December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)

"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 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 on lead vocals, with Frankie Valli, the group's usual lead vocalist, singing the bridge sections and backing vocals and bassist Don Ciccone singing the falsetto part. The song reached number one in Canada, South Africa, the UK and the US. In 1996, British act Clock) had a European hit with their cover version.

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 in the United States. While the band felt that the instrumental groove would be a hit, they disliked the lyrics, and so Judy 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. Parker wrote the lyrics from the perspective of a man recalling his first intimacy with a woman. Parker sought to do this in a way that was family friendly because of the Four Seasons' (and Parker's own) clean reputation.

Song origins

The idea of having Polci and Ciccone sing lead vocals instead of only Valli came from Warner Bros., who had been impressed when they had received a demo) of the band's previous single "Who Loves You)", with Ciccone on lead vocals. The label reasoned that new lead vocalists would help differentiate the Four Seasons from the solo records. Valli was then also cutting for Private Stock Records, 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.

December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)