"We've Got Tonite" | ||||
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![]() Picture sleeve for the US single | ||||
Single by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band | ||||
from the album Stranger in Town | ||||
B-side | "Aint Got No Money" | |||
Released | October 1978 | |||
Recorded | 1976 | |||
Genre | Soft rock | |||
Length |
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Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Seger | |||
Producer(s) |
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Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band singles chronology | ||||
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"We've Got Tonite" is a song written by American rock musician Bob Seger, from his album Stranger in Town (1978). The single record charted twice for Seger, and was developed from a prior song that he had written. Further versions charted in 1983 for Kenny Rogers as a duet with Sheena Easton, and again in 2002 for Ronan Keating.
Dave Marsh ( Rolling Stone ) on "We've Got Tonite" |
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Seger's melodic sense has never been better than on "We've Got Tonite", a grand seduction song in the tradition of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night". [1] |
The song developed from an earlier Seger composition titled "This Old House" which featured the same chords as "We've Got Tonite" although the earlier song had a slightly different melody. Seger overhauled "This Old House" into "We've Got Tonite" the day after seeing the film The Sting (1973) which features a conversation between the Robert Redford character and a woman he is attracted to, played by Dimitra Arliss, who says: "I don't even know you." Redford's response, "You know me. It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody," caused an emotional response in Seger, manifested in the overhauled song lyrics. [2] [3]
"We've Got Tonite" was not recorded until the 1976 sessions for Seger's album Night Moves and was held off that album as Seger felt it was not a thematic fit. [4] It was one of five Stranger... tracks recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, and Venetta Fields, Clydie King, and Shirley Matthews provided the backing vocals. [5]
"We've Got Tonite" served as the album's third single, reaching No. 13 on the US pop chart in 1978. It also played in the background of Melissa Sue Anderson's television film Survival of Dana (1979), in a scene where Anderson's character was in Los Angeles visiting the home of one of her new friends and was sitting in a room with co-star Robert Carradine's "Donny Davis" character, with whom she was falling in love. In the UK, the original version would chart twice, reaching No. 41 in 1979, then No. 22 as a 1995 re-release—as "We've Got Tonight"—to promote a Greatest Hits album. (In 1982, a live version—titled "We've Got Tonite"—from the in-concert album Nine Tonight reached No. 60 in the UK.) [6]
Since the death of his mother Charlotte, Seger has made a point of always including "We've Got Tonite" in his live setlist, as it was her favorite of his compositions. [7]
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 1994 Greatest Hits compilation. [8]
Additional musicians
Billboard described "We've Got Tonite" as a "melodic ballad featuring Seger's smokey and tender vocal" and said that the structure of the melody was similar to Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night". [9] Cash Box called it a "sensitive ballad" with "stark opening tambourine beat, strings and strong upward swell" and praised Seger's vocals as well as the "brightness" provided by the backing vocals. [10] Record World said that "The drama builds beautifully and Seger's raspy vocals carry the message with ease." [11]
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"We've Got Tonight" | ||||
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![]() Picture sleeve for the UK single | ||||
Single by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton | ||||
from the album We've Got Tonight and Best Kept Secret | ||||
B-side | "You Are So Beautiful" | |||
Released | January 24, 1983 | |||
Recorded | December 31, 1982–January 9, 1983 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:49 | |||
Label | Liberty | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Seger | |||
Producer(s) | David Foster | |||
Kenny Rogers singles chronology | ||||
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Sheena Easton singles chronology | ||||
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In 1983, American country-pop star Kenny Rogers recorded the song as a duet with Scottish pop star Sheena Easton, and made it the title track of his album We've Got Tonight . Both Rogers and Easton were on the roster of EMI America-Liberty Records and their collaboration on "We've Got Tonight" was at the firm suggestion of label chairman Larry Mazza who hoped to restore Easton to chart ascendancy. [28] Mazza was also the president of Capitol Records the label of release for the Bob Seger original. [29] Rogers stated: "I liked the idea of recording with Sheena. I thought the contrast in styles--I'm so throaty and she's so trained and pure--would really work well." [29] Rogers himself phoned Easton to pitch their duet on December 23, 1982. The two singers then met up on Christmas Eve to rehearse the song with a piano, six days later going into the studio, with the completed track going to radio nine days later. [30]
Easton would assert that it was the song choice which appealed to her, while allowing Rogers to be "a good singer with a distinctive voice" who she found "always helpful and co-operative" in the studio, debunking insider reports that the ten-day recording session for the track was a stormy one with Rogers overtly disliking Easton's high-pitched vocals. [28] Easton's contribution to the track would prove a bone of critical contention.
