"Tonight" is a song written by

Don Cook Don Kirby Cook (born May 25, 1949) is an American record producer and songwriter whose work is mainly in the field of country music. Artists who recorded Cook's material include Barbara Mandrell, John Conlee, Mark Collie, Wade Hayes and Brooks ...

and Rafe Van Hoy, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

. It was released in May 1978 as the second single from the album '' Love's Ups and Downs''. It reached the top ten of the American country songs chart.

Background and recording

Barbara Mandrell had a series of charting singles at Columbia Records brought some early commercial success to her recording career. In 1975 she moved to ABC/

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

and found a musical style that helped her reach her breakthrough. This was crafted by producer

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically serv ...

, who helped bring a Countrypolitan sound. One of the singles she cut during this period was 1978's "Tonight". It was written by Rafe Van Hoy and Don Cook. Collins produced the track's recording session in June 1977 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

Release and chart performance

"Tonight" was released as a single on ABC Records in August 1977. It was backed on the B-side by the song "If I Were a River". The track was issued by the label as a seven inch vinyl single. The single spent 13 weeks on America's '' Billboard'' country songs chart, peaking at number five by July 1978. Outside of the country market, "Tonight" also charted on the ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

singles chart, peaking at number three on the survey in 1978. In Canada, the single climbed to the number 25 position on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' country chart. The song was released on Mandrell's fourth ABC studio album called '' Love's Ups and Downs''.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "Tonight" – 2:59 * "If I Were a River" – 3:06

Charts

References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1978 singles 1978 songs ABC Records singles Dot Records singles Barbara Mandrell songs Song recordings produced by Tom Collins (record producer) Songs written by Don Cook Songs written by Rafe Van Hoy