THE HIT HAMMER: The Four Seasons' "Walk Like a Man"

(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer to the "Poor Little Fool" post.)

The Four Seasons - "Walk Like a Man"

Hit Number 1: March 2, 1963

Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks

"Walk Like a Man" was recorded in a building that was on fire. Wait, what? Yep, "Walk Like a Man" was recorded at Stea-Phillips Recording Studios, and it was housed at the Abbey Victoria Hotel. An emergency call was placed by the hotel for a fire that broke out in the room right above where the band was recording. Producer Bob Crewe insisted on recording the perfect take, and didn't even budge, even after smoke and water was seeping into the studio. He still wanted to get the perfect recording, putting that before the band's and his own safety apparently. He was blocking the studio door, and no one left the hazardous studio until firemen used their axes on the door, and pulled Crewe out of there.

Even though the band was likely fearing for their lives while recording the song, you wouldn't be able to tell that anyone was nervous while listening to the song. Valli's falsetto is still as powerful as it has ever been, and there is no sense of urgency to get the song over with. The song isn't as stupid and silly as the Four Seasons' two previous #1 hits, in fact, it's a very direct song. It's about a guy whose girlfriend is treating him like crap and spreading lies about him to his friends, starts moping around, and is very sad about it. His dad tells him to just "give her up" and "the world isn't coming to an end". After that, he gives the most golden advice that a father could possibly give his son: "Walk Like a Man!" He tells him that no woman is worth crawling around on the Earth, so just "walk like a man and talk like a man". After that, the guy in the song embraces his father's advice, breaks up with her, and tells her "look who's laughing now".

Valli even sounds meaner in this song than the other #1 hits the Four Seasons have had to this point. That's because it's a mean song! It's almost telling anyone who's being tossed around by their "lover", that no one needs to take that crap, and move on to bigger and better things. I love the ooh ahs that the backing vocalists give behind Valli, and Valli's "oohs" while the band is chanting "WALK" is one of the most iconic sounds in a song to this day. (As a baseball fan, I hear that a lot when someone on the home team takes a walk) I do have to say that "Walk Like a Man" isn't my favorite thing the band ever did, but I do really like the song. It acts as the point, to me at least, where the Four Seasons really started to figure it out, and were coming into their own as musicians. We will see them a couple more times in this blog.

GRADE: 7/10