Released 1985 Length 4:33 | Format CD single Label A&M | |
Recorded April 1984
Little Mountain Sound Studios (Vancouver, Canada) Genre heartland rock
new wave | ||
"One Night Love Affair" is a song by Canadian singer and songwriter Bryan Adams. The song was written by Adams and Jim Vallance for Adams's fourth studio album, Reckless. It was the fifth single released from the album. It is one of Adams's most recognizable and popular songs in North America. The song peaked #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Top Rock Tracks chart. The song has appeared on Adams's compilation album Anthology. It was the only single taken from Reckless with no music video, among the six that were officially released between 1984 and 1986.
Contents
Lyrics
The song is about a one-night stand. The lyrics describe the encounter and the subsequent parting of ways of the protagonists, who, the song suggests, are concealing deeper feelings.
Chart performance
Although "One Night Love Affair" was officially released to US radio in 1985, it appeared on the Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart at 13 and 7 on the mainstream rock tracks. In Canada "One Night Love Affair" was officially released to radio in February 1985. The song reached the top twenty on the Canadian Singles Chart and remained in the top twenty for another month. "One Night Love Affair" was the lowest charting single from Reckless.
Live performance
According to Vallance, when the song was first played to Adams' guitarist Keith Scott, Adams and Vallance replaced the line "if the night was made for love, it ain't for keeps" with the line "if the night was made for love, it ain't for Keith". Scott found this very funny, and whenever Adams plays the song live, he looks at Scott and sings the "Keith" lyric.
In popular culture
"One Night Love Affair" appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 film Real Genius starred by Val Kilmer, it was used during the scene where the Pacific Tech students attend the Tanning Invitational pool party with the beauty school students.