Oh What a Night

Album 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.