Biography

The Four Lads (Jim Arnold, Bernie Toorish, Frank Busseri and Connie Codarini) took form as students within Toronto's St. Michael's Cathedral Choir School, a renowned academy of music where for five years the boys studied harmony and counterpoint under Monsignor J. E. Ronan. Working as a team studying voice, they would meet at the Busseri home every evening and on weekends to polish their vocal ensemble with Busseri, Sr. as a teacher before launching their professional career as The Four Lads at clubs and hotels in Toronto and nearby cities. Elwood Glover, MC of the Canadian Cavalcade, soon booked them on his coast-to-coast radio program. At the Casino Theatre in Toronto, the Golden Gate Quartet's road manager Orlando "Pop" Wilson referred the Four Lads to audition in New York for manager Mike Stewart, resulting in a thirty-week booking at Le Riban Bleu and a cross-country tour to appear at the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago; Mt. Royal Hotel in Montreal: the Copa Club in Pittsburgh; La Vie En Rose in New York; the Paramount Theatre, New York: the Latin Casino, Philadelphia; and Ciro's in Hollywood.
- IMDb mini biography by: Lou Rugani

Original group members were the late James Arnold, first tenor, John Bernard "Bernie" Toorish, lead, Frank Busseri, baritone and group manager, and Corrado "Connie" Codarini, bass. All were originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and met as students at St. Michael's Choir School in that city. Busseri is (as of 2007) the only original member with the group.

One of the most popular, non-rock vocal groups of the 1950s, a list of their biggest hits, all originally released on Columbia Records, would have to include "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", "Skokiaan", "No, Not Much", "Standing on the Corner," "Who Needs You", "Moments to Remember" and the improbable "Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen By The Sea".

They were inducted into The Vocal Hall Of Fame in September 2003 in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Original lead tenor James F. Arnold passed away on June 15, 2004, from lung cancer at his home in Sacramento, California. He had spent the previous 20 years teaching voice at his home since retiring from the group. Corrado Codarini died on April 28, 2010, at age 80.