December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)
Encyclopedia
"December, 1963" is a hit single 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 1975 album, Who Loves You
.
The song features drummer Gerry Polci on lead vocals, with usual lead Frankie Valli singing the bridge sections and backing vocals.
with the title of "December 5th, 1933," but the lyrics were changed at the urgings of Frankie Valli
and lyricist Parker. The song became a nostalgic remembrance of a young man's "first time"
with a woman. In the Broadway
play Jersey Boys
, the song accompanied the Bob Gaudio character being set up with a prostitute by the record label, in order to lose his virginity.
and in the key of D-flat major
on February 21, 1976. It repeated the feat on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
on March 13, 1976, remaining in the top spot for three weeks and one week on Cash Box. On April 10th of the same year, it topped the RPM
National Top Singles Chart in Canada
. New drummer Gerry Polci and bassist Don Ciccone shared lead vocals with long-time frontman Frankie Valli
.
and rereleased as a single. The 1993 rerelease spent 27 weeks on the Hot 100 (matching the chart life of the original 1975 single). The peak position of the 1993 remix version was #14. Adding together the two 27-week chart runs for the 1975 original single and the 1993 remix version (for a combined total of 54 weeks, two more weeks than a full year) gives the song the longest tenure ever on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart.
The Four Seasons (group)
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...
, written by original Four Seasons keyboard
Electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
player Bob Gaudio
Bob Gaudio
Robert John "Bob" Gaudio is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist/backing vocalist for The Four Seasons.-Early career:...
and his future wife Judy Parker
Judy Parker
Judy Parker is the wife of Bob Gaudio, a record producer. She co-wrote The Four Seasons' LP "Who Loves You" and "December 1963 " with Gaudio, who produced the albums.-References:...
, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group's 1975 album, Who Loves You
Who Loves You
Who Loves You is a 1975 album by The Four Seasons which introduced the new Four Seasons: John Paiva , Don Ciccone , Lee Shapiro and Gerry Polci...
.
The song features drummer Gerry Polci on lead vocals, with usual lead Frankie Valli singing the bridge sections and backing vocals.
Song origins
The song was originally about the repeal of ProhibitionProhibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
with the title of "December 5th, 1933," but the lyrics were changed at the urgings of Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
and lyricist Parker. The song became a nostalgic remembrance of a young man's "first time"
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with a woman. In the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play Jersey Boys
Jersey Boys
Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is a documentary-style musical, based on one of the most successful 1960s rock 'n roll groups, the Four Seasons...
, the song accompanied the Bob Gaudio character being set up with a prostitute by the record label, in order to lose his virginity.
Composition
The song is an up-tempo, piano-led dance song with a distinct and easily recognisable opening piano riff, it is written in 4/4Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
and in the key of D-flat major
1975 release
The single was released in December of 1975 and hit number one on the UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
on February 21, 1976. It repeated the feat on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
on March 13, 1976, remaining in the top spot for three weeks and one week on Cash Box. On April 10th of the same year, it topped the RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
National Top Singles Chart in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. New drummer Gerry Polci and bassist Don Ciccone shared lead vocals with long-time frontman Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
.
1988 and 1993 remixes
In both 1988 and 1993, the song was remixed by Dutch deejay and producer Ben LiebrandBen Liebrand
Ben Liebrand is a dance music DJ. He has produced artists such as Forrest and MC Miker G & DJ Sven and remixed tracks by artists such as Salt N Pepa, Sting, TLC, Fun Fun, Tavares, Bill Withers, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Rick Astley, SWV and Phil Collins...
and rereleased as a single. The 1993 rerelease spent 27 weeks on the Hot 100 (matching the chart life of the original 1975 single). The peak position of the 1993 remix version was #14. Adding together the two 27-week chart runs for the 1975 original single and the 1993 remix version (for a combined total of 54 weeks, two more weeks than a full year) gives the song the longest tenure ever on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart.
