Frankie Valli
“The Night” is a classic Northern Soul track by the American band, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Initially released in 1972, it did not receive much commercial success but later became a favourite track on the Northern Soul circuit. Eventually, it was re-released in the UK in 1975 and reached No. 7 on the Official Chart.
In the song, Frankie Valli passionately appeals to a girl he admires to reject the advances of another man. 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 single version, however, has Valli singing those first two lines.
Valli has cited “The Night” as an example of a song that deserved more recognition but failed to chart due to poor promotion by the MoWest label.
Over the years, “The Night” has been covered by several artists, including Lene Lovich in 1979, Intastella in 1995, Soft Cell in 2002 (although it was due to be their second single in 1981, they opted for “Tainted Love” instead), Klaxons in 2007, and Pulp, who recorded a live version in Paris for a France Inter radio station “Black Sessions” on 17 November 1992.
The song is now regarded as a “Northern Soul” classic due to its powerful bass production and strong beat, as well as its initial commercial failure. Tom Taylor of Far Out magazine has ranked it as the No. 90 most underrated song of the 1970s, describing it as having “one of the most magnificent bass sounds ever” and uniquely combining the club scene with some form of proto-hip hop production.
