About The Song
In this song, Four Seasons frontman Frankie Valli is addressing a girl who is clearly in a funk. He’s asking her to think about who really loves her and who is going to get her through these tough times, hoping she’ll finally realize it’s him.
The song was written by original Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio and a songwriter named Judy Parker, who later became his wife. Like many of the song Gaudio wrote for the group, the upbeat melody contrasts with a somber, lovelorn lyric. However, there is a bright spot. In our interview with Gaudio, he said: “‘Who Loves You’ is a dark lyric with a positive outcome: There’s someone here for you, I’ll take care of you. “
In the ’60s, The Four Seasons were one of the most successful groups in America, with a retro sound featuring Frankie Valli’s falsetto. That sound fell out of favor late in the decade, and in 1972 the group signed a deal with Motown Records. Their Motown output had little success, and in 1974 they split from the label.
By 1975, disco was starting its ascent and The Four Seasons were ready to ride that train. The group’s ’50s sound that was retro in the mid-’60s was now cutting-edge a decade later, as Valli’s falsetto suited the disco groove perfectly. Now signed to Curb Records, “Who Loves You” was the group’s first post-Motown single, and it brought them back in a big way. Their next single was an even bigger hit and just as groovy: “December 1963 (Oh What a Night).”
The Who Loves You marked a new lineup for the group, which now had five members and played their own instruments (previous lineups used session musicians to back the vocalists). Original member Bob Gaudio was no longer performing with the group, but was their producer and contributed vocals and keyboards to their studio output.