About The Song
Frankie Valli (born Francis Casteluccio) had been hard at work trying to become a star for the better part of a decade before the Four Seasons achieved their breakthrough. They had come together as a group in several stages over the previous four years, changing their name in 1961 from the Four Lovers after failing an audition at a New Jersey bowling alley called The Four Seasons. It was keyboard player Bob Gaudio who wrote the song that would launch the group’s career. He later told Billboard magazine that he banged out “Sherry” in 15 minutes before a scheduled rehearsal. Without a tape recorder, Gaudio explained, “I drove down to rehearsal humming it, trying to keep it in my mind. I had no intention of keeping the lyrics, [but] to my surprise, everybody liked them, so we didn’t change anything.”
This was originally called “Terry.” The group loved it and performed it over the telephone for their producer, Bob Crewe, who liked everything about it but the name. After considering “Jackie” (after Jackie Kennedy), and “Peri” (after a record label Crewe had a stake in), the group changed the name of the song to “Sherry,” after Cheri Spector, the daughter of one of Crewe’s best friends, a DJ named Jack Spector.
“Sherry” was released as a single in August 1962 and made it all the way to the top of the pop charts just four weeks later, on September 15. In the next six months, the Four Seasons would earn two more #1 hits with “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like A Man,” making them the only American group ever to earn three consecutive #1 hits.
“Sherry” was entered into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2023, chosen to recognize The Four Seasons as one of the most popular groups of their era.