Released January 1963 Recorded January 1963 Length 2:17 | Format 7" Genre Rock | |
B-side "Lucky Ladybug" (from the same album) | ||
"Walk Like a Man" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio and originally recorded by The Four Seasons.
Contents
The Four Seasons' version
The song features the counterpoint of Nick Massi's bass voice and the falsetto of lead singer Frankie Valli. It was their 3rd #1 hit, initially reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on March 2, 1963, remaining there for three weeks. "Walk Like a Man" also went to number three on the R&B singles chart
During the sessions that produced the hit recording, the fire department received an emergency call from the Abbey Victoria Hotel (the building that housed the Stea-Phillips Recording Studios). As producer Bob Crewe was insisting upon recording the perfect take, smoke and water started to seep into the studio as the group repeated their efforts upon Crewe's insistence: the room directly above the studio was on fire, yet Crewe blocked the studio door and continued recording until a few firemen used their axes on it and pulled Crewe out.
Cover versions of the song have been recorded by other musicians such as the Mary Jane Girls (1986), Divine (1985), Dreamhouse and Jan & Dean (1963) off the album Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin. Plastic Bertrand did a cover version in French, entitled C'est Le Rock 'n' Roll (1978) and Hungarian band Bon Bon also covered the song with the title Sexepilem (1999).
The song "Walk Like a Man" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.
Divine cover
Divine covered "Walk Like a Man" and released it as a single from the album Maid in England in 1985.
Track listing
- "Walk Like a Man" – 3:50
- "Man Talk" – 3:23