Peak positions
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles Chart | 1 |
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 14 |
End of year charts
| End of year chart (1976) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |
| End of year chart (1994) | Position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 89 |
Cover versions
- FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
singer Claude FrançoisClaude FrançoisClaude François was a French pop singer, songwriter and dancer. He wrote "Comme d'habitude," the original version of "My Way."-Early life:...
covered the song on his album Le Vagabond in 1975; his version was entitled "Cette année-là" ("That Year"). Incorporating new lyrics reminiscing François' own beginnings in show businessShow businessShow business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
in the year 1962, the song became a hit in Europe. - Another French version, entitled "Ces soirées-làCes soirées-là"Ces soirées-là" is a 2000 song recorded by French-born singer/rapper Yannick. It was the second single from his debut album C'est comme ça qu'on aime and was released in March 2000...
" ("Those Nights"), was produced by YannickYannick (rapper)Yannick , real name Yannick M'Boloa, is a French hip-hop/chanson musician. He is best known for his internationally successful song "Ces soirées-là" , a 2000 dance-based re-imaging of the The Four Seasons' hit pop song "December, 1963 ".-External links:*French Wikipedia...
in 2000. It was based on Claude François' song. It peaked at #1 in France and Belgium. The lyrics recount the fun had at a certain night club. This rap is featured at the beginning of the Broadway musical Jersey BoysJersey BoysJersey Boys is a jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is a documentary-style musical, based on one of the most successful 1960s rock 'n roll groups, the Four Seasons...
. - SloveneSloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
singer Tomaž Domicelj covered the song on his album Na planini je živel; his version was entitled "Jamajka" ("Jamaica"). Whether it is a cover of the original song or Claude François' is unclear. - In 1996, British dance duo ClockClock (dance act)Clock was a British band primarily led by Stu Allan and Pete Pritchard. They started as a house act, then turned to eurodance and eventually ended up as a disco act. In 1994, they hailed themselves as the British "2 Unlimited" when they recruited rapper Marcus Thomas , and vocalist Lorna Saunders ...
took it to #13 in the UK chart. - Singer Vitamin CVitamin C (artist)Colleen Ann Fitzpatrick is an American pop music singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress better known by her stage name, Vitamin C. Her singles include "Graduation ", "As Long As You're Loving Me", "The Itch", and her most successful hit the Top 20 Gold certified "Smile"...
released her own version of the song in the late-1990s, which heavily sampled instrumentation and vocals—including those of Valli—from the original song, and removed most of the original lyrics. This version was used as a brand imageBrandThe American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
theme by the American television networkTelevision networkA television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
The WB in image spots, promoPromotional recordingA promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
s, and interstitialsInterstitial programIn television programming, an interstitial program refers to a short program which is often shown between movies or other events, e.g. a cast interview after movies on premium channels...
during the 1999-2000 television season. - Wyclef JeanWyclef JeanWyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
has done a hip-hop version of this song, titled "What a Night", about his journey as a hip-hop artist, released on the album Masquerade. - In 2001, Mr. VegasMr. VegasMr. Vegas is a Jamaican dancehall star.-Biography:Smith was born in Kingston in 1974. The moniker "Mr. Vegas" was given to Smith by his schoolyard football-mates, who thought that he kicked the ball like a Las Vegas dancer...
(together with singer Jackie) did a cover of this song which was featured on his album Damn Right. - In 1998, Thomas Bangalter of house music duo Daft PunkDaft PunkDaft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...
fame sampled the bridge from the Claude François version of the song in his track "Colossus". - In 2004 Cam'ron sampled the song on a track called "Oh What A Night"... The full version was finally released in 2010 but never made a release album due to sample clearance issues.
- In 2010, John BarrowmanJohn BarrowmanJohn Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
did a cover of this song which was featured on his album John Barrowman
Contemporary usage
- The song was also parodied in the British TV advert for VitaliteVitaliteVitalite is a sunflower oil-based margarine, produced by Dairy Crest in Kirkby in Merseyside.It began in 1983, being made by Kraft General Foods. In 1996, it was bought by St Ivel, who were then bought by Dairy Crest in November 2002...
from 1995 to 2001. - The song was used in promos for The WB from the 2000-01 season.