December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) – Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

I’ve never heard so many Italians in all my life. Well, strictly speaking, the Four Seasons were Italian Americans. Their name emerged from a New Jersey bowling alley/lounge called the Four Seasons. Their ethnic background almost became part of their mythology – working-class Italian-American lads.

The last time we visited Frankie Valli here, he was crooning to Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. That was co-written by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio and remained closely connected to the group’s musical circle. It’s a song that is a long way removed from today’s song by the Four Seasons – Oh, What a Night. Yet it too was written by keyboardist Bob Gaudio, this time with his future wife Judy Parker.

Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is irresistibly romantic, while Oh, What a Night is unmitigatingly sexy.

The title Oh, What a Night refers to a one-night encounter, so fleeting that the singer didn’t even know the lady’s name, but hey…. What a lady, what a night. The song, in its feel and tone, resembles that brevity of time and sensation as well. Dancing to it on the disco floor (Boogie Nights era) – or nightclub, as we referred to them in the early 90s – with such elation and abandon, it was always one of the standouts of the evening.

But it remains a bit of an enigma, like the unnamed girl in the song – a fleeting moment that somehow becomes unforgettable. In the morning, the nightclub floor is washed clean of the stench, alcohol and vomit of the previous evening, and the mind slowly clears too, leaving behind only fragments of the night. Yet somehow, amongst all that mess and haze, there remains the memory of a woman who was anything but forgettable.

It’s not a song I really wanted to play at home. I preferred it reserved for the pinnacle dance moments of a night out, and by golly, was it a rush. It was easily the most popular song played at nightclubs during my early adulthood, especially in Canberra, Australia.

Oh, What a Night has such an upbeat groove and jive, and Gerry Polci’s vocals are so irrepressibly smooth, feel-good and animated. It’s such a time-capsule song of that era. It’s cocaine in song form.

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Snippets from Wikipedia below:

The song was on the group’s album Who Loves You (1975). It reached number one in Canada, South Africa, the UK and the US. 

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 wrote a new set of lyrics.

By Gaudio’s account, the song was a recollection of his and Parker’s first meeting. Parker sought to do this in a way that was family friendly because of the Four Seasons’ (and Parker’s own) clean reputation.

[Verse 1: Gerry Polci]
Oh, what a night
Late December, back in ’63
What a very special time for me
As I remember, what a night

[Verse 2: Gerry Polci]
Oh, what a night
You know, I didn’t even know her name
But I was never gonna be the same
What a lady, what a night

[Chorus: Frankie Valli]
Oh, I, I got a funny feeling
When she walked in the room
And my, as I recall
It ended much too soon

[Verse 3: Gerry Polci]
(Oh, what a night)
Hypnotizing, mesmerizin’ me
She was everything I dreamed she’d be
Sweet surrender, what a night

[Bridge: Don Ciccone]
And I felt a rush
Like a rolling bolt of thunder
Spinning my head around
And takin’ my body under
(Oh, what a night)

[Chorus: Frankie Valli]
Oh, I got a funny feeling
When she walked in the room
And my, as I recall
It ended much too soon

[Verse 4: Gerry Polci]
(Oh, what a night)
Why’d it take so long to see the light?
Seemed so wrong, but now it seems so right
What a lady, what a night

[Bridge: Don Ciccone]
Oh, I felt a rush
Like a rolling bolt of thunder
Spinning my head around
And takin’ my body under

[Outro: Gerry Polci, Frankie Valli, Don Ciccone]
(Oh, what a night)
Do do do, do do, do do do do
(Oh, what a night)
Do do do, do do, do do do do
(Oh, what a night)
Do do do, do do, do do do do
(Oh, what a night)
Do do do, do do, do do do do…

References:
1. December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) – Wikipedia