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Don Ciccone
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Birth name | Donald Joseph Ciccone |
Born | (1946-02-28)February 28, 1946 Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. |
Died | October 8, 2016(2016-10-08) (aged 70) Ketchum, Idaho, U.S. |
Genres | Rock, pop |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, bass, vocals |
Don Ciccone (born Donald Joseph Ciccone; February 28, 1946 – October 8, 2016)[1][2][3] 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 before he entered the Air Force during the time of the Vietnam War. Kathy later became his wife. When The Critters's first album started to take off, Don was in the Air Force and the band had to tour without him which is why many videos on YouTube do not feature him. Jimmy Ryan is lip syncing[4] Don's lyrics/vocals in most of the old promo videos for the songs "Mr. Dieingly Sad" and "Younger Girl." Don was not able to approve of the final copy of the album. Because of this, he would later lament the record company's spelling of his invented word "Dieingly," arguing that American English spelling rules would have it spelled "Dyingly" if it were really a word, and since this song has outlasted many others, isn't a word at this point? Later in Don's career, he was a member of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (1973–81), famously singing the falsetto in "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night!)" -- it starts like this "I felt a rush like a rollin' ball of thunder...." There is also a YouTube "Sick Lix" bass solo video tutorial on his famous bass line for that song.[5] Additionally, he sang lead on other Four Seasons albums on songs like "Mystic Mr. Sam" and the sultry "Slip Away."[6] He played guitar and bass and also contributed lead vocals to songs including "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" and "Rhapsody." [7] After the Seasons, he joined Tommy James and the Shondells (as their bassist, through 1987).[8]
Ciccone was born in Jersey City, 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"[9] which was later recorded and released by the Innocence in December 1966. Their version reached #34 on the charts.
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 at the age of 70.[10]
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