Song of the Day 11/15: The Four Seasons, “Silence Is Golden”

Bethany Hall-Long is a too young to have been a fan of this tune when it came out in 1964 as the B-side to the No. 1 single “Rag Doll,” which like “Silence Is Golden” was a product of the Four Seasons’ hit songwriting team of Bob Crewe and Bod Gaudio. It didn’t get a lot of attention at the time, perhaps because they arranged it at a ballad pace and Frankie Valli didn’t have to hit the ionosphere to sing it.

The song became a hit on its own in 1967 when it was covered by the British band the Tremeloes, who improved it by speeding it to mid-tempo, though they couldn’t match the vocal quality. It was No. 1 in the UK, No. 11 on the Hot 100.