# Do you know this song? (Opus 17 by The Four Seasons) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029 "2016-09-04T16:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/21 "2016-09-05T18:04:03Z")
To the OP (and maybe others): [This 2004 short Dope thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251893)has some good info on Four Seasons songs and related matters (including a definition of “doo-wop”). The final post is a loving homage by some knowledgeable Doper from twelve years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/22 "2016-09-06T02:16:17Z")
Obviously the 4 Seasons, but I don’t remember the song–I probably changed the station as soon as it came on. Never could understand their popularity. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/23 "2016-09-06T02:41:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > _shrug_ Like I said, I listened to the two oldies stations here religiously for a three year period, and don’t recognize it at all. I can’t imagine it’s anywhere near as iconic as the other two songs you mentioned. (And I don’t find it difficult to avoid hearing “Freebird.” I doubt either of my parents ever heard it.) I’d be surprised if someone didn’t know, say, “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” The ones I remember being played on the stations here are that one, " Sherry," “Walk Like A Man,” Let’s Hang On," “Working My Way Back To You,” “Candy Girl,” and probably a couple that are slipping my mind. But those I’ve literally must have heard scores of times each. “Opus 17”? If it was played, it was not in constant rotation and not enough to register any familiarility. It may be a regional thing. Most stations in the 60’s weren’t part of a national consortium with programmed music; they just played what the local DJ’s liked. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Seasons_%28band%29#Selected_U.S._singles) says _Opus 17_ got up to #13 on the charts, which is lower (i.e., worse) than I expected, but not nearly as low as _Big Man in Town_, which I thought was a bigger hit, but only got up to #20. Conversely, _Tell It To the Rain_ got up to #10, and I’ve never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/24 "2016-09-06T05:38:19Z")
Know it, love it, think it demands an angry, sarcastic punk cover. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/25 "2016-09-06T08:25:26Z")
I’ve heard it on Oldies radio over the years but not much. I’d say that I know it fairly well but only because it is on a Frankie Valli compilation that I own and listen to from time to time. Just going by cultural osmosis, I’d probably only consider it vaguely familiar. I definitely wouldn’t recognize it from the title and (even being additionally familiar with it by having it in my music collection) I can’t easily conjure the song in my mind without a lyrical clue. Incidentally, this is the same way I would describe another hit for the same songwriters (Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell) “A Lover’s Concerto” which was a huge hit for The Toys- completely unrecognizable by song title. Although, “A Lover’s Concerto” has a much better lyrical clue to get it into the head of someone who knows it but doesn’t recognize it by the title (“How gentle it the rain, that falls softly on the meadow”). Not that you asked, but I’d say “A Lover’s Concerto” (with a little help from Bach) is a much better song than “Opus 17”. > [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > This has happened many times before with me. You get to listening to some music and songs your whole life…that it becomes so well known to you that you become biased towards it somewhat. I mean, YOU’VE heard it a hundred times. It’s become instantly recognizable to you and probably your group (whoever first got you into listening to that music)…so you expect everyone to have heard it. It’s like "Wha? You don’t know this song? You’ve never heard this song before?? Your OP is almost identical (in spirit) to an [OP I wrote years ago about Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon’s hit song “Palisades Park”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=544416). Seems you didn’t participate in the Thread so… do you know “Palisades Park”? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/26 "2016-09-06T08:30:56Z")
No. Not that I’m very familiar with too many 50s(?) songs - my parents weren’t great music fans and their generation seemed to miss out on most rock and roll by a fine margin. My Dad was into crooners from the 30s and 40s and I couldn’t specify any of my Mum’s favourites. She wasn’t even into the Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/27 "2016-09-06T13:16:39Z")
A little trivia question about “Opus 17” that I learned a few years ago: Among all songs ever to have hit the Billboard top 40, “Opus 17” is tied for the lead with “Mack the Knife” in what category? Chromatic key changes (each song changes key five times.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/28 "2016-09-06T13:43:45Z")
Heard it before; knew who it was, but not the title; the song is now stuck in my head. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/29 "2016-09-06T14:22:05Z")
Don’t think I’ve ever heard it before. If I did, it didn’t impress itself upon me. I’d totally be one of the people looking back at you in perplexity while you tried to sing it. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/30 "2016-09-06T14:51:06Z")
I did hear it often in the days when I used to listen to oldies radio–although not as frequently as other Four Seasons songs like “Walk Like a Man” or “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” I doubt that I could have told you what it was called. I knew it was one of those songs that had an odd title, but I don’t think I could have remembered exactly what that title was. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/31 "2016-09-06T17:32:54Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > A little trivia question about “Opus 17” that I learned a few years ago: > > Among all songs ever to have hit the Billboard top 40, “Opus 17” is tied for the lead with “Mack the Knife” in what category? > > Chromatic key changes (each song changes key five times.) Interesting. This song has… …four… …(and maybe it was never Top 40, but it should have been): “My Generation” by The Who ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029/32 "2016-09-07T03:38:16Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I cannot tell you how often this has happened to me. I will name a song or (in most cases) an artist/singer…and the other person will go “I’ve never heard of them…”, so I’ll start singing songs by the artist… A big part of my maturing process is learning that everyone’s different. No one’s had my life experiences, even down to minor details like having tried Lucky Charms (or any food that I’d just assume everyone knows), or remembering a particular song. Where the mature part comes in is when I can realize “Golly, my best friend has never heard ‘[As The Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESQHWQoYygU)’…” and “Whoa, my wife doesn’t even _care_ that Jeb Loy left Fellow Travelers and just cut _the_ definitive reggae/dub/roots/alt-country album!”… … and I’m neither surprised or (completely) crushed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-this-song-opus-17-by-the-four-seasons/765029.md?page=1)