Hoboken Four

Sinatra (far right) with the Hoboken Four on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour. Major Bowes is in the center.

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 trio had been based in Hoboken, New Jersey, before meeting Sinatra in 1934, after which Sinatra drove them and their instruments to gigs outside the city and occasionally performed with them. Following their winning performance on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour on September 8, 1935, the newly formed quartet embarked on a seven-month tour of the central and western United States and Canada with one of Major Bowes' touring companies. Tensions between the quartet members escalated, however, to the point that Sinatra was regularly beaten by the other members, and he quit the tour halfway through. He returned to Hoboken to pursue a solo career, while the rest of the group disbanded after the tour ended.