The Four Lads

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The Four Lads
The Four Lads, in a '50s nostalgia concert which aired on PBS.
Background information
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, and Frank Busseri

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), lead; James F. "Jimmy" Arnold, (January 4, 1932-June 15, 2004) first tenor; 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. 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 with "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud that Cried" with the Four Lads behind him. This made them well known.

In 1953 they made their own first gold record, "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", which launched them to stardom and kept them busy throughout the 50s and 60s in the USA 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, and their next best known was "Standin' on the Corner" in 1956. A gospel album with Frankie Laine took them back to their roots and produced the hit single "Rain, Rain, Rain."

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