As another year has passed by since the Snapper Box Set release many fans like me continue to feel both a sense of satisfaction and YET disappointment that we still have not yet heard more of the session tapes and completed tracks at Motown Universal by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons from the surviving Multi-track tapes stored at Iron Mountain.
I managed to recover my Typepad blog posts and they can still be read and so I am revisiting some and am re-posting links to them via the WayBack Machine[Web Archive]
The Snapper Box Set project ensued but with the ‘compilers’ getting no access to the more than 2 dozen full session P tapes or back-up mix-down T tapes. With agreement by Motown and Bob Gaudio only reached re 13 tracks with an additional track [‘I will Love You Like A Man] being dropped by Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli we know that whilst the CD market is dead and with only high quality CD box set projects being marketed, we face another year of disilusionment.
But across the internet is the push against the FSP going to be enough.? AI reveals the same old problem when you ask the status…..
“Yes, a dedicated, niche market exists for unreleased Motown tracks by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, primarily driven by long-term collectors, fan appreciation societies in the UK, and followers of the 4Seasons Motown Unreleased Campaign. While some previously unreleased material was included in the 2023 Snapper Box Set, over 20-30 tracks are believed to remain in the vaults, sparking ongoing demand for a "Holy Grail" release.
Key Details on the Market and Material:
Target Audience: The demand is strong among die-hard fans, specifically groups like the UK 4Season Appreciation Society, who have pushed for years to get these recordings released.
Remaining Content: Beyond the 13 tracks released in the 2023 box set, at least 26 other tracks (or more) in partially or fully completed form are believed to exist, alongside 10 or more with uncertain status.
Quality & Provenance: While some material from the 1971–1974 Motown era was deemed unworthy by the Four Seasons Partnership (FSP) and labeled as demos or in the wrong key, reports suggest many are of similar quality to released material.
The "My Eyes Adored You" Lesson: The market for this material was proven when the group bought back "My Eyes Adored You" from Motown, leading to a #1 hit on Private Stock Records in 1975, indicating potential for commercial appeal, even if Motown previously rejected the tracks.
Obstacles: The main barrier to a wider market release has been, and remains, the Four Seasons Partnership’s (Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli) resistance to releasing material they previously deemed sub-par or unrepresentative of their sound. “
My efforts via Facebook Groups and [my now new] blog will continue to focus on these currently lost tracks .
This is a version that should have been pulled from Motown Tape P2664 which in this You Tube upload was salvaged from Cassette Tape and Re-Mastered by me to provide the best version yet of the extended mix produced by Bob Crew. For some reason Gaudio does not like the extended mixes by Crewe and maybe claims ‘they are in the wrong key’ even though you can all hear it is in good sound even from this salvaged acetate version Crewe had mixed as a sample version. I will still keep pushing against the disgrace of the way fans have been treated re the recordings at Motown by both the FSP and Universal Motown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwDuez8GVHw
Casey
