🎵 EXCLUSIVE CHAT: The Men Behind 'Jersey Forever'!

Jersey Forever has reunited the original four stars of the record breaking, mega hit musical Jersey Boys - Bobby Fox, Glaston Toft, Scott Johnson and Stephen Mahy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gold. It's Jonesy Demanda driving you home.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Well, I'll tell you what if you love Jersey Boys.
This is a very special reunion. More than fifteen years
after the original Australian production it took the country by storm,
the four original stars are getting back together for Jersey Forever,
a one light only concert celebrating the music of Frankie
Valley in the four Seasons. Here they are Bobby, Glaston,

(00:24):
Scott and Stevens.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
I'm walking here, I'm walking fifteen years since the first production.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Does it feel like you're slipping into an old shoe?
Have you all just gone straight back in? Oh?

Speaker 3 (00:41):
It very much? Is that? I mean, it's been a
long it's been a long time between drinks in terms
of like actually dusting off the cobwaves, getting the voice
back together, getting the moves back together. But it was
literally kind of like the first time that we stood
in front of the mirror in with the four microphone
stands and I went, oh, yeah, that's right, and we
do we do this. And immediately once you see those

(01:03):
shapes start to happing, of those those like choreographic shapes,
the shoulders and the angles and everything, it just we
feel it's just easily. We're a group. We're a band,
straight straight away.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
And were you thrilled that you could all do up
your jackets?

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Well, they were especially made for us. I had these
ones specially made there. Some of the parameters may have
slid adjustments here and there, but we do have the technology.
So well, we're all looking pretty good.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
I must commend you. I saw you when I was
at Channel nine. I saw you in the studio and
you were wearing the jackets and they're still holding up
quite well some hours later, so that.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Is exactly right. And even since then, since we saw
your Channel nine, we did two hours of promo. We
just did promo shooting for on phones, just shout outs
and ticket giveaways and all of that stuff that's coming up,
of course, But we are just we certainly are making
putting these brand new red jackets to you.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Why is this show? Why are these songs so during
fifteen years later people still know all the words and
still want to see it again? What is it about
these songs?

Speaker 4 (02:05):
Well, well, some music is kind of timeless, isn't it.
Like I think that's part of Frankie Valley's music is
that it did last over so many decades. You know,
they had the big hits in the fifties, but then
oh what a night? What was the eighties when it
came out. So we're talking three decades of hits that
he made, and I think the power of the songwriting

(02:27):
really still just last the test of time.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
And to me coming back to it, of course, you know,
you think you're a good singer when you're first starting
it out and you get a bit of bravado and
you're like, oh, yeah, I've got all the notes and whatever.
And then you come back to it later and you
listen back to Frankie and you go, oh, I know nothing.
I know nothing about singing, and there's so much depth
and there's so much storytelling. Frankie Valley's idol was Frank Sinatra,

(02:53):
and he studied Frank Sinatra and he said, the thing
was Frankie with Frank was that you knew he meant
every single word that he sang, and that was the
thing that he wanted to achieve with his So when
you listen to actually Frankie's voice and songs like walk
like a Man, he's actually given a lot of that
street and a lot of that rasp and a lot

(03:14):
of that as well as those ping high notes. He
was really using all of his tools for this tiny guy.
I mean, we all met Frankie and like, I might
look short next to these guys because they're all six
three and six one, But Frankie's down here, He's a tiny.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Little He's still going. There was a bit of controversy
that people saying that he shouldn't be getting up there performing,
but I'm.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Thinking a bit like elder Abuse.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, but if he's still doing it, and if he
wants to do it, then why not do it well?

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Because I mean, if we said it in the show,
Frankie was at home when he was on stage, he
is an old man. We know that we're looking at
the guy. But the thing is, it's about what's the
next show. It's that drive forward, And for him, the
darkest points of his life were when he wasn't able
to be on stage because it's not just about money.

(04:03):
It is about purpose and it is about getting off
and it is about well, I've got to stay together
and what's the next idea and what's the next fresh
thing we can do. I mean, you guys would know
that even just being at any sort of level of entertainment.
It's like, what is the next thing I want to
sort of create. You're not always sort of evolving.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
So I do this for free. Amanda does it for money,
but I just love it.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
That's very nice of you.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Signed a terrible contract.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
I get paid in livestock and just to be in
the presence of a man. So Friday Field Sessions Today.
What are we playing today? Fellas? What song are we
going to do?

Speaker 4 (04:36):
What are we doing?

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Boys to Night an absolute party banger, Frankie Valiant Seasons.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
Jim I rise here. We've got the keyboard, the drums
and all the stuff in here. Ah yeah, it's Amanda
on that now. But we'll just set up, we'll come back. Okay,
good stuff, that machine's working.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
I've been off since three o'clock, so then I'm ready
to part.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Bobby's on Fire, Okay, stand by coming up. We've got
Jersey Boys and we're going to be doing over a
Night on Gold