- Let's Hang On!
Infobox Single
Name = Let's Hang On!
Artist = The Four Seasons
from Album = Gold Vault of Hits
B-side = On Broadway Tonight
Released = September 1965
Format = 7"
Recorded =
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:15
Label = Philips
Writer =Bob Crewe -Sandy Linzer -Denny Randell
Producer = Bob Crewe
Certification =
Chart position =
* #3 (US)
Last single =Since I Don't Have You
(1965)
This single = Let's Hang On!
(1965)
Next single =Don't Think Twice
(asThe Wonder Who? )
(1965)"Let's Hang On!" osed by
Bob Crewe ,Sandy Linzer , andDenny Randell that was popularized by The Four Seasons in 1965. Produced by Crewe, the single reached the #3 position in the "Billboard"Hot 100 singles chart, the group's highest placement since "Rag Doll" hit the top spot in July 1964.The popularity of "Let's Hang On!" has been attributed to the inclusion of several devices into the recording: a two-line introduction (sung by lead singer
Frankie Valli ), the use of twofuzz guitar s (one guitarist playing low notes, another playing high notes on a fuzz bass), a chorus loaded with hooks and sung infalsetto , and backing vocals givingcounterpoint with Valli's lead vocal. It re-established the group's presence in the Top Ten (of the Hot 100) as The Four Seasons were in a flurry of activity, recording albums both as The Four Seasons and as supporting musicians for Valli's rekindled "solo" career.Cover versions
In 1966,
Mrs. Elva Miller recorded "Let's Hang On!" on her debut album, "Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits". "Mrs. Miller" had made a dent in the Hot 100 chart with her off-key, off-tempo rendition of "Downtown", complete with whistling and forgotten lyrics. On the album (and the subsequent single), "Let's Hang On!" had all of the same hallmarks — and mumbling.Bob Crewe's instrumental group, the Bob Crewe Generation, recorded in the song in their hit album "Music To Watch Girls By" of early 1967. This version was played on easy listening stations for decades therafter.
In 1981, the song was in much more capable hands as
Barry Manilow recorded a version of "Let's Hang On!" for his album "If I Should Love Again ". The song (as "Let's Hang On") was eventually released as a single the following year, reaching #32 in April 1982.In the early 1990s,
PWL boy-duoShooting Party released the song to poor chart success, despite being played often on the show "The Hitman and Her ".Other Uses
The song is also very popular with fans of
Wigan Athletic F.C. It is often sung by the fans when the team is one goal up. The song was first heard at theJJB Stadium during the club's first season in the old Division One, now theFootball League Championship . The tune was used as a Beechnut gum commercial later in the '60s.
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