"Working My Way Back to You" is a song made popular by The Four Seasons in 1966 and The Spinners in 1980. Written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, the song was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in 1966, reaching No. 9 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the UK Top 50 chart it spent three weeks – all at No. 50. It is the only hit to feature the group's arranger

Charles Calello Charles Calello (born August 24, 1938) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track ...

in the temporary role of bassist/bass vocalist, having replaced original member Nick Massi. The lyrics tell about a man who cheated on his girlfriend. When she leaves, he realizes that he did love her and is very remorseful about his past actions. He vows to win her love back. It is in some ways a re-casting of the melody from their previous hit, " Let's Hang On!". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' described it as a "raunchy,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

-drenched ode about a love-sick fella who hopes to be re-united with his ex-gal," and said that it has "money-in-the-bank-sound."

Charts

The Spinners version

In 1979 American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

and R&B group The Spinners recorded a medley of "Working My Way Back to You" and Michael Zager's "Forgive Me Girl," staying at No. 1 in 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 ...

for two weeks in April 1980. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart, the medley (released in December 1979 in the U.S.) peaked at the No. 2 position in March and April 1980 for two weeks, behind "

Another Brick in the Wall "Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera '' The Wall,'' written by bassist Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment, and rigid and abusive schooling, features a chil ...

" by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

. The Spinners version also made it to No. 6 on the Soul Singles chart and No. 8 on the disco/dance chart. The version of the Spinners was taken up in French by the French Canadian singer

Jean Nichol Jean Nichol (stage name of Louis Simoneau) (8 December 1944 – 11 May 2020) was a Canadian singer and songwriter. Biography Nichol performed with the group Les Commandeurs from 1962 to 1966. He also sang in bars under the name Maxime. He was ...

under the title "Je voudrais te retrouver" (I want to find you).

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Boyzone version

The Irish

boyband A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many ...

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

released a cover version of "Working My Way Back to You" as their debut single in May 1994. The song reached No. 3 on the Irish Singles Chart. It is one of their only singles to feature

Mikey Graham Michael Christopher Charles "Mikey" Graham (born 15 August 1972) is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor and record producer, best known as a member of boy band Boyzone. Early life The youngest of seven children, Graham was born to housewife Sheil ...

on lead vocals. The band later recorded a French version in collaboration with Alliage. This French version of the track is credited as being a major turning point in the career of producer-songwriter Steve Mac. A lack of interest from the "usual producers" led to Polydor phoning up Mac and asking him to take on the role, and by doing he effectively made a decisive progression from his early

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

singles to the mature balladry he has since made a very successful career out of.

Track listing

* ''Working My Way Back To You'' #"Working My Way Back To You" - 4:12 #"Working My Way Back To You" (POD 12" Mix) - 8:13 #"Father And Son" - 2:49 * ''Te Garder Pres De Moi'' #"Te Garder Près De Moi" (Featuring Alliage) - 4:41 #"Te Garder Près De Moi" (Instrumental) - 4:41

Charts

* Working My Way Back to You * Te Garder Près De Moi (with Alliage)

Personnel

The Four Seasons' version

*Lead vocals by

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice. ...

*Background vocals by Tommy DeVito,

and

Bob Gaudio Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote and produced the vast majori ...

*Instrumentation by Charles Calello (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

), Bob Gaudio ( keyboards), Tommy DeVito (guitar)

The (Detroit) Spinners' version

*Lead vocals by Jonathan Edwards and

Pervis Jackson Pervis Jackson (May 17, 1938 – August 18, 2008) was an American R&B singer, noted as the bass singer for The Spinners, and was one of the group's original members as well as their spokesman. His deep timbered voice and calm swagger garnered hi ...

*Background vocals by Bobby Smith, Pervis Jackson,

Henry Fambrough Henry Lee Fambrough (born May 10, 1938) is an original vocalist and current member of the R&B quintet The Spinners (aka The Detroit Spinners and also The Motown Spinners). He is the last surviving original member of the Spinners. The group ...

and Billy Henderson *Instrumentation by various

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

area musicians

Boyzone version

*Lead vocals by

Stephen Gately Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 197610 October 2009) was an Irish singer, who, with Ronan Keating, was co-lead singer of the pop group Boyzone; all of Boyzone's studio albums during Gately's lifetime hit number one in the United Kingdo ...

and

*Background vocals by

Keith Duffy Keith Peter Thomas Francis Julian John Duffy (born 1 October 1974) is an Irish singer, actor, radio and television presenter and drummer who began his professional music career as part of Irish boy band Boyzone alongside Ronan Keating, Mik ...

, Mikey Graham,

Shane Lynch Shane Eamon Mark Stephen Lynch (born 3 July 1976) is an Irish singer, but best known as a member of Boyzone. In recent years, he has taken up auto racing, participated in reality shows such as '' Celebrity Big Brother'' in 2018 and appeared as ...

and

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career s ...

References

{{Authority control 1966 singles 1979 singles 1980 singles 1994 debut singles The Four Seasons (band) songs The Spinners (American R&B group) songs Boyzone songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Sandy Linzer Songs written by Denny Randell Song recordings produced by Bob Crewe Philips Records singles Atlantic Records singles PolyGram singles 1966 songs