Billboard said that the song "gets a full production treatment, building on the contrast between two such distinctive and familiar voices." [31] Rolling Stone critic Chris Connelly would dismiss the Easton/Rogers duet of "We've Got Tonight" as "shrieking [and] insensitive", [32] and Jerseyite critic Jim Bohen would lament how Rogers "who usually sounds good duetting with women" was defeated by her nails-across-the-blackboard voice. [33] But Dennis Hunt (Los Angeles Times) would prefer the Rogers/Easton take to the Seger original due to a "very appealing" "blend of sharply contrasting voices, his deep and hers very high," adding that "Rogers, never known for his vocal power, stretches to match Easton, [attaining] his finest vocal performance." [34] And AllMusic critic Joe Viglione would opine that Easton's "splendid voice reaching the high registers over Kenny's familiar monotone...really makes [the track] special." [35]
A number one hit on the Billboard Country Singles chart, "We've Got Tonight" reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, and number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, also reaching the top 30 in the United Kingdom. [36] Rebranded as a country & western song due to Rogers, "We've Got Tonight" would be honored by ASCAP as the Most Performed Country Song of 1983, with Seger, an iconic Detroit rocker, personally acknowledging the honor by attending the October 1984 ASCAP Country Music Awards fête held at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. [37] [38]
In Brazil, the single has exceeded 100,000 copies. [39]
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"We've Got Tonight" | ||||
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Single by Ronan Keating and Lulu or Jeanette | ||||
from the album Destination and Together | ||||
Released | November 25, 2002 | |||
Length | 3:39 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Seger | |||
Producer(s) | Bill Padley | |||
Ronan Keating singles chronology | ||||
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Lulu singles chronology | ||||
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Jeanette singles chronology | ||||
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"We've Got Tonight" was remade by Irish singer Ronan Keating and Scottish singer Lulu for Lulu's twelfth studio album, Together (2002),with the track also appearing on Keating's second studio album, Destination (2002). The Together album,consisting of tracks pairing Lulu with a variety of "name" duet partners,was a comeback vehicle for Lulu designed by top entertainment impresario Louis Walsh,whom the singer had signed on with in 2000. [66] Three of the acts the album paired Lulu with—Samantha Mumba,Westlife,and Keating—were protégées of Walsh;however,Keating has said that Lulu herself recruited him to duet with her,stating,"I said 'Yeah,as long as you let me pick the song!' I picked...one of my all-time favorite love songs." [67]
Both the Together and Destination albums were released in the spring of 2002;it was decided to forego any single releases of off Together, [68] but after two earlier singles,Keating's label Polydor issued "We've Got Tonight"—credited to Ronan Keating featuring Lulu—on November 25,2002,and it debuted at its No. 4 peak on the UK Singles Chart on December 1,2002. The track was also an international hit,reaching No. 7 in the Netherlands,No. 10 in Ireland,No. 12 in Australia,and No. 14 in Flanders.
Polydor Records decided to release a reformatted version of the track that replaced Lulu with Jeanette Biedermann,a Polydor artist who had enjoyed considerable success with English-language releases in her native Germany,Austria,and Switzerland. This version of the duet was issued in those three nations with top-ten peaks in Austria and Germany and a No. 25 peak in Switzerland. In Italy,the track was issued with Italian soul singer Giorgia Todrani and published as the B-side of Giorgia's single "Gocce di memoria". In the Philippines,Keating performed the song with Kyla.[ citation needed ]
UK single
German single
Italian single
Ronan Keating and LuluWeekly charts
Year-end charts
| Ronan Keating and JeanetteWeekly charts
Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [91] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Germany (BVMI) [92] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). |
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United Kingdom | November 25, 2002 | Polydor |
| [93] [94] |
Australia | December 2, 2002 | CD | [95] |
"We've Got Tonight" played in the background of Melissa Sue Anderson's television film Survival of Dana (1979),in a scene where Anderson's character was in Los Angeles visiting the home of new friends and was in a room with co-star Robert Carradine's character Donny Davis,with whom she was falling in love. [96] In season 4,episode 4 of the television series Ray Donovan ,Liev Schreiber sings a karaoke version of the song,then a reprise to his wife as the episode ends.
