The group was known variously as
The Otnorots ("Toronto" spelled backwards) and
The Jordonaires (not to be confused with
The Jordanaires who sang background vocals on
Elvis Presley's hits). When Maugeri and Perkins left the group to concentrate on their schoolwork, Codarini and Toorish joined with Arnold and Busseri in a new quartet. At home, they practiced until they achieved their clean-cut harmonies, whether for
spirituals, sacred music, or
pop. They originally called themselves "The Four Dukes", but found out that a
Detroit group already used the name, so they changed it to The Four Lads. In 1950, they began to sing in local clubs and soon were noticed by scouts. Recruited to go to
Manhattan, New York, they were noticed there by
Mitch Miller, the
artists and repertoire man at
Columbia Records, who asked them to sing
backup for some of the artists he recorded. One of those artists,
Johnnie Ray, became a major hit in 1951 with "
Cry" and "
The Little White Cloud That Cried", with the Four Lads backing him. After the success of Ray's first hit songs, the Four Lads signed a recording contract with Columbia. In early 1952, they recorded their first song, "Turn Back", penned by group member Bernie Toorish under the name "Dazz Jordan". Released by Columbia subsidiary
Okeh Records (Okeh 6860), the song failed to make an impression. Sometime later that year, the group scored their first-ever hit record with "
The Mocking Bird" (Okeh 6885), another Toorish composition. Based on a melody from the second movement of
Antonin Dvorak's
Symphony No. 9 (known as the "New World Symphony") and featuring an extremely limited accompaniment of percussion and bass, "The Mocking Bird" peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard pop chart. The Four Lads were quickly switched over to the Columbia label, where they continued to garner more hits, and stayed there until 1960. In 1953, the Four Lads had their first
gold record, with "
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", Another famous hit was "
Standing on the Corner", from the
Broadway musical
The Most Happy Fella, in 1956. The Four Lads' Columbia recordings have seen releases and reissues on numerous studio albums and compilations over the years. In late 1958, the group's re-recording of "The Mocking Bird" became their last Top 40 pop hit. In 1959, their final pop chart appearance was with "Happy Anniversary", a song from the
movie of the same name that peaked at No. 77. When their Columbia contract expired in 1960, the group spent the rest of the 1960s recording for the
Kapp Records,
Dot Records and
United Artists Records labels without ever hitting the charts again. Codarini was replaced in 1962 by Johnny D'Arc (who remained with the Lads until 1982) and later fell into destitution. As Toorish once recalled, "[Connie] made a terrible mistake. [He] married a model. [She] drove him crazy. He was working in a restaurant for a while." Toorish, who was
burned out after twenty years of performing, was replaced by Sid Edwards in the early 1970s and became an insurance businessman. Arnold left the group in 1980 to become a voice teacher in
Sacramento, California. Busseri remained with the group, and performed regularly with various members until late 2018. Johnny D'Arc died in 1999, at 60, in
Riverside, California. Jimmy Arnold died in 2004, aged 72, in
Sacramento, California. Codarini died on April 28, 2010, in
Concord, North Carolina, aged 80. Frank Busseri died in
Rancho Mirage, California, on January 28, 2019, aged 86. Aaron Bruce (Aaron Bruce Grattidge), who was working as a radio DJ between performances, died in
Topeka, Kansas, in August 2020, at the age of 79. Bernie Toorish died in
North Olmsted, Ohio, on December 7, 2025, at the age of 94. ==Awards and honours==