Who Loves You (song)

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"Who Loves You"
Single by The Four Seasons
from the album Who Loves You
B-side"Who Loves You" (Disco version)
Released2 August 1975
RecordedJuly 1975
GenreDisco[1]
Length4:04 (single version)
4:22 (album version)
LabelWarner Bros./Curb
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bob Gaudio
The Four Seasons singles chronology
"Hickory"
(1974) 		"Who Loves You"
(1975) 		"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"
(1975)
Vinyl 45
Music video
Listen to "Who Loves You" (Official Music Video) on YouTube

"Who Loves You" is the title song of a 1975 album by The Four Seasons. It was composed by Bob Gaudio and Judy Parker and produced by Gaudio. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1975.[2][3][4]

Song information[edit]

After their release from Philips, the group signed with Motown and released one album and three singles for the organization in 1972 and 1973. All Motown recordings failed to chart in the U.S. and the company dropped the band.[3] In August 1975, "Who Loves You" entered the Hot 100 as Frankie Valli's "Swearin' to God" was sliding off the chart. This was the final Four Seasons hit featuring bassist and backing vocalist Joe Long.[5][6]

As Valli was overseas and unavailable during the initial recording session, Don Ciccone took over lead vocals. When Warner Bros. heard the record, according to Ciccone, they were so impressed that they declared Ciccone the group's new lead singer, which prompted them to release the album despite Valli's existing deal with Private Stock Records. Valli, unwilling to give up his position and "annoyed" at Warner Bros.' decision, halted the song's release and re-recorded part of the lead vocal so to retain his position as lead singer.[7]

Though Bob Gaudio's then-girlfriend Judy Parker is credited as a songwriter on the record, she had not yet begun songwriting by the time the song was recorded. Parker would contribute her first lyric to their next song "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)."[8]

Reception[edit]

Cash Box called it "a high-energy, commercially potent disk with high vocal work and sweet strings — and a rhythm that can make time in any disco."[9] Record World said that "[the group's] trademark sound moves onward!"[10]

Personnel[edit]

  • Frankie Valli – co-lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Don Ciccone – electric guitar, co-lead and backing vocals
  • Joe Long - bass guitar, backing vocals
  • John Paiva – electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Gerry Polci – drums, lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Lee Shapiro – keyboards, piano, string arrangements, synthesizers, backing vocals
  • Bob Gaudio – piano, keyboards, producer

Charts[edit]

(* - Canadian RPM chart data incomplete for late 1975)

Other versions[edit]

There were three versions of "Who Loves You" released in the United States: the one on the Who Loves You album is four minutes, 20 seconds long and begins with a short percussion section before the start of the vocals.[21] The A-side of the single has a 4-minute 4 second version which starts with an unusual "fade-in" beginning, starting with the first word of the lyrics; the B-side (labeled "Who Loves You (disco version)") extends the running time to 5:28 by featuring the instrumental break twice.[22]

Although the Four Seasons' trademark falsetto is present on "Who Loves You", Valli's vocal performance on the recording is limited to singing lead on the verses.[3]

"Who Loves You" was a tremendous success, a notable feat from a group which had not had a major hit for many years. Released in August 1975, the single spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100 (longer than any Four Seasons single before) and managed to stay on the chart until the beginning of 1976.[23]

This song was edited heavily and included as the closing number for the musical Jersey Boys. The second verse and instrumental break is completely omitted, and instead of the fade out, a loud, high-pitched ending chord is sung by the full company. However, the Original Broadway Cast Recording includes the instrumental break.

Pop-culture references[edit]

The song was often used as bumper music by late night radio talk show host Art Bell when he hosted Coast to Coast AM in the 1990s.

Christopher Knowles references the song-title and Valli/Four Seasons in a section of the libretto of Einstein on the Beach.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Burke, Ken (January 1, 1998). "Frankie Valli/Four Seasons". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 465–466.
  2. ^ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (5th edition), Billboard Books 1992 ISBN 0-8230-8280-6
  3. ^ a b c Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (3rd edition), Billboard Books 1992 ISBN 0-8230-8298-9
  4. ^ Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. pp. 285. ISBN 0-87586-207-1.
  5. ^ "How I met the famous Joe Long !".
  6. ^ "Joe Long dishes on 'Jersey Boys,' time with the Four Seasons". 21 February 2019.
  7. ^ James, Gary. "Gary James' Interview With Don Ciccone Of The Four Seasons". classicbands.com. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  8. ^ December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) The Story Behind The Song. Top 2000 a gogo. Netherlands Public Broadcasting. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 2, 1975. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  10. ^ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. August 2, 1975. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  11. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  12. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  13. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Who Loves You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  14. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 19 December 1975
  15. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  16. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  17. ^ http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19751101.html Adult Contemporary Music Chart, November 1, 1975]
  18. ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, November 1, 1975
  19. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  20. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
  21. ^ Four Seasons, Who Loves You LP (Warner Bros. Records 1975)
  22. ^ Four Seasons, "Who Loves You" single, Warner Bros. 8122, 1975
  23. ^ Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1993, Billboard Books 1994 ISBN 0-89820-105-5
  24. ^ Christopher Knowles' transcription of and relationship with Top-40, AM radio station WABC in the early 1970s, and specifically the juncture of the charting of Valli's "Swearin' to God" and "Who Loves You" in late-1975/early-1976, is something documented and analyzed in detail by Robert Fink in "Einstein on the Radio", in Jelena Novak and John Richardson, eds., Einstein on the Beach: Opera beyond Drama (London: Routledge, 2019). ISBN 1317145380
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