also on Silver Star (I think) and four part harmonies on “Who Loves You”, etc..

Hmmm… I guess you’re right as far as a “trace…” But vocal harmonizing in itself isn’t exclusive to doo-wop, is it? Though the 4 seasons are definitely harmonizing in these numbers — especially Who Loves You — I just don’t hear these songs as having any doo-wop flavor. At least in an anachronistic or “nostalgic” sense. Maybe it’s nouveau-doo-wop.

also on Silver Star (I think) and four part harmonies on “Who Loves You”, etc..

I prefer Who Loves You and Swearin to God, but December ‘63 was and is acceptable hyper-catchy fluff.

The song contributed one of those minute, embarrassing moments that will remain with me, bobbing to the surface of consciousness every so often, until Alzheimer’s. My best friend (who I looked up to in many areas, including pop music), remarked while this song was on “nice bass.” December ‘63 was borderline too “white” for us, but close enough to early disco or soul-pop, I guess, to make the grade. Now, I didn’t have any bass-line-judging criteria (still don’t, really), but it seemed like a very erudite type of observation, and a few days later when the song came on the jukebox in the student lounge, I took the opportunity to repeat it to another kid (who I think was more a Jethro Tull type and would have disdained this number). He challenged me: “what’s so good about the bass?” I had no idea, of course. I’m not even sure I had actually picked out the bass line with my ears. I’m pretty sure I learned from that minor humiliation never to repeat someone else’s opinion as though it were my own.

But all this talk of doo-wop… is there a trace of the doo-wop style in any of The Four Seasons’ 70s hits?

This LP, from Love’s disco period, contains a couple of awesome cover versions:
http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/8507_0_2_0_C/

I’ve also got a whole clutch of the Actual Real Life type-written Telexes which Radio One sent out, announcing the weekly charts, circa 1972-73 I think. They’ve got Derek Chinnery’s name at the top and everything! (More James Hamilton residuals, y’see.) I really ought to dig one out and scan it.

Mr Love also recorded funky big band workouts under the pseudonym of “Mandingo” around the same time as well as being the musical director for Max Bygraves and his heartrending Singalonga series of albums, all of which cumulated in 1976 with the most ludicrous album title ever, 100 Golden Greats (on Ronco, no less).

However, I cannot remotely remember what prompted the Geoff Love/Manuel disc to become so popular in the first place since I don’t remember it being used on any TV show or film at the time. Maybe some people thought it was something to do with Fawlty Towers.

Later that afternoon, Dave Lee Travis, who regularly reprised the chart on his show, welcomed a lady from the BMRB onto the air to explain the error. In a nice touch, DLT asked the lady to deliver the revised and now correct chart rundown. This order of play was void totally of any salmon-like leaps by records which had previously been on the way down having already peaked and The Four Seasons were reinstated at number one, thereby confining the ill-starred Mr Love (ludicrously billed as “Manuel and the Music of the Mountains”) to the records books as “the number one that never was”.

As for “December ’63…”, I felt that this was first rate, an excellent piece of pop fully deserving of its success during what was the second or perhaps even third coming of this particular pop group. I nevertheless remained conscious that the date in the song was indeed a “very special time” in the United States, Kennedy having just been made a monkey of in Dallas.

???

They also had to compete against another huge force known as Motown, which may also account for their sudden lack of #1s…

Yes, folks - “Let’s Hang On,” “Bye Bye Baby,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Opus 17,” Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “You’re Ready Now,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “The Night,” Who Loves You?, etc. etc. etc. - all substandard rot.

Jesus wept.

There was also a hard core of American fans who never really warmed to the Brits. I remember a big schism among the girls in my school–no, we didn’t have a shooting team–between the girls who loved the Brits (whose masculinity was suspect in some American eyes) and the girls who loved the Four Seasons, the Beach Boys, etc. (i.e., “real men,” “regular guys,” “average Joes”). Perhaps it was merely coincidental, but in a school where the girls were separated in thirds according to aptitude, the girls in the upper third loved the Brits (though I was suspected of loving Dusty even more than the Beatles, for which I was chided); the girls in the lower third loved the pre-1964 dudes; the middle third loved or hated everyone.

All This and World War II? Apparently a whole lot of people had vendettas against the Beatles if they went to all that effort to make that film. (What brilliant mind conceived of using Beatles’ covers as a soundtrack to WWII documentary footage??)

It was only a few months ago that I saw a television programme featuring some elderly American former pop stars. And yes, they were grousing about the British Invasion bringing about “the end of our innocence.” (Yes, that’s what one of them said.)