Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)

"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" is a song by Rod Stewart, recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama for his 1976 album A Night on the Town. The song became his second US chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100, peaked at #5 in UK, #3 in Australia and charted well in other parts of the world as well. It was the number 1 song in Billboard's 1977 year-end chart. It became the best-selling single of 1977 in the United States.

Background and lyrics

According to Dan Peek of America, Stewart's inspiration for "Tonight's the Night" was America's Top 30 hit "Today's the Day": Peek recalls that one evening when he and his guest Rod Stewart were playing together in Peek's home recording studio: "I played 'Today's the Day', the song I had been working on. Rod said that he liked it and that it gave him an idea for a song. Of course after his recording of 'Tonight's the Night' came out I laughed when I remembered what he'd said. I'm sure I probably smacked my forehead and said: 'Why didn't I think of that?'"^[2]

The song features a French spoken part from Britt Ekland who was Stewart's girlfriend at the time.^[3] While primarily recorded at Muscle Shoals, the final vocal was recorded at Caribou Ranch studios, where Stewart, Ekland and producer Tom Dowd spent several days. Some radio stations play edits of the song, shortening the coda, as well as the whispers, because they were deemed to be too suggestive for airplay, where the songs could be banned from being played on the air.

The singer is addressing a girl (whom he calls "my virgin child"), encouraging her to do various acts that one normally associates with preparing for sex, such as drawing the blinds, removing her shoes, and the like. One particular line is a relatively blatant double entendre referring to sex:

'Cmon Angel my heart's on fire

Don't deny your man's desire

You'd be a fool to stop this tide

Spread your wings and let me come inside 'cause

Tonight's the night (gonna be alright)

Some listeners have interpreted the song as an incestuous pedophile's successful seduction of his daughter. Stewart's persona explicitly refers to his partner as his "virgin child," and among her French comments at the end, she asks, "What is Mama going to say?" The implication that she is a minor appears visually in the video when he begins to offer her a glass of wine, but rescinds it and drinks the glass himself, waving her off as if she is too young to partake.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1976–77)	Peak position
Australia	3
Canada ^[4]	1
Germany	26
Ireland	2
Netherlands	5
New Zealand	2
Sweden	7
UK	5
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	2

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)	Position
Australia	11
Canada	1
New Zealand ^[5]	19

Chart (1977)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1

Cover versions

In 1993, Stewart recorded a live version of the song during his session for MTV Unplugged. This version was included on the album Unplugged...and Seated.

The song has been remade by such artists as: Linda Clifford, Nicky Moore, and sung by Anthony Kavanagh, Terry Steele, who reached number forty-four on the R&B singles chart,^[6] and Alison Crawford on Grease is the Word.

In Janet Jackson's cover, the lyrics imply that she and her partner are about to share a threesome with another woman. Indeed, Janet begins the song by saying, "This is just between me and you...and you." Additionally, each chorus addresses a different person, as she sings, "'Cause I love you, boy" in one and "'Cause I love you, girl" in another. "She even makes a bid for gay icon status…" wrote Neil McCormick in The Daily Telegraph's review of The Velvet Rope, "climaxing (if that's the right word) with a bizarre lesbian reinterpretation of Rod Stewart's 'Tonight's the Night'."^[7]

The song was often included in Tina Turner's 1980s live set and features with another Rod Stewart song on her 'Nice n Rough' video.

