#29: Mocking Bird by the Four Lads

City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: December 1958
Peak Position in Hull ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #40
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~#32
YouTube: “Mocking Bird”
Lyrics: “Mocking Bird”

The Four Lads are a Canadian male quartet from Toronto, Ontario. They were originally made up of Corrado “Connie” Codarini, James F. “Jimmy” Arnold, John Bernard “Bernie” Toorish and Frank Busseri. They met as members of St. Michael’s Choir School. Originally, they named themselves the Otnorots (made up mostly of spelling the place name Toronto backwards. They changed their name to the Four Dukes. But after they found out a group in Detroit had the same name, then they settled on the Four Lads. They got a break when Mitch Miller noticed them when they were recruited by talent scouts to go to New York. Mitchell had them sing back-up on Johnny Ray’s 1951 smash hit, “Cry”, and his big follow up, “The Little White Cloud that Cried”.

In 1952 they had their first Top Twenty hit in the USA with “The Mocking Bird”. That same year “Faith that Can Move Mountains” climbed to #7 in the UK. The next year they had their first of eight Top Ten hit records in the USA with a novelty hit, Istanbul (Not Constantinople). Their biggest hits were the four million selling “Moments to Remember” and million selling “No Not Much”. A third million seller was “Standing on the Corner”. It was a song from the 1956 Broadway Musical The Most Happy Fella.

In early 1957 the Four Lads released had a Top Ten hit titled “Who Needs You”. This was followed by “I Just Don’t Know”. In Vancouver, the B-side to this single, “Golly”, also charted on CKWX.

Between 1951 and 1958 the Four Lads had twenty-one Top 30 hits on the Billboard pop charts. With the onslaught of rock n’ roll The Four Lads traditional style of pop music was overcome by new male vocal groups like The Crests (“Sixteen Candles”), The Platters (“Twilight Time”), The Coasters (“Yakety Yak”), The Drifters (“There Goes My Baby”), The Flamingos (“I Only Have Eyes For You”), Dion and The Belmonts (“A Teenager in Love”) and The Kingston Trio (“Tom Dooley”).

However, one of their last Top 40 hits in the 1950s was a re-issue of their 1952 Top 30 hit “Mocking Bird”.

“Mocking Bird” is a gospel song about The LORD looking down to see what he heard, and putting the voice in the mocking bird. The lyrics explain:
The song was sung by the Mocking Bird, singing, Lord, hear me.
Well, the Lord looked down and he blessed the bird,
he gave it the power to sing his word.

Moreover, the mocking bird sings about the joy of creation, “where none but the good and the right shall stand.” The power of the mocking bird’s song caused the earth to shake, and the song to be carried by every bird. The song is a warning to ‘sinners.’:
To the ends of the earth this warning rang out,
Sinner, when the fire burns, you’ll wanna shout.

In 1958, “Mocking Bird” peaked at #1 in Santa Barbara (CA), #2 in Hull (PQ), #3 in Los Angeles, #4 in Schenectady (NY), #5 in Burlington (VT), #6 in Mount Clemons (MI), #7 in Fairfax (VA), and Odessa (TX), #8 in Albany (NY), #9 in Caribou (ME), and #10 in Charlottesville (VA).

The Four Lads last song to crack the Billboard Hot 100 was in 1959 with “Happy Anniversary”.

However, the Four Lads still had staying power with their smash Top Ten hits from the 1950’s. In 1960 they were interviewed by Houston DJ, Paul Berlin at KNUZ. In answer to a question in Billboard magazine, “What type of recording artists makes the most effective guest for an on-air interview?” As reported on January 16, 1961, Paul Berlin said “My most interesting interview was with the Four Lads. Usually interviewing a group is most difficult, but these guys came equipped with musical jingles that they used most effectively… During our interview I had a Sears commercial. They took the spot and sang it, and you can’t imagine how effective it was, not only from the station’s standpoint but from the sponsor’s as well. Give a jockey a “showman” and you’ll get a good interview.”

Connie Codarini left the Four Lads in 1962. From the early 1980’s, in Medina, Ohio, Connie Codarini owned a restaurant called Penny’s Poorhouse, named after his wife. When Connie and Penny first came to Medina they were showing Great Danes. He kept Penny’s Poorhouse until 2007. Cashbox Magazine Canada reports that “Codarini was well known in the area for being an authentic bartender by making drinks from scratch and not taking short cuts.” Connie Codarini died in 2010.

John Bernard Toorish left the Four Lads in 1970. However, seventeen years later, in 1987, he reformed the Four Lads. Since the early 1970’s Toorish became an insurance underwriter with Equitable Insurance whose headquarters are in Manhattan’s financial district at 120 Broadway. As of 1992, Toorish was still working for Equitable Insurance, and doing some gigs with the Four Lads.

James Arnold left the Four Lads in the 1981, he founded the James Arnold School of Voice. Living in Sacramento, California, he taught voice lessons from his living room from the mid-80’s until his death. Arnold’s tenor was a key part of the Four Lads sound and helped them get Top Ten hits. James Arnold also led a children’s choir for seventeen years. He also was called upon to sing the American national anthem for the Sacramento Kings home games.

With a changing lineup, the Four Lads have continued to perform in concert for 65 years with concert dates as recently as 2015, including Frank Busseri as an original member. In 1984, the New York Times ran a story with the headline: Swinging With The Big Band Sound. At the time Frank Busseri was managing one of the incarnations of the Four Lads. Busseri also had recently produced an album showcasing the vocals of his love interest of six years, Lynn Roberts, titled Harry, You Made Me Love You. Busseri had ceased to be in the Four Lads lineup in 1978, choosing to manage them. Decades later he rejoined the lineup. On their website, the most recent concert by the Four Lads was in Palm Springs on March 28, 2017, at the McCallum Theatre.

September 20, 2024
Ray McGinnis

References:
“James Arnold, 72, Singer in the Four Lads,” New York Times, July 5, 2004
“The Four Lads Inducted 1984,” Canadian Music Hall of Fame, 1984
Paul Berlin – KNUZ-AM in Houston, Programming Panel, Billboard, January 16, 1961.
“‘Four Lads’ Ladle out Hits to Fans at Swingos’ Eatery,” Lakewood Sun Post, August 6, 1992
“Proudly Canadian: The Four Lads,” Cashbox Magazine Canada
Alvin Klein, “Swinging With The Big Band Sound,” New York Times, January 29, 1984.
Dick Manning, Wikipedia.org
Al Hoffman, Wikipedia.org
The Four Lads Itinerary, Four Lads.com
“Billboard Hot 100,” Billboard, December 8, 1958.

CKCH 970-AM Hull (QC) Top Ten | December 27, 1958