Midnight tonight marks the 92nd Anniversary of the End of Prohibition ~
Meaning alcohol consumption was once again deemed legal!
Since then, there have been many notable Forgotten Drinkin’ Hits! Here’re a few of the most recent and most familiar in this “Chuck Buell Drinkin’ Extended-play Minute Medley!”
This Special Medley ends with a featured segment of the Four Seasons, “Oh, What a Night,” which one may, or may not, know was originally written in the mid-1970s about the end of Prohibition! Oh, What a Night it must have been in 1933! However, while the Four Seasons liked the musical arrangement, they rejected the initial prohibition's end related lyrics and the song was rewritten about a young man's first intimate encounter instead. With that, there was no prohibiting it from taking off and becoming a three-week Number One Song in 1976.
So, bottoms up, ever’body! It was a celebration whichever way one looks at it!
CB ( which stands for “Cheers Boy!” )
Young Chuck is absolutely right ...
The Four Seasons' two-time hit "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)" was first titled "December, 1933 (Oh, What A Night), touting the joy of the end of prohibition. (This idea was quickly scrapped as the general feeling was that the subject matter was a bit out of step and unrelatable some 43 years later) and although The Four Seasons reportedly DID do a recording using the original lyrics, NOBODY was all that knocked out by the results. Coming off of their big comeback hit ("Who Loves You," #3, 1975), they wanted to make more of a mark with their follow-up single and keep this newfound momentum going.
Bob Gaudio, a long-time member of The Four Seasons and one of their principle songwriters ... who was now also producing their records at the time, teamed up with his songwriting partner Judy Parker on both "Who Loves You" and "December, 1963 (Oh What A Night). (Judy eventually became his wife.) When he expressed the feeling that the song needed to be reworked, she revamped the lyrics to reflect back on somebody's first sexual experience ... Bob altered the tempo and by the time they were done, they knew they had another hit on their hands. In fact, it not only went to #1 in 1976 but a dance remix version put the song back on the charts in 1994 when it peaked at #14.
I reached out to Bob Gaudio to see if any tape still existed of the original take. (I thought it would be a great piece to share with Chuck Buell's posting today.) Unfortunately, I didn't hear anything back in time ... but the revamp worked wonders ... it became The Four Seasons' first Billboard Hot 100 Pop Hit in twelve years! (kk)
