Frankie Valli and his friends, regardless of the name or membership of the group.
for release for Christmas sales. The result, Joyride, had a collection of rhythm-and-blues and western covers, with a few pop standards and a handful of never-before-released songs, complete with a rollicking version of "White Christmas
", patterned similar to the Drifters' version from 1955. In addition, RCA was releasing Four Lovers' singles roughly every two weeks, including covers of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya", Faye Adams
' "Shake a Hand
", and an early vocal version of "Night Train".
Joyride and the last five RCA Victor Four Lovers singles failed to chart and failed to sell. Today, they are collector's items, with the album being worth up to $400 (US) in near mint condition and some of the singles at roughly one-third that. The group's last single, "My Life for You Love"/"Pucker Up", sold so few that the relative handful of existing copies are now selling for up to $3000 each.
By the end of 1957, The Four Lovers had no recording contract and returned to performing in clubs and lounges before being put "on hiatus", albeit briefly before a new artists contract with Bob Crewe
's Peri Records gave the group a new purpose for its existence, that of supporting musicians with the occasional opportunity to record songs on their own (which they did — and release under a variety of names between 1958 and 1961). This began a sequence of events which, in four years, resulted in the group becoming The Four Seasons
.
Otis Blackwell
Otis Blackwell was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist, whose work significantly influenced rock 'n' roll...
and initially recorded and released as a single in 1956
1956 in music
-Events:*January 26 – Buddy Holly's first recording sessions for Decca Records take place in Nashville, Tennessee*Roy Orbison signs with Sun Records*January 27 – Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel" / "I Was the One" is released...
by The Four Lovers, the precursor to The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (group)
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...
. Recorded after they were denied the opportunity to record another Blackwell song, "Don't Be Cruel
Don't Be Cruel
-Legacy:"Don't Be Cruel" went on to become Presley's biggest selling single recorded in 1956, with sales over six million by 1961. It became a regular feature of his live sets until his death in 1977, and was often coupled with "Jailhouse Rock" or "Teddy Bear" during performances from 1969.Many...
", "You're the Apple of My Eye" was The Four Lovers' first exposure to U.S. national
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
publicity, reaching the #62 position on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100 and earning the quartet an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
. One of two Four Lovers singles that RCA Victor Records released simultaneously, it was the quartet's only foray onto the Hot 100 before the formation of The Four Seasons five years later.
Background
The Four Lovers (1956 personnel: Frankie ValliFrankie Valli
Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
, Nick and Tommy DeVito
Tommy DeVito (musician)
Tommy DeVito is an American musician and singer, best known as a founding member and the lead guitarist of the rock band The Four Seasons....
, and Hank Majewski) was the eventual result of Valli joining The Variety Trio in 1954 to form The Variatones (which briefly included mutual friends on a part-time basis). The group performed at various New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
clubs and lounges and established a reputation for its musical versatility, incorporating country music, pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, doo wop, Broadway standards, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, and an occasional foray into Italian love songs.
An RCA Records executive saw a Four Lovers performance and was impressed with the presentation enough to recommend the quartet to the company's artists and repertoire department. They were signed to the RCA Victor label for a series of records to be released in 1956 and 1957. In May 1956, "You're the Apple of My Eye"/"The Girl of My Dreams" and "Lovey Dovey"/"Please Don't Love Me" were released simultaneously by RCA. The four sides were recorded in a single April session (with two other songs that were released as a single in January 1957).
"Honey Love"/"Please Don't Leave Me"
RCA Victor 47-6519. Released the same day as "You're the Apple of My Eye", The Four Lovers' second single featured covers of two rhythm-and-blues hits from the mid 1950s. The A-side, "Honey Love", was a considerable R&B hit for The DriftersThe Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
in 1956. It was composed by Drifters lead singer Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
and Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
producer Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
. The Four Lovers' version was similar in style to the original, but didn't come close to attaining the level of success of either the original or "You're the Apple of Your Eye".
The B-side of the group's second single, "Please Don't Leave Me", was composed by Antoine "Fats" Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
and was originally recorded by him in 1953. It is one of the more blues-based songs in the Fats Domino catalog — and one of the most blues-based songs ever recorded by Frankie Valli and his friends, regardless of the name or membership of the group.
After "Apple" and "Honey"
The management or RCA Victor and The Four Lovers were encouraged by the success of "You're the Apple of My Eye" to make arrangements for recording an albumLP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
for release for Christmas sales. The result, Joyride, had a collection of rhythm-and-blues and western covers, with a few pop standards and a handful of never-before-released songs, complete with a rollicking version of "White Christmas
White Christmas
A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...
", patterned similar to the Drifters' version from 1955. In addition, RCA was releasing Four Lovers' singles roughly every two weeks, including covers of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya", Faye Adams
Faye Adams
Faye Adams is an American vocalist.-Early years:She was the daughter of David Tuell, a gospel singer and a key figure in the Church of God in Christ...
' "Shake a Hand
Shake a Hand
"Shake a Hand" is a 1953 single written by trumpeter and bandleader Joe Morris and originally performed by Faye Adams, whose version hit number one on the R&B chart for nine weeks.-Cover versions:*Red Foley...
", and an early vocal version of "Night Train".
Joyride and the last five RCA Victor Four Lovers singles failed to chart and failed to sell. Today, they are collector's items, with the album being worth up to $400 (US) in near mint condition and some of the singles at roughly one-third that. The group's last single, "My Life for You Love"/"Pucker Up", sold so few that the relative handful of existing copies are now selling for up to $3000 each.
By the end of 1957, The Four Lovers had no recording contract and returned to performing in clubs and lounges before being put "on hiatus", albeit briefly before a new artists contract with Bob Crewe
Bob Crewe
Bob Crewe is an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, record producer and fine artist. He is known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for The Four Seasons...
's Peri Records gave the group a new purpose for its existence, that of supporting musicians with the occasional opportunity to record songs on their own (which they did — and release under a variety of names between 1958 and 1961). This began a sequence of events which, in four years, resulted in the group becoming The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (group)
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...
.