STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Don Ciccone, who sang with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and other groups of the 1960s and ‘70s, passed away on Saturday, Oct. 9th.
Ciccone, 70, died suddenly while enjoying a night out in Hailey. He had been in good health, according to friends.
Born in New Jersey, Ciccone was a founding member of the Critters. The Critters had a couple of No. 1 hits, including “Younger Girl” and “Mr. Dieingly Sad,” a song Ciccone penned.
The latter, which was recently voted among the Top 100 songs of all time, should have been “Mr. Dyling Sad" but was misspelled on the label, Ciccone recounted in an interview at his Ketchum home.
After a stint with the Critters, Ciccone joined the U.S. Air Force, serving during the Vietnam War. When he returned to the States, he was tapped by Valli to join the Four Seasons.
A year later he sang a lead on “Who Loves You,” the group’s first Top 10 hit in five years and the group’s biggest hit ever up until that time.
“We thought that would never be topped but we did with ‘"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)' ” said Ciccone, who also sang a lead on that, along with “Rhapsody.” “At first I felt I was riding the coattails of the original Four Seasons. But then we started having our own hits.”
After leaving the Four Seasons in 1981, Ciccone toured with Tommy James and the Shondells, who recorded such songs as “Hanky Panky,” “Crimson and Clover,” “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Crystal Blue Persuasion.”
“Tommy and I were neighbors—running partners—in New Jersey,” he recalled.
Eventually, he left The Shondells to pursue a solo recording career. Ciccone's solo albums included “Lost & Found.”
Ciccone moved to Sun Valley part-time after marrying his wife Stephanie, a Jersey gal he met during a plane ride a few years ago. Shortly after moving here, he performed a benefit concert for the nexStage Theatre that featured his hit songs and personal stories about such stars as Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka and Tommy James.
He is survived by his wife Stephanie and his two children Marli and D’Arcey.