Jersey Boys and the Mob

Many fans of the Broadway show “Jersey Boys” are excitedly gearing up for the premiere of the Clint Eastwood directed film by the same name. This Jersey girl, not so much.

Swearing to God (pun intended), this trailer is the first time I ever heard it said that Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito came from “the wrong side of the tracks.”

Frankie Valli just turned 80 years old last month. He grew up in 1930s, 40s Newark. Nick Massi, who passed away in 2000, also grew up in Newark. He was 7 years older than Valli. Wikipedia says as a young boy, Valli was inspired to be a singer after seeing Frank Sinatra perform at the Paramount in NYC. I always heard that was at the Paramount in Newark.

Tommy DeVito, who will be 86 years old the day before the movie is released in theaters, grew up in Belleville. Gaudio, the youngest of the original quartet (when they hit it big) was born in the Bronx and raised in Bergenfield. Newark, Belleville, Bergenfield in the 30s to the 50s — not my idea of the wrong side of the tracks.

The other thing that I was taken aback by — it sounds like they are all singing falsetto in the trailer, or am I nuts? Well, it will be interesting to see the reviews at any rate.

The film stars Christopher Walken as Angelo ‘Gyp’ DeCarlo; John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli; Erich Bergen as Bob Gaudio and Michael Lomenda as Nick Massi.

Vincent Piazza, who has been portraying Lucky Luciano on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire for the past 4 years, plays Tommy DeVito. (You sound way more NY than NJ in the trailer, paisan.)

Joseph Russo plays Joe Pesci, another Newarker who became famoso. There are a couple of Soprano alumni: Kathrine Narducci (Charmaine Bucco) and Steven Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri). Clint Eastwood’s daughter, Francesca, has a role as a waitress.

Just for the record (pun intended), Valli was not the first or biggest singing sensation out of Newark. He was preceded by “The Divine One,” Sarah Vaughan. Listen to Sarah sing Whatever Lola Wants. Wowza!

And there’s Connie Francis, born Concetta Franconero in Newark’s Ironbound section. Like Brenda Lee, Connie started out young in show biz, but it wasn’t until 1958 that 19-year-old Connie hit the big time with “Who’s Sorry Now.” Did you know that Gloria Estefan was planning some years ago to produce and star in a Francis biopic named after “Who’s Sorry Now”? Can’t imagine Estefan even sounding like Connie Francis. Dolly Parton also wanted to do Connie’s life story and both Connie and Dolly, independently of each other, were considering Valerie Bertinelli as the star. Estefan’s project was dropped and nothing’s ever come from the Parton angle to date.

Joey Dee (born Joseph DiNicola in Passaic) was a big sensation with his Starliters at the Peppermint Lounge on 45th St. in NYC. Huge crowds would line up to get in the Lounge. John Wayne, Jackie Kennedy, Judy Garland and Liberace are some high profile names that dropped by to take in the show. Both Jimi Hendrix and Joe Pesci were, at different times, members of the Starliters. Joey Dee’s most famous hit was “The Peppermint Twist.”

As for the Mafia involvement in the record scene at the time, we’ll let Joey Dee tell you about that: