December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)
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"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" is a song originally performed by American band the Four Seasons, written by original Four Seasons keyboardist
Bob Gaudio Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of the ban ...
and his future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group's album '' Who Loves You'' (1975). The song features drummer
Gerry Polci Gerald Michael Polci (born June 9, 1952) is an American singer and musician who was a member of the American rock and pop band The Four Seasons. Polci played and sang in the band variously between 1973 and 1990. He sang lead and played drums o ...
on lead vocals, with
Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...
, the group's usual lead vocalist, singing the bridge sections and backing vocals and bassist
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", celebrating 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 alcoholic b ...
, but after the band revolted against what Gaudio would admit was a "silly" lyric being paired with an instrumental groove they knew would be a hit, Parker, who had not written a song lyric before by that point, wrote a new set of lyrics. By Gaudio's account, the song was a recollection of his and Parker's first meeting. In real life, Parker and Gaudio had not met until 1973, when both were working as producers for
Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
. Parker recalled writing the lyrics from the perspective of a man recalling his first intimacy with a woman, recalling that she still wanted to portray it in a way that was
family-friendly A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...
because of the Four Seasons' (and Parker's own) clean reputation. The idea of having Polci and Ciccone sing lead vocals instead of Valli came from Warner Bros., who had been impressed when they had received a demo of their previous single " Who Loves You", with Ciccone on lead vocals. They reasoned that new lead vocalists would help differentiate the Four Seasons from the solo records Valli was then also cutting for
Private Stock Records Private Stock Records was a record label that operated from 1974 to 1978. The label was founded by Larry Uttal after he left Bell Records. The label primarily focused on pop music and had numerous hit records, many of them one-hit wonders, incl ...
, briefly designating Ciccone as the band's new lead vocalist. Although Valli was angered by the suggestion, the album ultimately relied upon Polci and Ciccone as lead vocalists for the rest of the songs on the album.


Reception

The single was released in December 1975 and hit number one on the UK Singles Chart 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 ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is 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 online ...
''. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 4 song for 1976. On April 10 the same year, it topped the ''
RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...
'' National Top Singles Chart in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. 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
theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...
to the film '' Grease''. ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' said that it has "the flavor and fun of '60s rock with a disco feel," and praised the
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...
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 Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
line." ''
Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...
'' called it a "disco flavored item in he Four Seasons'timeless harmony mold."


Ben Liebrand remix

In 1988, Dutch DJ and producer
Ben Liebrand Ben Liebrand (; born 27 September 1960) is a Dutch dance music disc jockey, DJ and remixer. He has record producer, produced for artists such as Forrest (singer), Forrest and MC Miker G & DJ Sven and remixed tracks by artists such as Alexander O ...
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. It also became the Four Seasons' sole charting song on the
Pop Airplay Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the U ...
chart, hitting a peak of #6.


Music video

A
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
was produced to accompany the original 1975 release. It featured the band performing on a stage along with scenes of a 1950s/early 1960s diner where they were all together with young women dressed in period outfits and drinking ice cream sodas.


Personnel

*
Gerry Polci Gerald Michael Polci (born June 9, 1952) is an American singer and musician who was a member of the American rock and pop band The Four Seasons. Polci played and sang in the band variously between 1973 and 1990. He sang lead and played drums o ...
– drums, lead vocals (verses) *
Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...
– backing vocals, lead vocals (first bridge) *
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 ...
– backing vocals, bass, lead vocals (second bridge) * John Paiva – electric guitar * Lee Shapiro – keyboards, synthesizers, horn and string arrangements *
Bob Gaudio Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of the ban ...
– keyboards, producer


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Clock version

British
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
-
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
act
Clock A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...
released a
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
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" ( ...
also recorded a version of this song called "Cette année-là". The song is featured in the French jukebox musical '' Belles belles belles'' based on the works of Claude François, as well as in ''
Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The mus ...
'', in which the song is inserted into the story's timeline in 1963.Brickman, Marshall; Elice, Rick (2004). ''Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons''. Act I, scenes 28–29. pp.83–87.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) 1975 songs 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 American disco songs Warner Records singles Curb Records singles MCA Records singles Songs about nights