Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: The 4 Seasons, “Rag Doll”

55 years ago today, The 4 Seasons sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 with yet another tune penned by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, this one inspired by an industrious little girl Gaudio happened across.

Produced by Crewe, “Rag Doll” came into existence as a result of Gaudio driving through a neighborhood, stopping at a stoplight, and finding a 5-year-old girl – that was his estimation of her age, anyway – outside his car, offering to clean his windshield. He let her go ahead and do it, but at her age, she was only just tall enough to clean the driver’s side mirror. Despite this, he figured he’d still go ahead and give her a little something for her trouble, but what he discovered was that he didn’t have anything in his wallet smaller than a $20. As such, he gave her a $20 bill...or maybe a $5 bill...or possibly a $10 bill. He’s told the tale a number of ways over the years, but denomination doesn’t really matter, so let’s just gloss over the inconsistencies and enjoy the story.

Oh, and you might as well go ahead and enjoy the song, too, what with it being one of the 4 Seasons’ most beloved tunes. In addition to hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it was actually named the #1 song of all time by NYC radio station WCBS, and they know their music, so, what, you wanna make somethin’ of it?

Yeah, we didn’t think so...