The Night (Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song) explained

The Night
Cover:The Night by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (cover).jpg
Type:single
Artist:Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
Album:Chameleon
B-Side:"When the Morning Comes"[1]
Released:1972
Recorded:1972
Genre:Northern soul[2] [3]
Label:MoWest
Producer:Bob Gaudio

"The Night" is a song by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons that was originally released in 1972. Although it failed to chart when first released, it became a popular track on the northern soul circuit, which led to a successful UK re-release in the spring of 1975, when it reached no. 7 on the Official Chart.[4]

The song sees Frankie Valli pleading with a girl that he admires to resist the advances of another guy.[5] The album version features the group singing the opening two lines "Beware of his promise, believe what I say" before Valli joins in. The original US single version has Valli singing those first two lines, the 1975 UK release features the album version.

Valli cited this song as an example of a song that should have been a big hit on first release, but didn't chart due to poor promotion by the MoWest label.[5]

The song was covered by Lene Lovich in 1979, by Intastella in 1995, by Soft Cell in 2002 ("The Night" was due to be their second single in 1981 but instead they opted for "Tainted Love") and Klaxons in 2007. Pulp recorded a version live in Paris for a France Inter radio station Black Session on 17 November 1992.

The song is considered a "Northern Soul" classic due to its heavy bass production and strong beat, as well as the fact that it did not succeed commercially. Far Out critic Tom Taylor rated it as the #90 most underrated song of the 1970s, saying it has "one of the greatest bass sounds you will ever hear" and that "the social club sentiments are ushered in for a song that uniquely couples the club scene with some sort of proto-hip hop production."[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons* – The Night . Discogs . 6 October 1972 . 21 May 2016.
  2. News: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons review – farewell tour has crowd beggin' for him to stay. The Guardian . 29 November 2018 . Simpson . Dave .
  3. Book: Stanley, Bob . Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. 1975: Storm Warning. 13 September 2013. Faber & Faber. 978-0-571-28198-5. 425.
  4. Web site: Frankie Valli - Official Charts. official charts.com. 21 May 2016.
  5. Web site: The Night by The Four Seasons - Song Facts. songfacts.com. 21 March 2016.
  6. Web site: Unlucky for some: The 100 most underrated songs of the 1970s. Taylor, Tom. 2022-10-13. April 30, 2022. Far Out.