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When “Walk Like a Man” hit number one in 1963, it was the third consecutive number one by The Four Seasons. And, they were the first group in chart history to have three consecutive number ones. In order to win that award, you have to ignore a Christmas song they released in December of 1962, called “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” (#23) When considering things like this, you get to ignore holiday songs, because everybody knows they seldom hit number one and it wouldn’t be fair to include them.

Their third number one, “Walk Like a Man,” again contrasts the falsetto of Frankie Valli with the bass of Bob Gaudio. It was also written by Gaudio and Bob Crewe, who was their producer. During the recording of the song, a fire broke out on the floor above the recording studio. They were in the Abbey Victoria Hotel on Seventh Avenue in New York City. The fire department was called and they ordered everyone to evacuate the building. Crewe was in the middle of recording and wouldn’t leave. The guys tried to play but there was water leaking from the ceiling and one of them said, he was afraid they would get electrocuted from the electrical guitars. Crewe kept yelling, “Just one more take.” The firemen banged on the door of the studio yelling for them to leave. Crewe wouldn’t let them in, so the firemen broke down the door with axes and forcibly removed the guys from the room. They had to knock Crewe down to get him to stop. Luckily for us, they came back later and finished the recording and we have the third Four Seasons number one song..

The Four Seasons were the most popular group in America during the years 1962 – 1963. They were so popular that when the Beatles arrived in 1964 to take over the world, a radio announcer said on the air that the Beatles were Britain’s answer to the Four Seasons.

Around 1995, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame put together a list of the 500 songs that contributed the most to shaping rock and roll. The Four Seasons have two songs on that list, “Walk Like a Man” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry”.

“Walk Like a Man” entered the pop chart on January 26, 1963 and stayed at number one for three weeks.