Hoboken Four

The Hoboken Four was an American musical quartet formed in 1935, uniting a trio of Italian-American musicians who called themselves the 3 Flashes with aspiring singer Frank Sinatra.

The original trio was composed of three Italian Americans who were childhood friends on Sixth Street in Hoboken, New Jersey: James (Jimmy Skelly) Petrozelli, Patrick (Patty Prince) Principe, and Fred (Freddie Tamby) Tamburro.

[1] They had a regular weekend set at the Rustic Cabin, a roadhouse located on U.S. Route 9W near Alpine, New Jersey,[2][3] about 15 miles (24 km) from Hoboken.

[4] Sinatra also acted as their unofficial manager, "renting the four of them to schools and club bands, with himself as the featured singer for a small additional fee".

[7] In September 1935 the 3 Flashes decided to audition for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, a radio show that encouraged listeners to vote for their favorite act either by calling the station or sending a postcard.

While the trio and the singer were accepted separately, Major Bowes felt it wouldn't do to promote two acts from the same town and put them together as a quartet which he renamed the Hoboken Four.

[10][11][4] Appearing on the September 8, 1935 program, broadcast from the Capitol Theater in New York City, the quartet was introduced by Major Bowes as "singing and dancing fools".

[8] During his live performance at the Sands in 1966, Sinatra said that Major Bowes had to change the name to fool other contenders and the audience from realizing it was the same winning group competing against a fresh pack of amateurs.

Petrozelli and Principe found jobs in Keansburg, New Jersey, while Tamburro went back to being a truck driver with an occasional singing gig.