Released January 6, 1978 Recorded 1977 Length 3:04 | Format Single Genre Country pop, soft rock | |
B-side "Painting This Old Town Blue" | ||
"Talking in Your Sleep" is a song written by Roger Cook and Bobby Wood, and recorded by American country music artist Crystal Gayle. It was released in January 1978 as the first single from the album When I Dream. The song became a hit on both the country and pop charts in 1978. It peaked at number one on the US Country chart, number eighteen on the US Pop chart and number three at the US Adult Contemporary chart.
In 1977, Gayle achieved international crossover Pop success for the first time with her No. 1 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Following the song's success, Gayle was recording more Pop and Adult Contemporary-styled Country tunes. This song is one of the first examples of this. "Talking in Your Sleep" was released in early 1978, and was a hit mid-year. The song proved an instant follow-up for Gayle on the Pop charts, being she hadn't had another Top 40 Pop hit since "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" the previous year.
"Talking in Your Sleep" was released on Gayle's major-selling album from that year called When I Dream. Following "Talking in Your Sleep"'s success as a crossover smash, Gayle only achieved one more Top 40 Pop hit as a solo artist, which came the next year with the song, "Half the Way". She also reached the Top Ten in 1982 with the hit single "You and I" a duet with Eddie Rabbitt.
Other versions
The first recorded version of the song is by the band Marmalade, produced by Roger Greenaway, also released as single in 1978.
"Talking in Your Sleep" was covered by Kikki Danielsson in 1979 on her debut album Rock'n Yodel and Reba McEntire in 1995 on her album Starting Over.
Cilla Black released a version on her 1980 album Especially for You.
It was also covered by Martine McCutcheon on her album You Me & Us in 1999.
Gordon Lightfoot wrote and recorded a different song, also entitled "Talking in Your Sleep", for his 1971 album Summer Side of Life. The song was also released as a single that year and reached #19 in Canada and #64 in the U.S.