Doo Wop

Bob Crewe produced the record and co-wrote “Rag Doll” with group member  Bob Gaudio. “Rag Doll” is based on a ragged-looking  girl in New York City who cleaned the windshields of automobiles for change — including Gaudio’s. The actual amount he gave her is lost in time (some sources say it’s $5, $10, or $20). Anyway, the song was released in June, 1964, and went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964 at the time the British invasion had begun and was taking over the charts. The B-Side was “Silence is Golden,” which was in the top 20 internationally. (The Tremeloes did a cover of “Silence is Golden” in 1967, and that went to #1 in the U.K. and earned an RIAA gold record for them.) The song was also released on their 1964 album titled Rag Doll. Group members were Gaudio, Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Massi.

Frankie Valli was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio ion May 3, 1934, in Newark, New Jersey. And what a star and American icon he has been, from 1953 until the present.  He continues to tour and perform.

Here are the lyrics to “Rag Doll” by The Four Seasons:

Ooh, ooh
Ah, rag doll, ooh

(Hand me down)
When she was just a kid, her clothes were hand-me-downs
(Hand me down)
They always laughed at her when she came into town

Called her rag doll
Little rag doll
such a pretty face
should be dressed in lace

Ooh, ooh
(Shag rag doll)
I’d change her sad rags into glad rags if I could
(If I could)
My folks won’t let me cause they say that she’s no good

She’s a rag doll,
Such a rag doll,
Though I love her so
I can’t let her know

Ooh, ooh
Aah, rag doll
I love you just the way you are
Oh, rag doll, ooh
Oh, rag doll, ooh

For other songs by The Four Seasons: “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”

For More Golden Oldies Music                                

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop music, rock and roll hits, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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