2007 saw Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons 'storm' the house scene of Europe's dance floors with a song re-mixed from a minor 1966 hit by the group.
They have given us 4 decades of classic 'dance ' tracks. This is a little known or 'respected' set of music that Bob Gaudio is responsible for which should be reviewed and appreciated not only for the songs and production but also in the context of the group's and Frankie's long-term connection with 'DANCE' music........but firstly let's review the early history and their iconic place in DANCE music history.
From the very beginning THE FOUR SEASONS were not regarded for their 'dance' songs. OK 'Sherry' is urging teens to 'c'mon to my Twist Party' but nothing in the early to mid-sixties in their catalogue was focused on 'dance'. The group never turned to a 'dance' like 'The Jerk'
But with the Merseybeat era and the rise of Tamla-Motown in the UK, by 1965, the MOD Dance culture was being created in the UK[click the link]. Motown couldn't be ignored and Charles Calello has admitted the group's recordings in 1965 were mimicking the Motown Sound whilst not being able to create copies of it. 'Let's Hang On' was their best example.....and maybe 'Opus 17' in 1966.
But one track would cement their 'DANCE' reputation and it would be the UK that achieved that. The 1966 Frankie Valli 'solo' UK release of 'You're Ready Now' was a little known or remembered 45 when it surfaced at the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester in 1968 and became a 'dance floor' classic for the emerging Northern Soul Club scene. It even prompted the group to visit the UK for only the second time in their career to promote it's UK re-release with a national tour. It entered the UK charts rising to Nr 11[1970]
But the group by this time had faded to be an 'oldies' band and rock was dominant as the teen era faded into the 70s when DISCO was to become the mainstream music 'dance' craze. Before this happened however the Northern Soul club following grew strongly via North-West England clubs like The Torch in Stoke and Wigan Casino. By 1973 'I'm Gonna Change' from their NEW GOLD HITS 1967 album was 'bootlegged' on to a false SMASH label 45 with 'You're Ready Now'. These tracks today regularly feature on the still popular Northern Soul CD compilations and at evening and 'weekender' events.
But in the early 1970s the group was in disarray at Mowest/Motown and had no target dance market when 'THE NIGHT' was dropped as a 45 release in the US. It seems that 'dance' music was a UK thing!.
But following it's [only]45 release in the UK 'THE NIGHT'in October 1972 received constant play at the Northern Soul venues and by 1975 Motown UK had to see the demand and re-release it. It rose to Nr 7 in the UK charts ….just as.....the NEW Four Seasons were signed to Warner-Curb and released 'Who Loves You?'. This was a ground-breaking disco based style and took the world by storm. Their next 'dance classic' hit Nr 1 world wide as we all know and'December '63' Oh What A Night'would be their definitive 'DANCE' track for the next decades. Frankie Valli would claim'Swearin' To God'was a club classic in 1975 as he firmly entered the burgeoning DISCO market and he followed that with great 'dance tracks on his several 'solo' album tracks during the latter half of the 70s culminating in his last Nr 1 record in 'Grease'.
The demise of the group and Valli as mainstream artists would last several years following Bob Crewe's failure to keep the DISCO scene alive with the 'Heaven Above Me'album and his subsequent retirement from the music scene.
But with Bob Gaudio trying to help Frankie Valli re-establish a 'new' Four Seasons line-up with an album deal with MCA a new mix of ballad and 'dance' tracks would focus on the emerging 'dance' mix based on digital recording and drum machines. Streetfighter'album hit this scene straight on and 'Book Of Love'was the first single, catching the ear of radio audiences in the UK it was bubbling under on the BBC Chart and a UK visit to promote it was planned until Middle-East threats to bomb London caused it's cancelation and the single/12inch and album 'died'.
