Doo-wop - Every UK Number 1

The Intro

The Four Seasons are one of the the US’s most influential doo-wop and pop groups, and along with The Beach Boys, the only ones to enjoy chart success before, during and after the British Invasion of the 60s. Those Jersey boys had five number 1s in the US (plus two solo singles by Frankie Valli), but the nostalgic December 1963 (Oh, What a Night) was the only one to top the UK charts.

Before

The Four Seasons began in Newark, New Jersey with Valli, their most famous member. In 1954, the singer joined forces with guitarist Tommy DeVito and formed The Variatones. For the next two years the group performed under a variety of names before settling on The Four Lovers. In 1956 they released their first single, You’re the Apple of My Eye, and many more followed over the next few years, but to no success.

1959 was an important year in the group’s development. They started working with producer and songwriter Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio joined the line-up. The following year, The Four Lovers failed an audition at bowling establishment The Four Seasons but according to Gaudio they decided something good must come out of the failure, so they named themselves after the venue and on a handshake agreement between Gaudio and Valli, the Four Seasons Partnership was formed. The original line-up had Valli as lead singer, Gaudio on vocals, guitar and keyboards, DeVito on vocals and guitar and Nick Massi on vocals and bass. They spent much of 1961 recording for artists on Crewe’s labels Topix and Perri.

The Four Seasons’ debut single Bermuda/Spanish Lace got nowhere but all would change with the follow-up, Sherry. Released in 1962 on Vee-Jay Records, it became their first US number 1, went to eight in the UK, and is considered an early-60s classic. The hits came thick and fast, most notably Big Girls Don’t Cry in 1962 and Walk Like a Man in 1963 also becoming US number 1s.

Following a dispute with Vee-Jay, which was also mired in a dispute with The Beatles and Capitol Records, they jumped ship to Philips in 1964. The hits continued, including number 1s Rag Doll/Silence Is Golden the latter a UK number 1 for The Tremoloes in 1967. Massi left in 1965 and after their arranger and former Four Lovers member Charles Calello stood in briefly, to be replaced by Joe Long.

They recorded under several guises over the next few years – as The Valli Boys and The Wonder Who?, and Valli continued to release solo records. His version of The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore, later a UK number 1 for The Walker Brothers, tanked in 1965, but Can’t Take My Eyes off You was a US number two in 1967. However there was a noticeable decline in sales in the late-60s. Considering how unfashionable doo-wop had become, it’s a wonder they could even still enter the charts. But their version of Will You Love Me Tomorrow was their last top 40 US hit for seven years. In a bid to become relevant they recorded a concept album, covering social issues rather than their usual collection of love songs. The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, released in 1969, performed badly, and The Four Seasons left Philips soon after.

In 1972 The Four Seasons released their first and only album on Motown. Chameleon failed to sell, although one single from it, The Night, credited to Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, became a favourite among the Northern Soul scene in the UK and was re-released in 1975, charting at seven. Long left, replaced by Don Ciccone and Gerry Polci took up the drumkit. John Paiva joined as lead guitarist in 1973.

Valli had been forced to sing less as a result of hearing loss, so these new members took the brunt of the singing until he had surgery. Meanwhile, Valli went to return to number 1 in the US, when he bought the master recordings for My Eyes Adored You from Motown and took them to Private Stock Records. This single helped the band get signed to Warner Bros. Records.

Who Loves You (a reference to Kojak?) was their first album with the new line-up and it completely turned around their fortunes. They wisely added a disco sound just as the genre was exploding in the US, and perhaps their fans from 10 years previous were ready to relive their youth. Its title track went to three in the US and six in the UK and December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) came out next.

Originally, this track was called December 5, 1933 with co-writer Gaudio celebrating the repeal of Prohibition, but his future wife and lyricist Judy Parker agreed with Valli that it wasn’t quite right. Parker suggested it should be about the courtship between her and Gaudio. It ended up being a man having a nostalgic look back at losing his virginity.

