Don't You Know What the Night Can Do

Background and use in Michelob commercial

Prior to the 1988 release of the "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" single, the song was used in a national TV commercial for Michelob. Though some critics at the time condemned Winwood for "writing songs for business interests" (i.e., "selling out"), Winwood denied that the song had been written for the commercial. In the 27 August issue of Billboard, Winwood's manager, Ron Weisner, said that Winwood granted Michelob use of the song to obtain tour sponsorship. In the 1 December issue of Rolling Stone, Weisner reiterated that the song was written before the deal with Michelob was struck. In a 1990 biography, Winwood explained: "When [the album] was finished, but before it came out, [Michelob] took the song they wanted, and very quickly shot the commercial. So what happened was the commercial came out before the album. Then the LP was released and the first single which was 'Roll With It'. Six weeks later the second single was due to be released which was the song they used for the commercial. They started putting the commercial on the TV before the single was out. It looked like I had written a beer jingle!"

Release and commercial reception

"Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" was released in 1988 as the second international single from Roll With It. In the United States, the song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 11 weeks inside the Top 40. It reached number six on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and number eight on the Singles Sales chart. It also reached number two on the Adult Contemporary chart and spent two weeks atop the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song peaked at number 46 in New Zealand and number 89 in the United Kingdom.

Track listing

Credits