B-side "All for Myself" Recorded October 1964 Length 2:44 | Format 7-inch single Genre Pop rock | |
Released 5 March 1965 (1965-03-05) | ||
"Here Comes the Night" is a 1964 song, written by Bert Berns. It became a hit for Northern Irish band Them, fronted by Van Morrison, in March 1965, charting at No. 2 in the UK and No. 24 in the U.S. Them's single is listed at either No.33 or No.36 in the Top 100 best-selling UK singles during the calendar year 1965, depending on source.
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The song was originally released as a single in both the UK and the U.S. by another Decca Records' artiste, Lulu, in November 1964. Lulu's recording charted at No.50 in the UK, and failed to chart at all in the U.S.
Recording and history
Them's version of the song was the second Them track produced by Bert Berns and the first occasion that Them recorded one of his compositions. It was recorded in a session at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London in October 1964 along with "Baby, Please Don't Go" and "All For Myself".
Jimmy Page played guitar on this arrangement. Andy White and Tommy Scott performed backing vocals with Phil Coulter on keyboards. Drummer Ronnie Millings recalled that the band worked on the song at the studio with rehearsals lasting four days. [Billy Harrison noted that "I remember sitting in Decca when Bert said he had this song, and he came out with "Here Comes the Night". He had a riff and that's all he had, and we sat and we worked on it, and we came up with what you hear. We worked at it sitting in the studio—but no engineers or anything." Phil Coulter later said, "I knew I'd heard a smash. It was the first time I'd ever heard a hit record in its emerging state."
According to Phil Coulter the band had intended this song to be the follow-up to "Baby, Please Don't Go" but Decca rush-released a recording of the song by Lulu in November 1964. The band members of Them were said to be bitterly disappointed by this decision made by Decca and Phil Solomon. Phil Coulter remarked: "They bitched to me a lot but they wouldn't dare to have said anything to Solomon." The band was said to have a "certain grim satisfaction" as Lulu's recording reached No. 50 and then dropped off the charts.
Despite a bold, breezy tone the song's lyrics told a tale of obsessive jealousy and approaching loneliness from the point of view of a rejected lover who voyeuristically watches the new couple.
"Here Comes the Night" was Them's third single in both the UK and the US; the US release following the success of "Gloria" in that market. The first day of its release it sold 16,000 copies, at the time an impressive showing. It peaked at No.2 UK and No.24 U.S., spending 10 weeks on the U.S. chart. It was also released on the EP Mystic Eyes. After the record was released, Them was immediately sent on a public relations push with television appearances on Ready Steady Go! and Top of the Pops.
Van Morrison has remarked on this:
Them were never meant to be on Top of the Pops, I mean miming? Lip syncing? We used to laugh at the programme, think it was a joke. Then we were on it ourselves. It was ridiculous. We were totally anti that type of thing. We were really into the blues...and we had to get into suits and have make-up put on and all that..
It was released on the Parrot (US) version of the album THEM in July 1965, and also appears on the album The Story of Them. It was also re-released on the Deram label in 1973, but did not chart.
Appearance on other Van Morrison albums
Other versions
The song, sung by Scottish singer Lulu, was first released as a single by Decca Records in the UK and Parrot Records in the US in November 1964. Lulu's recording charted at No.50 in the UK.