Four Lads

Four guys from Canada who grew up together in Toronto, Corrado “Connie” Codarini, John Bernard “Bernie” Toorish, James F. “Jimmy” Arnold, and Frank Busseri would become one of the top singing stars of the 1950s known as “The Four Lads”.

Mitch Miller, A&R Director of Columbia records recruited them to sing backup for some of the artists he recorded. One unknown artist Johnnie Ray, became a major star with his Hit Parade topper “Cry” and “The Little White Cloud that Cried” with the Four Lads behind him. This opened the door for The Four Lads to become stars themselves.

In 1953 they made their own first gold record, “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” and a year later hit with “Skokiaan.” In 1955 they repeated with “Moments to Remember” skyrocketing The Four Lads to fame.

In 1956 “No, Not Much” and “Standing on the Corner” reached the top of the Hit Parade. The following year “Who Needs You” and “Put a light in the Window” were top ten hits and in 1958 “There’s Only One of You” and “Enchanted Island” again reached the top ten nationally.