Stay the Night (Chicago song)

Last updated
"Stay the Night"
Stay the Night cover.jpg
Single by Chicago
from the album Chicago 17
B-side "Only You"
ReleasedApril 18, 1984
Genre Rock [1]
Length3:48
Label
Songwriters
Producer David Foster
Chicago singles chronology
"What You're Missing"
(1983)		"Stay the Night"
(1984)		"Hard Habit to Break"
(1984)

"Stay the Night" is a song written by Peter Cetera and David Foster for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago 17 (1984), with Cetera singing the lead vocals. The song features noted session Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro taking the place of Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine. [2]

Contents

Reception

"Stay the Night" was the first single released from Chicago 17. Commenting on this decision, Cetera said that "everybody expected Chicago to come out with a ballad. So we thought, 'Let's come from left field with the first single'". [3] The single debuted at No. 49 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, which at the time was the band's highest entry at the time, beating out "25 or 6 to 4", which had entered the chart at No. 50 in July 1970. [4] The song later peaked at number 16 on the Hot 100 and No. 7 on the Top Tracks chart. Cetera commented on the song's chart performance in an article published by Billboard in 1985.

What 'Stay the Night' did was give us radio stations that hadn't played us in years. Sure, some of the stations that had been playing us didn't play that song, which is why it didn't climb as high as it might have, but a lot of the stations that hadn't been playing us finally did. [3]

Cash Box said that the song was very different from Chicago's "vocal harmonies and horns heyday," having "a hard rocking drum beat, some techno-synth backing and an upper-register lead vocal." [5] Billboard called the single "one of the hottest radio adds of the week" with the band's "trademark vocal sound in an aggressive, percussive setting." [6]

Music video

This song's music video was filmed in and around the Los Angeles River. [7] The music video was directed by Bill Bates, with post-production being conducted by Red Car Editing in Los Angeles. [8] In a 1985 interview, bandmate Robert Lamm said a stuntman was used for several scenes. [9] The Houston Press said that Cetera also did some of his own stunts for the music video. [10]

Chart history

Chart (1984)Peak
position
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [11] 47
US Billboard Hot 100 [12] [13] 16
US Top Tracks (Billboard) [14] 7

References

  1. ↑ Matos, Michaelangelo (8 December 2020). "EMI Records, New York City: November 13, 1984". Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year. Hachette Books. p. 290. ISBN   978-0-306-90337-3.
  2. ↑ Seraphine, Danny (2011). Street Player: My Chicago Story. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 206. ISBN   978-0-470-41683-9.
  3. 1 2 Grein, Paul (January 26, 1985). "Record of the Year: Chicago Sustaining Comeback Momentum". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 4. New York, NY: Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 6, 79. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ Grein, Paul (May 5, 1984). "Chartbeat - Lionel's Vinyl: Crossing The Atlantic" (PDF). Billboard . p. 68. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Reviews" (PDF). Cashbox . May 5, 1984. p. 7. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Billboard Singles Reviews" (PDF). Billboard . May 5, 1984. p. 68. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  7. ↑ Fuentes, Ed (August 6, 2015). "How Music Videos Portray Downtown Los Angeles". PBS So Cal. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Music Monitor" (PDF). Billboard . May 12, 1984. p. 7. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  9. ↑ Derringer, Liz (February 17, 1985). "Pop Music: Play the Night, Chicago comes to New York". Daily News. New York, New York. p. Leisure: 13. Retrieved February 26, 2019– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  10. ↑ Gray, Chris (January 7, 2009). "Houston Press Arts Guide: Peter Cetera". Houston Press . Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6728". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  12. ↑ "Chicago 17 Awards". Allmusic . Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  13. ↑ "June 23, 1984". Billboard Hot 100 . Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  14. ↑ "Mainstream Rock Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
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