The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore | Who is the author, who popularised it, what is the best interpretation…?

Well, the 2 Bobs (Crewe and Gaudio) are the authors of ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’. Both had a very particular love-hate relationship.

• The first, Bob Gaudio, was a member of the Four Seasons, specifically the keyboard player. He was also the producer of most of the band’s music and co-owner of the group’s rights, along with singer Frankie Valli. His most popular composition is ‘December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)‘.
• The second, Bob Crewe, was a singer and songwriter. In 1961 he released 2 solo albums and became a teenage sex symbol for his adonis-like appearance. Bob was homosexual, although he remained very discreet because the time was not conducive to it. That would be a great burden during his life, leading him to take refuge in drugs for a while. Bob Crewe was a great talent who would compose, among many other great songs, the mythical ‘Lady Marmalade‘, together with Patti LaBelle.

Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio met in the early 60s when The Four Seasons had not had any hit. They began working together on a song Gaudio had written called ‘Sherry‘, which would become the first Top 1 in a long line.

Their relationship as songwriters had many highs, but also some lows. Bob Gaudio actively contributed to “Jersey Boys“, the theatre play and film that tells the story of The Four Seasons. Bob Crewe was portrayed as an eccentric and corny homosexual in Jersey Boys, which was far from the truth, in fact it was just the opposite, Crewe felt very bad about his sexual condition and hid it. Crewe considered the film a kind of revenge from Bob Gaudio towards him. Despite this, for the most part their relationship, as well as being fruitful, was a good one.

In addition to composing for Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Crewe and Gaudio also composed for other artists such as the single ‘Silence Is Golden’ by The Tremeloes, ‘The Proud One‘ by The Osmonds, or ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’, which is usually attributed to the British group The Walker Brother.

Crewe and Gaudio wrote ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ for The Righteous Brothers, but when Frankie Valli heard it, he liked it so much that he asked them to lend it to him. Frankie recorded it with The Four Seasons, although he would finally release it as a solo artist in 1965, meaning that the first release of ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ is by Frankie Valli alone.

• It only reached number 128 on the Billboard, many say it’s because the record company didn’t promote it as they didn’t want it to become a hit and therfore have Frankie leaving The Four Seasons.

The fact is that a few months later, the British group The Walker Brother decided to record the song with a slightly faster rhythm, becoming the biggest hit of his career, number 1 in the UK and Top 10 in many countries.

• It is currently among the top 500 songs in history.

Many years later, in 1996, Cher released her version of ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ to public and critical acclaim. In 2004, the British band Keane did the same. Others such as Bruce Springsteen and even Spanish star, David Bisbal, with a fantastic Spanish version, have also recorded the song, making this fantastic tune still relevant 60 years later.