Review

Were you not to pay close attention to the lyrics, you’d possibly not realise this. I’ll admit I thought it was about a first kiss, or just a date. That’s partly down to the sweetness of the melody and the production, which is slick and drips of innocence and young love and of course those famous Four Seasons vocals only add to that feel. This sole UK number 1 doesn’t actually feature Valli very much. He’s only singing backing vocals and the bridge. Polci is on lead, making this a rare number 1 to feature a singing drummer. And that’s Ciccone describing the orgasm (‘And I felt a rush like a rolling ball of thunder/Spinning my head around and taking my body under’). Belying the innocence are lyrics like ‘you know I didn’t even know her name’ – was she a prostitute?! And ‘Oh my, as I recall it ended much too soon’. TMI, guys.

Knowing how risque this actually is has improved my opinion of it, and like I said, it’s really well-produced. I like the phasing on Valli’s parts – was that done to mask how much is singing prowess had dropped at the time? Whatever the reason, I’m a sucker for 70s noises like this and Shapiro’s keyboards. What I’m not too keen on is the trademark Valli falsetto lead sound of their earlier material – it sets my teeth on edge, so I welcome the difference here. Although Valli is responsible for one of my favourite movie themes – Grease (1978). Brilliant and so cool.

After

The combination of that disco sound and heavy dose of nostalgia for halcyon days made December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) a smash, and two more from the album, Fallen Angel and Silver Star, went to 11 and three respectively that year. But this return to peak form wasn’t to last. With the exception of Grease, neither the group or Valli troubled the top 30 in either the US or UK again.

The line-up has fluctuated ever since, the only constants being Valli and Gaudio (who is permanently behind the scenes), but they have remained a big draw through their live shows. In 1984 they collaborated with The Beach Boys on the LP East Meets West but it was a surprising flop. Dutch DJ and producer Ben Liebrand updated their number 1 for the 80s dancefloors, but December, 1963 (1988) didn’t trouble the charts. In 1992 the last Four Seasons album to date, Hope + Glory, was released. Valli has occasionally appeared on TV as an actor, most notably in The Sopranos.

Then in 2005 the hugely successful jukebox musical Jersey Boys, chronicling the career of The Four Seasons, brought the band back in the public eye and has toured ever since. A film adaptation produced and directed by Clint Eastwood followed in 2014.

Of the original line-up, Massi died of cancer in 2000 and DeVito of COVID-19 in 2020.

The Outro

December, 1963, renamed Oh What a Night, was also a hit for British dance act Clock in 1996, where it peaked at 13.

The Info

Written by

Bob Gaudio & Judy Parker

Producer

Bob Gaudio

Weeks at number 1

2 (21 February-5 March)

Trivia

Deaths

23 February: Artist LS Lowry

Meanwhile…

2 March: Brent Cross Shopping Centre opens in London.

4 March: The Maguire Seven are found guilty of the offence of possessing explosives used in the Guilford pub bombings of 1974 and subsequently wrongly convicted for 14 years. The decision was reversed in 1991. On the same day, the Northern Ireland Constitional Convention was formally dissolved in Northern Ireland, resulting in direct rule from London via the British parliament.

The Intro

The Rubettes’ retro 50s and 60s vibe fitted right in with the tail end of the glam years, yet the best element of their sole number 1, Sugar Baby Love – that soaring, Frankie Valli-style falsetto, wasn’t from a member of the band. Somehow, a demo became a number 1 single for a month.

Before

The idea of the band originated in 1973 from the head of A&R at Polydor Records, Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington. Together, they had been in The Pete Best Four and went on to write songs, including soul favourite Nothing but a Heartache in 1969. Bickerton and Waddington were considering writing a rock’n’roll musical and had come up with four retro bubblegum pop songs – Sugar Baby Love, Tonight, Juke Box Jive and Sugar Candy Kisses (which became a hit for Mac and Katie Kissoon). In October 1973 they arranged for demos of the tracks to be recorded, with the possibility of putting the first in the running for a shot at the Eurovision Song Contest. They assembled, among others singer Paul Da Vinci for the lead, backed by keyboardist Pete Arnesen and drummer John Richardson, among others.

