Spotlight shines on the Hit Men

Lee Shapiro has been performing hit songs (“Oh What a Night,” “Sherry”) on stage for decades – albeit often in the background. Now it’s his turn, along with a few of his friends, to be center stage.

Assembled by Shapiro, the Hit Men are an ensemble of five musicians who performed on songs that defined generations. They’ll be singing the hits this Friday at The Orpheum in a show that promises to be a nostalgic experience.

“We call ourselves the Hit Men because our show is made up only of the hits that we participated in. The music that we were a part of in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s has now become the standards of our era,” Shapiro said. “When I was a little kid, my parents listened to Sinatra and the big band era and all that stuff. What we do now, and I’m 60 years old, is our generation’s standards. It speaks to the youth of our generation.”

Shapiro and his friend Gerry Polci were two of “the seasons” in Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Shapiro, who also played with Barry Manilow, said that the popularity of the musical “Jersey Boys” inspired him to form the group a few years ago. He did so with the blessing of Frankie Valli, whom he calls a dear friend. Along with Polci, the Hit Men also includes Jimmy Ryan, who played with Carly Simon for 20 years as well as Cat Stevens and Elton John; Larry Gates, who worked with Carole King, Janis Ian and Rick Derringer; and Russ Velazquez, who played with Sting, the Ramones and King, among others.

All five men have been friends for at least 30 years, some much longer. Shapiro and Gates met at day camp in New Jersey when Shapiro was just 8. The long-standing friendship and richness in their professional ties are part of what makes their band unique, Shapiro said.

“We’re authentic,” he said of the group. “We’re not a tribute band or a cover band. We’re playing music that we were a part of. The authenticity is felt by the audience. Our dynamic is that we’re excited to be working together and touring after all this time. That energy is transmitted to the audience. People 55 and older act like they’re at prom.”

In addition to a parade of hits, audiences will also get a glimpse behind the curtain. The show will be supplemented by band members’ stories about how the songs came to be, where they were touring when certain songs were written or performed and who inspired them. There will also be a visual projection of images that evoke the era. When Polci sings “Oh What a Night,” a picture of him from 1976 performing the song on television will be projected overhead, showing him singing to his younger self. It’s what Shapiro calls direct time travel.

The show will be about 90 minutes, with an intermission.

“The energy level is ridiculous,” Shapiro said. “We’ve had people in walkers standing up and dancing in the aisles. We literally rejuvenate people.”

Shapiro said that the music is the soundtrack to many people’s youth. He believes that the songs reflect a certain time and are structurally “more singable” than most music today, largely because of the focus on words and melody.

“We have different generations at our shows, but it’s not like the younger people are being introduced to the songs for the first time,” he said. “Most of them grew up in a household where the music was being played by their parents. They remember their parents dancing to them in their living rooms.”

This story was originally published October 10, 2014 at 7:36 AM with the headline "Spotlight shines on the Hit Men."