‘December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)’ is a song 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 singing the falsetto part.
The single was released in December 1975 and hit number one on the UK Singles Chart on February 21, 1976. 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. It was the final Four Seasons' song to reach number one. When the single hit US #1 in 1976, it made The Four Seasons the only artist in history to have #1 songs before (several), during ("Rag Doll") and after the Beatles.
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, 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.
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." 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." Record World called it a "disco flavored item in [the Four Seasons'] timeless harmony mold."
Labels – Warner Bros., CurbSongwriter – Bob Gaudio, Judy Parker
Producer – Bob Gaudio
SONG LYRICS
[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...