December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)

"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" is a song originally performed by the Four Seasons, written by original Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Gaudio and his future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group's album Who Loves You (1975).

"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"
side-A label
Side A of the US single
Single by the Four Seasons
from the album Who Loves You
B-side"Slip Away"
ReleasedDecember 1975[1]
RecordedNovember 1975
StudioSound Factory (Hollywood)
Genre
Length
  • 3:36 (album version)
  • 3:20 (single version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bob Gaudio
The Four Seasons singles chronology
"Who Loves You"
(1975)		 "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"
(1975)		 "Silver Star"
(1976)
Official music video
"December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!)" on YouTube

The song features drummer Gerry Polci on lead vocals, with Frankie Valli, the group's usual lead vocalist, singing the bridge sections and backing vocals and bass player Don Ciccone 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,[3] 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.[4]

Reception

The single was released in December 1975 and hit number one on the UK Singles Chart on February 21, 1976.[5] 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 RPM National Top Singles Chart in Canada.[6] 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 production and the lead and harmony vocals as well."[7] 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."[8] Record World called it a "disco flavored item in [the Four Seasons'] timeless harmony mold."[9]

Ben Liebrand remix

In 1988, Dutch DJ and producer Ben Liebrand remixed the song and re-released it as a single.[10][11] 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.[12] This remixed version has a duration of five minutes. It also became the Four Seasons' sole charting song on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, hitting a peak of #6.

Music video

A music video was produced to accompany the original 1975 release. It featured the band performing on a stage along with scenes of a 50s/early 60s diner where they were all together with young women dressed in period outfits and drinking ice cream sodas.

Personnel

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[45] Platinum 70,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[48] Gold 10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[50] Gold 1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Clock version
"Oh What a Night"
Single by Clock
from the album About Time 2
ReleasedAugust 26, 1996 (1996-08-26)[51]
Length3:28
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • P. Pritchard
  • S. Allan
Clock singles chronology
"Whoomph! (There It Is)"
(1995)		 "Oh What a Night"
(1996)		 "U Sexy Thing"
(1997)

British pop-dance act Clock 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
CD single, UK (1996)
No.TitleLength
1."Oh What a Night" (radio mix)3:23
2."Oh What a Night" (club mix)5:12
3."You Give Me Love" (Time Ladies Please mix)4:42
4."You Give Me Love" (Ten to Two mix)5:18
CD single, France (1996)
No.TitleLength
1."Oh What a Night" (radio mix)3:24
2."Oh What a Night" (Soul mix)3:26

Charts

Other covers

The French singer Claude François also recorded a version of this song called "Cette année-là".[59][60] 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, in which the song is inserted into the story's timeline in 1963 (and credits Nick Massi with setting Gaudio up with the here-unnamed Parker at a Christmas party).[61]

References
  1. The Four Seasons; Frankie Valli (1991), Greatest Hits, Volume 2, Internet Archive, Warner Special Products, retrieved January 30, 2023
  2. Breihan, Tom (December 27, 2019). "The Number Ones: Frankie Valli's "Grease"". Stereogum. Retrieved July 7, 2023. ...with the 1976 nostalgia-dazed Four Seasons doo-wop disco number "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)."
  3. "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)". Songfacts.com. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  4. "Gaudio put words in Valli's mouth". Sun-setinel.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 323. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  7. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. December 13, 1975. p. 58. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  8. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. December 20, 1975. p. 28. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  9. "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. December 20, 1975. p. 14. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  10. "Frankie Valli & Four Seasons, The – December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) (Ben Liebrand Re-mix) (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 1992. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  11. "Four Seasons, The – December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 1993. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  12. Billboard.com review of album "Oh, What a Night"
  13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. "The Four Seasons – December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
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  27. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  28. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 90.
  29. "Cash Box Top 100: March 20, 1976". tropicalglen.com. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
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  33. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2663." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  34. "The Four Seasons – December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
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  45. "1993 ARIA Singles Chart". ARIA. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  46. "Billboard Top 100 – 1994". Longboredsurfer.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
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  50. "American single certifications – The Four Seasons – December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
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  52. "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 38. September 21, 1996. p. 16. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
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