Don Ciccone: Difference between revisions

{{short description|American singer-songwriter}}

| name = Don Ciccone

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| birth_name = Donald Joseph Ciccone

| birth_date = {{birth date|1946|02|28}}

| birth_place = [[Jersey City, New Jersey]], U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|10|08|1946|02|28}}

| death_place = [[Ketchum, Idaho]], U.S.

| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]], [[Pop music|pop]]

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Guitar, bass, vocals

| years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) -->

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| associated_acts = {{ubl|[[The Critters]]|[[The Four Seasons (band)|The Four Seasons]]|[[Tommy James and the Shondells]]}}

'''Donald Joseph Ciccone''' (February 28, 1946 – October 8, 2016)<ref>[https://obittree.com/obituary/us/idaho/hailey/wood-river-chapel/donald-ciccone/2722865/ Donald Joseph Ciccone February 28, 1946 - October 08, 2016] accessdate January 22, 2018</ref><ref name=nytimes>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title= Don Ciccone, Songwriter and Lead Singer of the Critters, Dies at 70 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/music/don-ciccone-dead.html?_r=0 |access-date=October 28, 2016 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=B15 |date=October 13, 2016}}</ref><ref name=legacy>{{cite news|title= In Memory Of Don Ciccone |url= http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/don-ciccone-obituary?pid=1000000181823950 |access-date= October 14, 2016|newspaper =[[Legacy.com]]}}</ref> was an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member of the pop group [[the Critters]], singing their biggest hits "Younger Girl" and "Mr. Dieingly Sad". The latter he wrote about his girlfriend Kathy Cobb before he entered the Air Force during the time of the Vietnam War. Cobb later became his wife. When the Critters' first album started to take off, Ciccone was in the Air Force and the band had to tour without him. This is why many videos on YouTube do not feature him, but instead have Ken Gorka lip-syncing Ciccone's part.<ref>{{Citation|title=The Critters - Mr. Dieingly Sad|date=November 24, 2006|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XZt7hocUoQ|access-date=July 17, 2019}}</ref>

Ciccone was born in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]], on February 28, 1946. He was the son of an immigrant father, Vito Ciccone, who owned and operated Bill Williams Auto Sales in the 1950s. From the age of 5, Ciccone grew up in a 56-room mansion in [[Plainfield, New Jersey]].

During his time with the Critters, he wrote "[[Mr. Dieingly Sad]]", produced by [[Artie Ripp]], which reached #17 for the group. He also wrote and recorded "There's Got to be a Word",<ref>{{Citation|title=DON CICCONE - THERE'S GOT TO BE A WORD|date=September 11, 2010|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMpLOYUFqKM|access-date=July 17, 2019}}</ref> which was later recorded and released by the Innocence in December 1966. Their version reached #34 on the charts. Facing the threat of being drafted into the Armed Forces, Ciccone left The Critters to enlist in the [[United States Air Force]].<ref name=jamesinterview/>

After Ciccone's time in the service, [[Frankie Valli]] recruited him to join a revamped lineup of [[The Four Seasons (band)|The Four Seasons]], where he played guitar and bass and contributed lead vocals to songs including "[[December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)]]" and "Rhapsody".<ref name=StarHerald>{{cite news|title= Don Ciccone, singer of 1960s group The Critters, has died|url= http://www.starherald.com/entertainment/national/don-ciccone-singer-of-s-group-the-critters-has-died/article_027707fa-0ade-555a-aecd-ec178b997479.html|access-date= October 28, 2016|newspaper= Scottsbluff Star-Herald|date= October 12, 2016}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Ciccone was the original lead singer on the Seasons' comeback hit "[[Who Loves You (song)|Who Loves You]]" before Valli, who was overseas during the original recording, refused to relinquish his role as lead vocalist and replaced most of Ciccone's vocal with his own.<ref name=jamesinterview/> After leaving the Four Seasons in 1981, he spent time running a commercial jingle business.<ref name=jamesinterview/>He joined [[Tommy James and the Shondells]] as their bassist through 1987.<ref name="HeraldNews">{{cite news|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/heraldnews/obituary.aspx?n=don-ciccone&pid=181823950|title=Don Ciccone|date=October 12, 2016|newspaper=[[Herald News]]|access-date=October 14, 2016}}</ref>

In the early 2010s, Ciccone, at the time performing with a partially re-formed Critters lineup, suggested to his former Four Seasons bandmate [[Lee Shapiro (musician)|Lee Shapiro]] that they assemble a [[supergroup (music)|supergroup]] consisting of musicians assembled from other bands. Ciccone recruited his Critters bandmate Jimmy Ryan to join Shapiro and [[Gerry Polci]] (partially capitalizing on the ''[[Jersey Boys]]'' resurgence in the Four Seasons' popularity) to form The Hit Men, a group that continues several years after Ciccone died with Shapiro as its manager.<ref>{{cite web|date=March 21, 2013|title=The Hit Men are coming|url= https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/The-Hit-Men-are-coming-4374272.php|access-date= July 24, 2020|publisher= newstimes}}</ref><ref name=jamesinterview>{{cite web|title=Gary James' Interview With Don Ciccone Of The Four Seasons|url= http://www.classicbands.com/FourSeasonsInterview.html|access-date= July 24, 2020|publisher= classicbands.com|first=Gary|last=James}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Long after Frankie Valli, the Hit Men are still making music|url= https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/long-after-frankie-valli-the-hit-men-are-still-making-music,514404#:~:text=Don%20Ciccone%2C%20also%20one%20of%20the%20Four%20Seasons,and%20numerous%20others%2C%20to%20multiple%20myeloma%20last%20December.|access-date= July 24, 2020|newspaper=The Berkshire Eagle|date=July 21, 2017|first=David|last=Porter}}</ref>

Ciccone, who was a long time resident of Ridgewood, New Jersey and Port Saint Lucie, Florida had moved to [[Sun Valley, Idaho]], a few years before he died of a heart attack on October 8, 2016, in adjacent [[Ketchum, Idaho|Ketchum]] at the age of 70.<ref name=MiamiHerald>{{cite news|date= October 12, 2016|title= Don Ciccone, singer of 1960s group The Critters, has died|url= http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article107826672.html|access-date= October 14, 2016|newspaper= [[Miami Herald]]|url-status= bot: unknown|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161018084913/http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article107826672.html|archive-date= October 18, 2016}}</ref>

*{{AllMusic |class=artist |id=don-ciccone-mn0000844082}}

*{{IMDb name|11505955|Don Ciccone}}

{{The Four Seasons}}

[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]

[[Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state)]]

[[Category:Singer-songwriters from New Jersey]]

[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Idaho]]