"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" is a song originally performed by the Four Seasons, written by original Four Seasons

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

player Bob Gaudio and his future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group's album, ''

Who Loves You ''Who Loves You'' is an album by The Four Seasons. It was released in 1975 on Warner/Curb Records. Background The record introduced the new Four Seasons lineup which now included John Paiva (guitar), Don Ciccone (bass), Lee Shapiro (keyboards) ...

'' (1975). The song features drummer

Gerry Polci Gerry Polci (born June 9, 1952) is an American singer and musician who was a member of the American Rock music, rock and Pop music, pop Musical ensemble, band The Four Seasons (band), The Four Seasons. Polci played and sang in the band variously ...

on lead vocals, with Frankie Valli, the group's usual lead vocalist, singing the bridge sections and backing vocals and bass player

Don Ciccone Donald Joseph Ciccone (February 28, 1946 – October 8, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member of the pop group the Critters, singing their biggest hits "Younger Girl" and "Mr. Dieingly Sad". The latter ...

singing the falsetto part.

Song origins

According to the co-writer and longtime group member Bob Gaudio, the song's lyrics were originally set in 1933 with the title "December 5th, 1933," and celebrated the repeal of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

, but the lyrics were changed at the urgings of Frankie Valli and lyricist Parker to reposition the song as a nostalgic remembrance of a young man's first affair with a woman, and, more specifically, Gaudio's courtship with his wife, Judy Parker.

Reception

The single was released in December 1975 and hit number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on February 21, 1976. It repeated the feat on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on March 13, 1976, remaining in the top spot for three weeks and one week on '' Cash Box''. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 4 song for 1976. On April 10 the same year, it topped the ''

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'' National Top Singles Chart in

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. It was the final Four Seasons' song to reach number one, although Valli would have one final chart-topper as a solo act in 1978 with the theme song to the film '' Grease''. '' Billboard'' said that it has "the flavor and fun of '60s rock with a disco feel," and praised the

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and the lead and harmony vocals as well." '' Cash Box'' said it has "one of the sweetest melody lines you'll have heard throughout 1975" and that the song is "easy enough to sing along to, combined with an unforgettable bass line."

Ben Liebrand remix

In 1988, Dutch DJ and producer

Ben Liebrand Ben Liebrand () (born 27 September 1960 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands) is a Dutch dance music DJ and remixer. He has produced for artists such as Forrest and MC Miker G & DJ Sven and remixed tracks by artists such as Alexander O'Neal, Salt-N- ...

remixed the song and re-released it as a single. In 1993, Curb Records, who released the original version of the song, picked up the 1988 remix and released it to the U.S. market. The 1993 re-release spent 27 weeks on the Hot 100 (matching the chart life of the original 1975 single). The peak position of the remix version was #14. Adding together the two 27-week chart runs for the 1975 original single and the remixed version (for a combined total of 54 weeks, two more weeks than a full year) gave the song the longest tenure ever on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 music chart up to that time. This remixed version has a duration of five minutes.

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was produced to accompany the original 1975 release.

Personnel

– drums, co-lead and backing vocals * Frankie Valli – co-lead vocals *

– bass, co-lead and backing vocals * John Paiva – electric guitar *

Lee Shapiro Lee Shapiro (1949–1987) was an American documentary filmmaker. His one feature-length film, ''Nicaragua Was Our Home'', was released in 1986. It was filmed in Nicaragua among the Miskito people, Miskito Indians who were then fighting against Nica ...

– keyboards, synthesizers, horn and string arrangements * Bob Gaudio – piano

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Clock version

British pop- dance act

Clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...

released a dance cover of "Oh What a Night" in August 1996. It peaked at number 13 in both Ireland and in the UK; in the latter country, it stayed at its peak for four nonconsecutive weeks.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other covers

The French singer

Claude François Claude Antoine Marie François (; 1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978), also known by the nickname Cloclo, was a French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of "Comme d'habitude" (c ...

also recorded a version of this song called "Cette année-là". Singers of musical

Belles belles belles ''Belles belles belles'' is a French jukebox musical written by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre and Daniel Moyne, based on the songs of French singer Claude François (1939-1978). The musical arrangements are by Carolin Petit. It was the first French jukebo ...

covered the Claude François' song.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) 1975 singles 1976 singles 1994 singles 1996 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in South Africa RPM Top Singles number-one singles The Four Seasons (band) songs Clock (dance act) songs Songs about nostalgia Songs written by Bob Gaudio Song recordings produced by Bob Gaudio Disco songs 1975 songs Warner Records singles Curb Records singles MCA Records singles Songs about nights