The song has also been recorded by Rein Alexander (a duet with Trine Rein,album Song for You,2007),Bill Anderson (album Nashville Mirrors,1980),Anne Lise (album First Dance,2006),Patti Austin (album Body Language,1980),Shirley Bassey (album The Show Must Go On ,1996),Elkie Brooks whose version charted at No. 67 in the UK in 1987 (album No More the Fool ,1986),Rhonda Burchmore (album Midnight Rendezvous,2001),Rita Coolidge (as "Tonite",a duet with Jermaine Jackson,album Never Let You Go,1983),Nianell (with Dozi,album It Takes Two,2009),Allison Durbin (album Country Love Songs,1983),Ray Dylan (duet with Charlize Berg,album Goeie Ou Country in Duet,2013),Adam Harvey &Beccy Cole (album The Great Country Song Book Volume II,2017),Richie Havens (album Connections,1980),Steven Houghton (album Steven Houghton,1997),Tom Jones (album Mr Jones ,2002),Reg Livermore (album Livermore's Firing Squad,1983),Barry Manilow (album Summer of '78 ,1996),Jane McDonald (album The Singer of Your Song,2014),Melanie (album Moments from My Life,2002),Angelika Milster (duet with Steve Barton,album Ich bin wie ich bin,1984),Chord Overstreet (multi-artist album Muscle Shoals...Small Town,Big Sound,2018), [97] Marti Pellow (album Love to Love,2011),Tex Perkins &His Ladyboyz (album No.1's &No.2's,2008),Lee Towers &Anita Meyer (album Run to Me,1985),Conway Twitty (as "Tonite",album Heart &Soul,1980),and Dottie West (as "Tonite",album Special Delivery ,1980). [98]
American Idol season 11 contestant and eventual winner Phillip Phillips performed "We've Got Tonight" on the episode broadcast May 16,2012;his studio recording of the song appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 97.
Sheena Easton also recorded a Spanish-language version of "We've Got Tonight" entitled "La Noche Y Tú" on her 1984 Spanish-language album Todo Me Recuerda A Ti,the track being a duet with Dyango. The song has also been rendered in Italian as "Grazie perché" by Amii Stewart and Gianni Morandi,a No. 5 hit in Italy in 1984;and in Czech as "Všímej si víc",recorded in 1983 by Věra Špinarová and Karel Černoch. Another Czech rendering of the song,"Čas dál nech spát",was recorded in 2012 by David Deyl and Helena Vondráčková,included on Vondráčková's 3-CD compilation Helena (nejen) o lásce. [99]
Kenny Rogers was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted more than 120 hit singles across various genres,topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his lifetime,making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His fame and career spanned multiple genres:jazz,folk,pop,rock,and country. He remade his career and was one of the most successful cross-over artists of all time.
Robert Clark Seger is a retired American singer,songwriter,and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist,he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s,breaking through with his first album,Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in 1969. By the early 1970s,he had dropped the 'System' from his recordings and continued to strive for broader success with various other bands. In 1973,he put together the Silver Bullet Band,with a group of Detroit-area musicians,with whom he became most successful on the national level with the album Live Bullet (1976),recorded live with the Silver Bullet Band in 1975 at Cobo Hall in Detroit,Michigan. In 1976,he achieved a national breakout with the studio album Night Moves. On his studio albums,he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section,which appeared on several of Seger's best-selling singles and albums.
Sheena Shirley Easton is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series The Big Time:Pop Singer,which recorded her attempts to gain a record deal and her eventual signing with the EMI label. Her first two singles,"Modern Girl" and "9 to 5",both entered the top ten of the UK Singles Chart simultaneously. She became one of the most successful British female recording artists of the 1980s. Easton became the first and only recording artist in Billboard history to have a top five hit on each of Billboard's primary singles charts:"Morning Train ","We've Got Tonight" with Kenny Rogers and "Sugar Walls".
"9 to 5" (or "Morning Train") is a song by Sheena Easton from 1981 album Take My Time. It was written by British songwriter Florrie Palmer and recorded and released as single in 1980,becoming Easton's biggest hit. It peaked at number three in the United Kingdom in August 1980 and was certified gold. In February 1981,it was released in the United States and Canada under the title "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion with Dolly Parton's recent hit "9 to 5". It reached number one in both countries,becoming Easton's only chart-topper in those nations.
Together is a 2002 album recorded by Scottish pop star Lulu as an album of duets with various artists,including Elton John,Paul McCartney,Joe Cocker,Cliff Richard,Westlife and Ronan Keating,amongst others. The album reached No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI.
The Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Lulu,released in 2003. The album highlights her 40-year career in music from 1964's UK top-ten hit "Shout" through 2002's "We've Got Tonight," a UK top-five duet with Ronan Keating. It also covers everything in between,including her 1967 US No. 1 Hit "To Sir With Love",the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest winner "Boom Bang-a-Bang",the 1974 James Bond theme "The Man with the Golden Gun",the 1993 comeback single "Independence" and the UK No. 1 Hit "Relight My Fire".
"You Are So Beautiful" is a song credited to Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher that was first released in 1974 on Preston's ninth studio album,The Kids &Me. It was also the B-side of his single "Struttin'". Later that same year,English singer Joe Cocker released a slower version of the song on his album I Can Stand a Little Rain. Cocker's version was produced by Jim Price,and released as a single in November 1974. It became Cocker's highest-charting solo hit in the United States,peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100,and at number four on Canada's Top Singles chart.
"When You Say Nothing at All" is a country song written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz. It was a hit song for four different performers:Keith Whitley,who took it to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart on December 24,1988;Alison Krauss &Union Station,whose version was their first solo top-10 country hit in 1995;Irish singer Frances Black,whose 1996 version became her third Irish top-10 single and brought the song to the attention of Irish pop singer Ronan Keating,whose 1999 version was his first solo single and a number-one hit in the United Kingdom,Ireland,and New Zealand.
10 Years of Hits is the first compilation album released by Boyzone frontman,Ronan Keating. The album was released on 11 October 2004,and included all of Keating's singles to date,plus three new singles,two previously unreleased tracks,and the B-side "This Is Your Song". The album peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart,becoming the third out of four of Keating's albums to do so. In 2010,an anniversary edition of the album was issued in Australia containing further singles that were released after the original release of the album and was certified 4×Platinum in Australia in 2016.
"The Long Goodbye" is a song written by Irish singer-songwriters Paul Brady and Ronan Keating for Brady's 2000 album Oh What a World. In October 2001,it was released by American country music duo Brooks &Dunn as the third single from their album Steers &Stripes. Ronan Keating released his version in April 2003 as the last single from his album Destination (2002).
"She Believes in Me" is a song recorded by American country music singer Kenny Rogers. It was released in April 1979 as the second single from his 1978 album The Gambler. The song was written by American singer-songwriter Steve Gibb who first released his version as a 7" single in 1978. A version by T. G. Sheppard appears on his 1978 album Daylight,released a month before Rogers' album.
Special Delivery is a studio album by American country artist Dottie West. It was released by both Liberty Records and United Artists Records in November 1979. The album was released following a successful commercial comeback in West's career. Its new country pop production style was considered a departure from her previous recordings. The project consisted of ten tracks,six of which were composed by producers Randy Goodrum and Brent Maher. Three of the tracks were singles,including West's first solo chart-topper "A Lesson in Leavin'". Special Delivery reached the top 20 of the US country chart and was among her longest-running albums on the country survey
This is a complete discography of recording artist Sheena Easton,a Scottish singer with a discography that consists of 15 studio albums and 16 compilation albums. Easton released her debut album,Take My Time,in 1980,and the single "Morning Train " reached number 12 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in 1981. Her success continued primarily through the 1980s,where Easton garnered 5 Gold and 1 Platinum album certifications in the United States,with 7 Gold singles and 20 US Top 40 singles as well as 7 US Top Ten singles. Whilst her success was somewhat limited in her native Scotland and the United Kingdom,she scored one number one song in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1981 and 1991.
Best Kept Secret is the fourth album by Scottish singer Sheena Easton. It was released in 1983 on EMI Records.
We've Got Tonight is the fourteenth studio album by American singer Kenny Rogers,released in 1983. It is also his last with Liberty Records before signing with RCA Records.
Duets is a compilation album by Kenny Rogers released in 1984 by Liberty Records,issued after Rogers left the label and signed to RCA Records.
Todo Me Recuerda a Ti is the sixth studio album by Scottish singer Sheena Easton. It was released on 23 November 1984 and reissued by Capitol/EMI Latin in 1989. This is an album of greatest hits featuring three new tracks all sung in Spanish and geared for the Latin markets. "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres",a duet with Mexican star Luis Miguel,was released as the first single and earned Easton a Grammy for Best Mexican-American Performance - 1984.
"You Could Have Been with Me" is a 1981 single by Sheena Easton from her album of the same name. The single reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100,while its Adult Contemporary peak was number 6.
Duet is the seventh studio album by Irish singer-songwriter and Boyzone frontman Ronan Keating. It was produced by Greg Wells and features collaborations with Australian,New Zealand and international artists. It was released only in Australia and New Zealand on 12 November 2010.
20 Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Kenny Rogers released by Liberty Records in 1983.
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