References

↑ "The 10 Ickiest Soft-Rock Hits of the '70s - Oldies Music". Oldies.about.com. 2014-04-03. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
↑ Peak, Dan (2004). An American Band: the America Story. Xulon Press. ISBN 1-594679-29-0.
↑ Robert Windeler (1977-02-21). "Romantic Rod". People. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
↑ https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5141a&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=t6vupcap68ksiak8t1vo710ef3
↑ http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=3865
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 550.
↑ The Daily Telegraph, 18 October 1997

Preceded by "Rock'n Me" by Steve Miller Band	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single 13 November 1976 – 1 January 1977 (eight weeks)	Succeeded by "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)" by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.
Preceded by "Silly Love Songs" by Wings	Billboard Hot 100 Year-End number one single 1977	Succeeded by "Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb

Billboard Year-End number one singles (1960–1979)

1960: "Theme from A Summer Place" – Percy Faith 1961: "Tossin' and Turnin'" – Bobby Lewis 1962: "Stranger on the Shore" – Mr. Acker Bilk 1963: "Sugar Shack" – Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" – The Beatles 1965: "Wooly Bully" – Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs 1966: "Ballad of the Green Berets" – S/Sgt. Barry Sadler 1967: "To Sir, with Love" – Lulu 1968: "Hey Jude" – The Beatles 1969: "Sugar, Sugar" – The Archies 1970: "Bridge over Troubled Water" – Simon & Garfunkel 1971: "Joy to the World" – Three Dog Night 1972: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Roberta Flack 1973: "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" – Tony Orlando and Dawn 1974: "The Way We Were" – Barbra Streisand 1975: "Love Will Keep Us Together" – Captain & Tennille 1976: "Silly Love Songs" – Wings 1977: "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" – Rod Stewart 1978: "Shadow Dancing" – Andy Gibb 1979: "My Sharona" – The Knack

Complete list (1946–1959) (1960–1979) (1980–1999) (2000–2019)

Rod Stewart singles

1970s	"It's All Over Now" (1970) "Reason to Believe"/"Maggie May" (1971) "Every Picture Tells a Story"/"Reason to Believe" (1971) Spain only "(I Know) I'm Losing You"/"Mandolin Wind" (1971) "Handbags and Gladrags" (1972) "You Wear It Well" (1972) "Angel" (1972) "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)" (1972) "Twistin' the Night Away" (1973, 1987) "Oh! No Not My Baby" (1973) "Farewell" / "You Send Me" (1973) "Mine for Me" (1974) "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything" (1974) Stewart/Faces "Sailing" (1975) "This Old Heart of Mine" (1975) "Tonight's the Night" (1975) "The Killing of Georgie" (1976) "Get Back" (1976) "The First Cut Is the Deepest" (1977) "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (1977, 1990) "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" (1978) "Hot Legs" (1978) "I Was Only Joking" (1978) "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1978, 1997) "Ain't Love a Bitch" (1979) "Blondes (Have More Fun)" (1979)

1980s	"(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" (1980) "Tonight, I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)" (1981) "Young Turks" (1982) "How Long?" (1982) "Baby Jane" (1983) "That's What Friends Are For" (1983) "Infatuation" (1984) "Some Guys Have All the Luck" (1984) "All Right Now" (1984) "People Get Ready" (1985, 1991, 1993) Stewart/Beck "Love Touch" (1986) "In My Life" (1987) "Forever Young" (1988) "My Heart Can't Tell You No" (1988) "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" (1989)Stewart/Isley "Downtown Train" (1989)

1990s	"It Takes Two" (1990)Stewart/Turner "Rhythm of My Heart" (1991) "The Motown Song" (1991) "Your Song" (1992) "Ruby Tuesday" (1993) "Have I Told You Lately" (1993) "Reason to Believe" (unplugged, 1993) "All for Love" (1993) Stewart/Adams/Sting "Lady Luck" (1996) "Ooh La La" (1998) "Rocks" (1998) "Cigarettes and Alcohol" (1998) "Faith of the Heart" (1999)

2000s	"These Foolish Things" (2002) "They Can't Take That Away from Me" (2003) "Time After Time" (2003) "What a Wonderful World" (2004) "Blue Moon" (2004) "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (2005) "I've Got a Crush on You" (2005) "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (2006) "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" (2006)

2010s	"Everybody Hurts" (2010) "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (2012) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (2012) "She Makes Me Happy" (2013) "It's Over" (2013) "Brighton Beach" (2013) "Everyday" (2015) "Love Is" (2015)

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