With the song demos finished, they offered the material to Leicester-based rock’n’roll revivalists Showaddywaddy (which would have been highly appropriate) who turned them down, as did former vocalist with The Move, Carl Wayne. Bickerton and Waddington decided to clean up Sugar Baby Love but in essence release the original demo, under a random 50s-sounding name, hence The Rubettes. What they didn’t expect was to then have to quickly assemble a real group to promote the song when it started to gain momentum. And it posed a problem, as Da Vinci wasn’t able to join them as he was under a solo contract elsewhere. Richardson and Arnsesen returned, and joining them were Alan Williams as singer, Tony Thorpe on guitar, Mick Clarke on bass and Bill Hurd on keyboards. The Rubettes were bedecked in white suits and cloth caps to help them stand out in these days of frequently outlandish outfits.

Review

But it’s Da Vinci’s stunning falsetto that stands out on Sugar Baby Love, both uplifting and sad at the same time and conjuring up the hits of The Four Seasons. Unfortunately, as good as it is, that’s really all the song has going for it. It could be that I’m not a fan of doo-wop and Valli in general, but I’ve never enjoyed Sugar Baby Love. Perhaps because it was only ever meant as a demo, it strikes me as being an empty, soulless pastiche, and a warning that glam was running out of ideas, if you can even really call it glam.

The idea of the song is better than the reality. Da Vinci is urging the listener not to make the same mistake as him. He clearly regrets hurting his love, and implores them to ‘Love her anyway, love her everyday’, which is a good lyric, to be fair.

After

Nobody was any the wiser as Williams mimed along to the demo on Top of the Pops, which they only lucked their way on to after Sparks had problems with work permits. This must have been pretty annoying for the Mael Brothers, as Sugar Baby Love kept This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us from the top spot. I wonder how Da Vinci felt, too?

The next two singles, Tonight and Juke Box Jive, came from the original demos too, and the latter in particular did well, reaching number three at the end of the year. I Can Do It reached number seven in 1975, but then they started to lose their ground, and they ditched the doo-wop. Arnsesen left later that year, followed by Hurd in 1976. They reached number 10 with the country-styled Baby I Know, sang by Thorpe, and never had another top 40 entry. He departed the band in 1979 following arguments.

The Rubettes dissolved in 1980. Since then, they have followed the well-trodden path of reforming, splitting into several different versions, and going to court over the use of the band’s original name, which lets face it, is what gets the punters flocking to see these bands of yesteryear. Currently, there’s The Rubettes featuring Alan Williams, The Rubettes featuring John, Mick, & Steve (February 2019) and The Rubettes featuring Bill Hurd.

As for Da Vinci, he reached number 19 with solo hit Your Baby Ain’t Your Baby Anymore in 1974. Further failed attempts followed, so in 1977 he went back to session work. He wrote Any Way You Do It, the first single by disco group Liquid Gold in 1978, and in 1981 he sang on Tight Fit’s Back to the 60’s Part II medley.

The Outro

Luke Haines’s indie rock band The Auteurs released a song called The Rubettes in 1999, which referenced their number 1.

The Info

Written by

Wayne Bickerton & Tony Waddington

Producer

Wayne Bickerton

Weeks at number 1

4 (18 May-14 June)

Trivia

Births

27 May: Presenter Denise van Outen
5 June: Ventriloquist Nina Conti

Deaths

10 June: Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

Meanwhile…

20 May: The first meeting was held by The Centre for Policy Studies, a Conservative social market think tank established by Keith Joseph, Margaret Thatcher and Alfred Sherman.

28 May: Following a strike by unionists, power-sharing in the Northern Ireland Assembly collapses.

1 June: An explosion at Flixborough chemical plant kills 28 people and seriously injures 36. Had it happened on a weekday the numbers would have been much higher.

5 June: Snow Knight, ridden by Brian Taylor, was victorious in the Epsom Derby. The odds were 50/1.

8 June: Jon Pertwee became the third actor to relinquish the role of The Doctor in Doctor Who, citing the death of his friend and TV enemy Roger Delgado in 1973. The final episode of ‘Planet of the Spiders’ saw Pertwee regenerate into Tom Baker.

10 June: The Queen’s last surviving royal uncle, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, dies at his home in Northamptonshire, seven years after his last public appearance. His funeral is held at Windsor Castle on 14 June.