The album had pedigree as William Ruhlann covers at Allmusic....The primary creative force on the album, in fact, was Sandy Linzer, who had written old hits like "Dawn (Go Away)" and "Working My Way Back to You." He contributed to five of the album's eight tracks and also served as primary producer. As a result, the title song was an identifiable work of tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold sentiments in the mould of earlier Four Seasonsrecords, even if it sounded like it would have fit right in on the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop. The old doo wop hit "Book of Love" was transformed into something that could have been performed by Toni Basil of "Mickey" fame, but it was still "Book of Love." And when things slowed down toward the end of the disc, Linzer and his co-writer, Irwin Levine, provided a moving adult contemporary ballad in "Once Inside a Woman's Heart." Unfortunately, unlike the '70s, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons were not able to mount another comeback with Streetfighter in 1985, and it was back to singing the hits on the oldies circuit.
But CD had surfaced as the NEW playing medium and would go on to subsume vinyl and CD and Techno DANCE music was on the 'up' by 1988.
This would herald the start of a Dance Era for Frankie and his 'still together' group of the early 1980s. The success of 'Dirty Dancing' – The Movie would re-introduce the Four Seasons to audiences and the re-interest in 'Big Girl's Don't Cry'from it's opening scenes persuaded Bob Gaudio and Tony D'Amico to decide to test the interest in the vogue of 'RE-MIXES'. [The 7” version would reach Nr 91 in the UK Charts in October 1988]. A 12” of the original with 'Dirty Dancing' Rap comprised....The Four Seasons Big Girls Don't Cry UK 12" vinyl single (12 inch record / Maxi-single)
1. Big Girls Don't Cry - Club Mix 5:17
2. Big Girls Don't Cry - Original Version 2:25
3. Big Girls Don't Cry/Dirty Dancing Rap 5:07
4. Big Girls Don't Cry - Enhanced Original Mix 2:24
Then........... Re-mixes of'Who Loves You' and 'Oh What A Night - (December 1963)[The 7” reached Nr 49 in the UK Charts in October 1988] emerged on CD Single[EP] Br Music CDS 277 in Europe to much acclaim on the 'dance scene' with a Ben Leibrand 'mix' of 'Who Loves You'…..giving a whole new perspective on the group's 1970s sound.
Br Music CDS 277
Oh What A Night (December, 1963) (Summer '88 Re-Mix) 3:32
Oh What A Night (December, 1963) (Summer '88 12" Re-Mix) 6:17
Oh What A Night (December, 1963) (Original Single Version '76) 3:32
Oh What A Night (December, 1963) (Summer '88 Instrumental Re-Mix) 3:43
Br Music CDS 278
Who Loves You (Single Re-Mix '88 – Ben Liebrand) 4:06
Who Loves You (12" Re-Mix '88 – Ben Librand) 7:21
Who Loves You (Original Version '75) 4:16
Who Loves You (Instrumental) 4:10
BMC Records joined in with their own MAXI single featuring the legendary DJ/Re-mixer Ben Liebrand's tracks
HITS! DIGITALLY ENHANCED would emerge at the end of the year capturing on album CD selections of these tracks ”A CD produced by Turner Di Sentri [Bob Gaudio] and re-mixed by Anthony D’Amico. ‘Enhanced’ here seems to mean ‘digital stereo’ re-masters of the several hits including Big Girls Don’t Cry from the film ‘Dirty Dancing’ and the Dirty Dancing rap version. Special mixes of Gypsy Woman (previously unreleased version of the Impressions song),Book Of Love re-mixed by Tony D’Amico and December 63 and Who Loves You produced by Bob Gaudio and re-mixed by Ben Liebrand”. The CD would be re-issued in February 1991 in Europe Curb D2-77304 and in the UK a selection on CD Single from the CD would attract reasonable sales.......as all their old 60s albums rolled off the production lines in an ever expanding CD market.
But the hits 'recycling' continued through 1990 with Rhino publishing 20 Greatest Hits and all the 60s albums before Curb re-issued HITS, Digitally Enhanced in January 1991[CurbMC (D4-77304); CD (D2-77304)] but with different play times and without the DD Rap version of BGDC. Curious indeed.!
