The Four-Evers

US vocal group from Brooklyn, NY.
Members: Steve Tudanger, John Cipriani, Nick Zagami, Joe DiBenedetto.
Brooklyn doo wop outfit the Four-Evers remain best known for their 1964 hit "Be My Girl," a record boasting such ebullient harmonies that many believed it featured the Four Seasons under an alias. Co-founders Steve Tudanger and John Cipriani first teamed as middle schoolers, forming Marty & the Joltineers with classmate Marty Joltin in 1957. After adding Sal Ruggiero, the group renamed itself the Vocal Lords and cut "At Seventeen" for the tiny Argo label. In 1960 Tudanger and Cipriani teamed with Nick Zagami and Joe DiBenedetto of rival Brooklyn quartet the Paladins to create the Four-Evers. Upon signing to Columbia the following year, the group issued its debut single, the Al Kasha-produced "You Belong to Me." The record went nowhere, and in 1963 Kasha introduced the Four-Evers to producer Bob Crewe, who brokered a new deal with Smash Records. Crewe also enlisted Four Seasons writer Bob Gaudio to helm their label debut, "Lover Come Back to Me." After reaching the national charts twice in 1964 via "Be My Girl" and "(Say I Love You) Doo Bee Dum," the Four-Evers' career nosedived, and they ricocheted from label to label, releasing efforts for Constellation ("Out of the Crowd") and Red Bird ("You Never Had It So Good") and even returning to Columbia for the 1966 one-off "A Lovely Way to Say Goodnight." The Four-Evers split in 1967 -- Tudanger briefly served with Ellie Greenwich and Mike Rashkow's Definitive Rock Chorale before reuniting with DiBenedetto to form the Playhouse, issuing a pair of singles for Jeff Barry's label Steed. Tudanger later mounted a solo career, issuing singles on the Chelsea and Big Tree labels. He also teamed with Steve Feldman to co-produce Greenwich's cult-classic Let It Be Written, Let It Be Sung LP, and sang backup on records by the Archies, Lobo, and Andy Kim. In subsequent years Tudanger focused on advertising, singing the immortal Almond Joy candy bar jingle "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't!" He also cut spots for Life Savers and Toyota prior to his death on January 1, 2006.