Goodnight Tonight

Infobox Single
Name = Goodnight Tonight


Artist = Wings
from Album =
B-side = "Daytime Nighttime Suffering"
Released = 23 March, 1979
Format = 7", 12"
Recorded = 1978
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:15 (7"), 7:14 (12")
Label = Parlophone/EMI (UK) Columbia (US)
Writer = Paul McCartney
Producer = Paul McCartney
Chart position = * #5 (UK)
* #5 (US)
Last single = "London Town"
(1978)
This single = "Goodnight Tonight"
(1979)
Next single = "Old Siam, Sir" (UK)
(1979)Extra album cover
Upper caption = Alternate covers
Background = khaki


Lower caption = French 7-Inch single cover

"Goodnight Tonight" is Wings' disco-inflected single which included a spirited flamenco guitar break. It peaked at #5 in both the UK and USA during 1979. The track did not appear on Wings' then-current LP "Back to the Egg", and was finally released on an album as a bonus track on the 1993 reissue of "McCartney II". The B-side of this single was "Daytime Nighttime Suffering".

Recording

"Goodnight Tonight" began as an instrumental backing track McCartney had recorded in 1978. Needing a single for Wings to accompany the Back to the Egg album, Paul took out the track and brought it into the studio, where the full Wings lineup completed it.Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms To Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium (Chesterfield, MO: 44.1 Productions, 2000), 246.] Since the track was over seven minutes long, an edited version was used as the single, with the full version available as a 12-inch single. A music video was made for the song, showing Wings performing in 1930s costumes; stills from the video were used on the single's sleeve. In the US, the single was the first release under McCartney's new deal with Columbia Records. In the UK, it was McCartney's first post-Beatle release on Parlophone Records. [ [http://www.jpgr.co.uk/r6023.html ] , Graham Calkin's Beatle Pages ]

Charts and reception

"Goodnight Tonight" was an international hit, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the UK charts. John Lennon, McCartney's former songwriting partner, later commented that he didn't care for the song, but enjoyed Paul's bass guitar on the single. ] The single was certified gold in the US. [Dafydd Rees & Luke Crampton, Rock Stars Encyclopedia (New York: DK Publishing, 1999), 647.]

Other versions

The most notable remake of the song to date was a dance version by DJ Scotty K featuring Knockhopper. This version was released in 2007 and was a hit on the dance charts.

References