It was a time for replacement of vinyl with CD versions of the past albums but catching the Dance Mixes of the day and cashing in on the'Who Loves You'and 'December 1963'Re-Mixes was proving addictive. These re-mixes had certainly inspired Bob Gaudio and brought a degree of success so when a collection of NEW songs was produced in the studio it was intended to develop this sound and success.
So when 'Hope And Glory' emerged in August 1992 [Curb CD (D2-77546); MC (R4-77546)]it was a FOUR SEASONSalbum but clearly Valli and the group enhanced by much extra vocal harmony additions. A mixture of up-tempo and ballads and it is anecdotal that Valli disliked it and wouldn't promote it[according to discussions between Valli and fans]. It's roots as William Ruhlmann states in Allmusic reviews. Are in the then current charts.....” In the early '90s, popular vocal groups such as Color Me Badd and Boyz II Men hewed to the sounds of hip-hop and new jack swing, and Gaudio and Valli listened carefully. They also wanted to create music that could sit comfortably on the radio among the songs of adult contemporary stars like Richard Marx, Amy Grant, and Michael Bolton. That meant that Hope + Glory was an album of melodic but highly synthesized pop with the kind of musical touches that would give it a contemporary twist, even down to the brief rap (not by Valli) that appeared on "Just the Way You Make Love." Gaudio and Valli succeeded in creating music that plausibly might have resulted in yet another in their long line of Four Seasons hits, but as with their previous effort, 1985's Streetfighter, it turned out not to be enough just to sound like the hits of the day, and Hope + Glory was not a success.”
Well for a start it was a badly mastered CD with muddy mixes burying Valli's vocal and his voice was not good on the ballads[once his 'forte']. Also the Stereo Mix was not good. And to some extent some long-termfans couldn't take to it.
Other artists on Curb where doing well and there was some fall-out between Warner and Curb Records at the time. So the album was NEVER released in the UK[always one of the groups strongest markets] and on their first UK tour in 12 years they never performed ANY of the tracks and there is no evidence that they ever did do any 'live'.
But if Valli hated it so much and the tracks were not up to calibre why in July 1993 did Curb select the up-tempo songs, team them up with the late 1980s Who Loves You and December 1963 and Re-Mix these into THE DANCE ALBUM [Curb CD (D2-77634); MC (D4-77634)]?.....(The naked I/Learn how to say goodbye/Love has a mind of its own/Help me to believe in you/Book of love/You and your heart so blue/State of my heart/December 1963/Who loves you)?
By comparison with Hope and Glorythis was a revelation with a continuous and highly infectious set of good sounding and extended dance re-mixes. It passed almost unseen until December 1963was re-mixed again and became a Dance Floor Hit. Again at Allmusic we get a somewhat disparaging review......”In 1994, a remix of the Four Seasons' 1975-1976 number one song "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" returned it to the pop chart, peaking in the Top 20. Taken together, its two 27-week chart runs gave it the longest tenure ever on the Billboard Hot 100. To take advantage of the song's renewed popularity, Curb Records, the group's label, assembled this remix album of tracks from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. The disc begins with the 1994 remix of "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" done by Ben Leibrand and ends with an earlier revision, the 1988 remix of the song that hit the British charts that year and was done by Les Adams. Adams' version of "Learn How to Say Goodbye," a song from the 1992 album Hope + Glory, is also included, as well as Nigel Wright's mixes of that song, "The Naked I," "Love Has a Mind of Its Own," "Fly Like an Eagle" (a retitled version of a tune previously called "State of My Heart"), and "You and Your Heart So Blue" from Hope + Glory; "The Book of Love" from the 1985 album Streetfighter; and the hits "Who Loves You" and "Silver Star" from the 1975 album Who Loves You. This is certainly not an album intended for the Four Seasons' '60s fans. The group has maintained throughout its career a commitment to keeping musically current, whether that meant mentioning the Twist in its first hit, "Sherry," or taking on disco in the '70s hits. This album is full of '90s electro-pop, and the hope clearly is that the Four Seasons can extend the second honeymoon enjoyed by "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" with more dance hits, even though that doesn't seem likely to happen.”
