Format 7" vinyl Length 4:32 | Recorded 1980 Label Polydor Records | |
Released 1980 (re-released 1989) Genre Adult contemporary, soft rock | ||
"Into the Night" is a 1980 song by American pop singer-songwriter Benny Mardones, from his album Never Run, Never Hide. He re-released it in 1989, on the album Benny Mardones.
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The song is unusual for being one of only 10 recordings to ever ascend to the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice. The chartings, in 1980 and 1989, were of two similar but separate recordings. Chubby Checker was first to do this with his cover of "The Twist", a single that went to No. 1 in September 1960 and again in January 1962. Other artists to achieve the feat include the Contours, who charted "Do You Love Me" in 1962 and 1988, and the Righteous Brothers, who charted "Unchained Melody" in 1965 and 1990.
Mardones originally released "Into the Night" in June 1980. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1980, logging 20 weeks on the chart before falling off in late October. Mardones was unable to duplicate the success of "Into the Night" and is considered a one-hit wonder.
In 1989, a "Where Are They Now?" Arizona radio segment spurred L.A. DJ Scott Shannon to add the song to his playlist, ultimately rocketing the song back onto the national charts, on May 6, 1989. Mardones' recording peaked this time at No. 20 the first week in July, adding 17 weeks to its previous run of 20, to add up to a total of 37 (nonconsecutive) weeks. "Into the Night" broke the record set by Laura Branigan with her single "Gloria", which charted for 36 (consecutive) weeks from July 1982 to March 1983, for the longest-charting single of the 1980s by a solo artist. However it was still short of the 40 consecutive weeks set by Paul Davis' "I Go Crazy" in 1977–1978. This longevity record has been eclipsed many times since, most notably by the 87 weeks that Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" logged from 2012–2014.
"Into the Night" was a hit on Adult Contemporary radio this time as well, where it spent 19 weeks and peaked at No. 20. Mardones re-recorded the song in 1989 for a new, self-titled album on the Curb Records label; this second recording drew further radio attention.
"Into the Night" was later re-recorded for Mardones' 2002 album A Journey Through Time, which also included the track as an acoustic version.
The original song was performed in C minor, but since at least 2011, Mardones has performed it in Bb minor to accommodate his ageing voice.
Music video
Mardones made a music video for the song, but, as it pre-dated MTV by a year, it was not widely broadcast.
The video opens with Mardones walking down a street and approaching a house. The song plays over the video, and the lyrics serve as Mardones' monologue. He is met at the door by a bearded man who tells him, "She's just 16 years old. Leave her alone." Mardones leaves and walks around to the back of the house, peering through a window at a girl sitting sullenly in her room. The video then cuts to Mardones at a pay phone, speaking to the girl on the other end of the line and professing his love. The video then cuts again to Mardones returning to the girl's house, carrying a rolled-up carpet. He crawls through her bedroom window, unravels the magic carpet, and taking the girl's hand, they take flight into the night sky. The video closes with Mardones serenading the girl as they embrace; the scene finally fades to black as they kiss.
For many years the video was difficult to find in its entirety, although clips were featured in infomercials for Time-Life Soft Rock compilations.
Personnel
1980 Polydor recording
1989 Curb re-recording
Other versions
Nick Kamen covered the song for his 1987 debut album Nick Kamen.
In 1991, reggae singer Junior Tucker had a No. 46 Australian hit with the song, re-titled "16 (Into the Night)".
In 1992, Taiwan's Harlem Yu released a cover version of the song on his album Harlem Music Station.
In 1996, the group Fiji included a version of the song on their album Born and Raised.
in 2010, Usher released his own cover version, "Making Love (Into The Night)," on his album, Raymond v. Raymond.
The track "Scotty" on the 2013 album Moon Tides by the Portland, Oregon, band Pure Bathing Culture incorporates part of the melody and refrain from "Into The Night."
Sampling
In 2010, Usher released an interpolation of the song in "Making Love (Into the Night)" on his album Raymond v. Raymond.
The song was sampled by indie hip hop group Conrad Hilton's "Into the Night/Heat of the Night" and Decoy's version of "Into the Night", both of which feature Benny Mardones in the songs.
Rapper Triple J used the melody and interpolated "Into the Night" for his song "16 Years Old".
In popular culture
In 2009, "Into the Night" was played in the background during season two of AMC's Breaking Bad.