Sensational '70's Tune for Tuesday, June 2nd, '09

"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. Reaching #3 on the Billboard Top 100 in November 1975, it re-established The Four Seasons as a viable recording group (even though their popularity as a performing group had never flagged) after a five year absence from the Hot 100, and five years after their last single on Philips Records ("Patch of Blue").

Song information

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 on the U.S. charts, and Motown refused to release a collection of eight songs; instead, the company dropped The Four Seasons from its roster. After some negotiation, lead singer (and partner of the Four Seasons Partnership) Frankie Valli bought the master recording of "My Eyes Adored You" from Motown for $4000. After Larry Uttal, owner of Private Stock Records, heard the recording, he signed Valli onto the label and released "My Eyes Adored You" as a Frankie Valli "solo" single. "My Eyes Adored You" rocketed to the top position of the Hot 100.

In the wake of the success of "My Eyes Adored You," Motown re-released "The Night" as a Four Seasons single in the United Kingdom (the song reached #7 on the UK singles chart) and the group was signed to Curb Records (distributed by Warner Bros. Records) in the summer of 1975. In August, "Who Loves You" entered the Hot 100 as Valli's "Swearin' to God" was sliding off the chart.


Different versions

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. The A-side of the single has a four minutes, four seconds, version which starts with an unusual "fade-in" beginning that begins with the first word of the vocals; the B-side (labeled "Who Loves You (Disco version)") is the same as the A-side but with the instrumental break one and one-half minutes longer.

Although the trademark Four Seasons' falsetto is present on "Who Loves You," Valli's vocal performance on the recording is limited to singing the lead on the verses as the effects of otosclerosis were diminishing his hearing (later reversed by operation).

For a record from a group that had gone so long without any chart records, "Who Loves You" was a tremendous success. Released in August 1975, the single spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100 (longer than any Four Seasons single prior to it) and managed to stay on the chart until the beginning of 1976.

As "Who Loves You" was sliding down the Hot 100, both Valli and the group had become hot musical properties. Valli's version of "Our Day Will Come" was peaking at #11 as The Four Seasons' followup to "Who Loves You" was released by Warner Bros. Records. "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" would become the largest-selling single in the history of the Four Seasons.