THE HIT HAMMER: Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)"

(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)

Rod Stewart - "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)"

Hit Number 1: November 13, 1976

Stay at Number 1: 8 Weeks

"Sex rock" was strong in the '70s. Maybe not as strong as disco, of course, but it was still something that was all over the place. In case somebody isn't quite sure what sex rock is, these are songs that "Let's Stay Together" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" and "Let's Get It On" would fall under. Songs that are about one thing and one thing only: sex. They're often slower songs without much behind them, but they have that feeling of seduction. I'm absolutely going to put Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night" in that same category as those songs, and well, this one might be the most obvious sex rock song of all the other ones I've named. The song is literally about a guy trying to convince his girl to go to their bedroom and have sex. What else would "tonight's the night" mean? Maybe a better question is what more would a song need to qualify as a sex rock song?

Of course we have to remember what time this was, and that something so obviously about sex was going to make radio stations throw a fit. In the '70s, radio stations would say no to anything that suggested sex so obviously. And "Tonight's the Night" didn't hold back, mainly with the lyric "Spread your wings and let me come inside." There are so many ways of interpreting that, and I'm not going to get into it. But radio stations would be forced to cave into playing the song after public demand, well, demanded that it be played. For whatever reason, "Tonight's the Night" reached a whole new level of popularity that really no other sex rock song even came close to matching. There's no doubt that when the single was first released, everyone was buying it at the record stores, but nobody was hearing it on the radio. I wasn't alive in 1976/77 but I know how it worked back then. People relied heavily on the radio. And when Rod Stewart drops a new song that all the sex hungry young people love, they wanna hear it on the radio. So many people were pushing for the radio to finally start playing the song, and they'd get their wish. After that, "Tonight's the Night" would not only hit #1, but it would be become one of the biggest hits North America has ever seen. (Billboard currently ranks it as the 19th most popular song in the history of the Hot 100)

Stewart said that the song just came to him while laying in bed one night, and he always kept a notepad and a cassette recorder by his bed for times like these. And while that could be true, there's also another story on how Stewart might have come up with "Tonight's the Night." Dan Peek of America said that one night Stewart was over at his house, and the two were playing music together. Peek had been working on a song for America called "Today's the Day," and he was playing it for Stewart. Stewart said that he liked the song, and it gave him the idea for a song. (Which, of course, became "Tonight's the Night") Peek joked that once Stewart released "Tonight's the Night" and it blew up, he remembered what Stewart had told him and he thought "why didn't I think of that." ("Today's the Day" was still a decent hit, making it to #23, but it obviously wasn't this chart-shattering monster smash that was "Tonight's the Night." It's also a nice but forgettable little song. It's a 5)

Again, the song is pretty clear what it's about. The narrator here is trying to get the girl he has over to come to bed with him. Of course, we know it's not to go to sleep. Personally, I don't have any problems with what's going on in the song. Sure, the dude tells her to stay away from his window and his back door, but really I get the sense that both of them here are horny, and nobody truly wants to be away from the other one. That's reflected in the music. The song is mellow and comforting, and while Stewart tries to take charge and get this girl to go to bed with him, he also sounds reserved. His toned down, raspy voice is absolutely perfect for a song like this. It's just a downright sexy-sounding song in the end. We get a sax solo, which skyrockets the sex factor always, and for some reason Stewart's then-girlfriend Britt Ekland speaks French at the end. I think the song could've gone without that part, but it still adds to the sexiness factor. There's no cool story being told or anything musically going on that stands out. It's just sweet sex rock; something to play if you're spending the night with your lover.

There may be better Rod Stewart songs out there (I'm still a bigger fan of "Maggie May") but "Tonight's the Night" was the biggest hit single he'd ever had, and will ever have. Despite most of the song's run at #1 being in 1976, it was ranked as the #1 song of 1977. It's still impressive to me how crazy popular this song truly was. Rule #1 is don't underestimate disco. I guess we can say Rule #2 is don't underestimate sex rock either.

GRADE: 7/10

JUST MISSED:

The Spinners' fun and funky "The Rubberband Man" peaked at #2 behind "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)." It's an 8.

10 ALERT!!!:

Gordon Lightfoot's haunting, true-story song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" also peaked at #2 behind "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)." It's legend lives on from the Chippewa on down. It's a 10.

ANOTHER 10 ALERT!!!:

Boston's arena rock sing-along masterpiece "More Than a Feeling" peaked at #5 behind "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)." It's more than a feeling when I hear this old song, and I begin dreaming. It's a 10.

IN POP CULTURE:

Thought this was interesting. Janet Jackson did a cover of "Tonight's the Night", but her version implies a threesome. Take this version and interpret it however you wish, but I'll share it for this IPC:

(Of course, we are going to hear a lot from Janet Jackson later on in this series)