December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)

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"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"
File:December 1963 oh what a night.JPG
Single by The Four Seasons
from the album Who Loves You
B-side "Slip Away"
Released December 1975
Recorded November 1975
Genre
Length 3:36
3:20 (single version)
Label Warner Bros. / Curb
Songwriter(s) Bob Gaudio, Judy Parker
Producer(s) Bob Gaudio
Script error: The function "ucfirst" does not exist. singles chronology
"Who Loves You"
(1975)		 "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"
(1975)		 "Silver Star"
(1976)
Music video
"December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!)" on YouTube

"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).

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 – former lead singer of The Critters – singing the falsetto part ("And I felt a rush like a rolling ball of thunder / Spinning my head around and taking my body under").

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,[1] 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.[2]

Composition

The song is an up-tempo, piano-led dance song with a distinct and easily recognizable opening drum and then piano riff. It is written in 4/4 and in the key of D-flat major. It was originally recorded in the more common C major, but the studio recording made the song sound slightly higher in pitch. The main riff contains a basic ascending chord progression of Db-Ebm-Fm-Gb-Ab (I-ii-iii-IV-V). The solo occurring about halfway into the duration of the track has the distinction of being in the Dorian mode. The iconic "what a night" lyric is repeated 10 times throughout, yet the songs title is only sung once at the beginning. While the song's piano/bass/drums/guitar/keyboard arrangement is fairly typical of pop songs of the period, there is an unusual introduction of the bass guitar midway through a stanza in the 10th bar of the song's first verse.

Reception

The single was released in December 1975 and hit number one on the UK Singles Chart on February 21, 1976.[3] 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.[4] 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."[5]

Ben Liebrand remix

In 1988, Dutch DJ and producer Ben Liebrand remixed the song and re-released it as a single.[6][7] 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.[8]

"Cette année-là"

In 1976, Claude François released an album called Le vagabond that features the French version of the song known as "Cette année-là". French-born singer/rapper Yannick covered the song in 2000 as the number one hit Ces soirées-là. More recently in 2016, M. Pokora released a tribute album for Claude François called My way which includes his own cover of "Cette année-là".

Music video

A music video was produced to accompany the original 1975 release.[9] The video used the edited single version, which had a Phaser effect during Frankie's vocals, not heard on any other version of the song.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[29] Platinum 70,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[33] Gold 7,500
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Gold 500,000
United States (RIAA)[35] Gold 1,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Clock version

"Oh What a Night"
File:Oh What a Night.jpg
Single by Clock
from the album About Time 2
Released 1996
Genre
Length 3:28
Label MCA Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • P. Pritchard
  • S. Allan
Script error: The function "ucfirst" does not exist. singles chronology
"Axel F"
(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 1996. It peaked at number 13 in Ireland, number 12 in Scotland and number 13 in the UK.

Track listing

CD single, UK (1996)
No. Title Length
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. Title Length
1. "Oh What A Night" (Radio Mix) 3:24
2. "Oh What A Night" (Soul Mix) 3:26

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[36] 49
Ireland (Irish Singles Chart) 13
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[37] 12
United Kingdom (UK Singles Chart) 13
United Kingdom (UK Dance Singles Chart)[38] 20

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Billboard.com review of album "Oh, What a Night"[dead link]
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1976-02-15" UK Singles Chart.
  13. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Flavour of New Zealand, 16 April 1976
  16. ↑ Flavour of New Zealand, 11 June 1976
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – The Four Seasons – December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  21. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2669." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  22. ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2663." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  23. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Four Seasons – December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". Top 40 Singles.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=3865
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter December 1963 (Oh What a Night) in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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