Night – Night

We had written about the British band Night earlier when reviewing their second LP ‘Long Distance’, this time we revert back to the 1979 debut which was a popular album for me at least during my high school years.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Night
ALBUM: Night
LABEL: Planet Records
SERIAL: P2
YEAR: 1979
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England

LINEUP: Chris Thompson – vocals, guitar * Stevie Lange – vocals * Robbie McIntosh – guitars, slide guitar, vocals * Billy Kristian – bass * Nicky Hopkins – electric piano, keyboards

Additional Musicians: Rick Marotta, James Albert Johnson – drums * Steve Porcaro – synthesizer * Bill Payne – synthesizer, organ, piano * Derrick Austin – synthesizer, clavinet * Michael McDonald – piano, electric piano * Vince Melamed – organ * Bobby LaKind – congas * Richard Perry – arrangements, production

TRACK LISTING: 01 Hot Summer Nights * 02 Cold Wind Across My Heart * 03 If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody * 04 Ain’t That Peculiar * 05 Come Around (If You Want Me) * 06 You Ain’t Pretty Enough * 07 Shocked * 08 Love Message * 09 Party Shuffle

WEBLINKS: Wikipedia Site Link

Background

We had written about the British band Night earlier when reviewing their second LP ‘Long Distance’. This time we revert back to the 1979 debut which was a popular album for me at least during my high school years. L

Though the band formed in the U.S, they were mostly British based, with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band singer Chris Thompson being the catalyst for bringing the band to fruition. Signed to Richard Perry’s Planet Records, the band recorded the LP in Los Angeles, and utilised a full array of top session musicians to help out.

The Songs

Of course the best remembered song on the LP is the lead-off ‘Hot Summer Nights’. This was originally a Walter Egan track going back to 1969, but Night had more success with it than he did. ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’ maintains a rocky edge while ‘Come Around (If You Want Me)’ takes up a boogie like stance equivalent to Status Quo.

Stevie takes the lead again on ‘Love Message’, a sassy number, so too the bar-room boogie of ‘Party Shuffle’. For me, it’s interesting when Stevie sings she sounds similar to Heart‘s Ann Wilson, while Chris sounds like John Farnham in places. There a couple of piano ballads including ‘Cold Wind Across My Heart’ and ‘If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody’, but these don’t stick with me as much as the others.

In Summary

The band made it to just two albums. Formed in late 1978 they disbanded nearly two years later to the day. There was one significant reissue for this album, being the 2011 Gonzo Multimedia CD which included two bonus tracks: ‘Theme From The Champ – If You Remember Me’ and a reworking of ‘You Ain’t Pretty Enough’.

‘Hot Summer Nights’ made it into the Billboard Charts (#18) and did very well around the world too, the album as a whole a good representation of late 70’s radio friendly pop rock.

Videos

Night – Hot Summer Nights
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qwBYtB5R0E8