Curb reacted with in 1995 the CD release....OH WHAT A NIGHTCurb CD (D2-77693/77693-2); MC (D4-77693/77693-4)[24/01/95] featuring (Dec 1963/The naked I/Book of love/Love has a mind of its own/Learn how to say goodbye/Fly like an eagle/You and your heart so blue/Who loves you/Silver star/Learn how to say goodbye-Euromix version/Dec 1963-Euromix version) "Fly like an eagle" is the same as "State of my heart" (alternative title)
Bob Gaudio was certainly changing with the times and allowing others to play with his music to great effect........but this doesn't detract in any way from the originals to many fans who were just glad to see them back in the charts.
Notwithstanding the limitations of the 're-mix phenomena'.......this would not be the end as although no releases followed during the next decade[and we know Bob Gaudio has other up-tempo songs unreleased. [as he told Stuart Miller this in a 2002 interview.]
The 2007 House Music scene exploded with the European Re-issue of the 1967 version of 'Beggin' Re-mixed by Pilooski to become a monster dance floor hit with this crazy series of issues in the UK [and Europe]
Beggin’ 12" promo(Pilooski Edit 5:35) No. SAM 01251 679 Recordings with Beggin' stamped in black over the white label; blank reverse side [ 5/07]
Promotional CD single – Not for resale, stereo No. SAM01252 (Tracks: Beggin’ [Pilooski Radio Edit] 3:31/Beggin’ [PilooskiRe-Edit]5:32)
Promo one track CD single Frankie Valli and Four Seasons Beggin’ (Pilooski Radio Edit) 3:31 Beggin’ (Pilooski Edit) 5:35 [6/07] [6/07] [6/07]
Promo one track CD single Frankie Valli and Four Seasons Beggin’ 679 Recordings Label 7" vinyl 45 rpm single No. 679L146/CD single 679L146CD [7/07] (32) & no. 1 on Dance Chart. (A side: Beggin' Pilooski [Re-Edit] Radio Edit 3:34;B side: Beggin' Original version 2:49) 12"vinyl 45 rpm single No. 679L146T (A side: Beggin' Pilooski [Re-Edit] 5:35;B side: Beggin' [Speaker Killer Remix] 5:26; Who Loves You Original version 4:09) Beggin’ re-entry into charts reaching no. 122 [8/08] Beggin’ 679 Recordings Label CDsingle No. 679L146CD re-entry into chart Beggin’ re-entry again in UK Non-Top 100 Chart entries at no. 131 [6/10]. And OH WHAT A NIGHTCurb CD was a CDre-issue on 06/05/08 .Pilooski's Re-Edit of 'THE NIGHT'also found a CD home and a good following although the classic original mix still stars on the Northern Soul dance Floors and this version for many fans and 'soulies' remains an 'aberration'.[sic...a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically an unwelcome one.
Although the Madcon [the Norwegian hip-hop group] version of this song would become a huge hit version with 35 MILLION You Tube watches.......whose version topped the charts in Norway, France, the Netherlands and part of Belgium.......the Four Seasons Pilooski Mix remains the definitive DANCE MIX. The full story of Beggin' is found on Wikipedia.
The DANCE ERA for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was established and spanned the 70s to the 00s. It is an amazing record of quality and longevity. Fans from the 60s may not have been able to live with this closing 2 decades of re-mixes....and collecting them all has been near impossible.
No doubt Bob Gaudio will summarise the period in the forthcoming Box Set with Snapper but that is not an easy task without much repetition 'on the re-mix theme'??? [How many versions/variations on 'Oh What A Night' can any fan take.?]
I'll leave you with one of my favourites from this period.....the DANCE ALBUM version of THE NAKED I..........'the 'Four Seasons', Jim, but not as we know them!!' to plagiarise Scotty from Star Trek.
Ken Charmer – Four Seasons UK Appreciation Society August 2019
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