"Boogie Nights" is a 1977 single by international

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

group Heatwave. It was written by keyboardist

Rod Temperton Rodney Lynn Temperton (9 October 1949 – 25 September 2016) was an English musician, songwriter, and record producer. Temperton was the keyboardist and principal songwriter for the 1970s funk band Heatwave, writing songs including "Star of a ...

and was included on Heatwave's debut album, '' Too Hot to Handle''. Harpist Carla Skanger (a pseudonym of

Sheila Bromberg Sheila Bromberg (2 September 1928 – 17 August 2021) was a British harpist who performed in both classical and popular settings. She is best known for playing on the Beatles’ song "She's Leaving Home" on their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lon ...

of the London Symphony Orchestra) played harp and American actor and singer Clarke Peters performed backing vocals on the recording.

History

The song became one of the best-known disco songs by a British group and charted at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, "Boogie Nights" also peaked at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 behind " You Light Up My Life" by

Debby Boone Deborah Anne Boone (born September 22, 1956) is an American singer, author, and actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, " You Light Up My Life", which spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the G ...

. It appeared on US ''Billboard'' R&B and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

charts during 1977. "Boogie Nights" reached No. 1 in New Zealand. The single was certified platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). In the United Kingdom, the song was No. 2, and entered on 5 March 1977, only behind

Leo Sayer Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingd ...

with " When I Need You". "Boogie Nights" has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

many times by artists such as KC and the Sunshine Band,

Will to Power The will to power () is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in humans. However, the concept was never systematically defined in Nietzsche's ...

, 911 and The Weather Girls. British boy-band

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

also performed the tune in their live shows. The song made an appearance in the films '' Eyes of Laura Mars,'' ''

Summer of Sam ''Summer of Sam'' is a 1999 American crime thriller film about the 1977 David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) serial murders and their effect on a group of fictional residents of an Italian-American neighborhood in The Bronx in the late 1970s. It focu ...

'' and '' The Stud'', though it was not featured in the 1997 film titled after it: ''

Boogie Nights ''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic ...

''. Apparently the group's lead singer, Johnnie Wilder Jr., a devout born-again Christian, refused to allow the use of the recording in the film because the song was about dancing, not pornography, while the film was about the latter.

Aaron Judge Aaron James Judge (born April 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a six-time MLB All-Star and two-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP ...

, right-fielder for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, uses the song as his walk-up.

Personnel

* Johnnie Wilder Jr. – backing vocals, percussion * Keith Wilder – lead vocals * Eric Johns – guitars *

– keyboards, synthesizer * Mario Mantese – bass guitar * Ernest "Bilbo" Berger – drums, percussion

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Sonia version

In 1992, British singer Sonia recorded her take on the song, produced by Mark Taylor and Tracy Ackerman for her third studio album, '' Better the Devil You Know'', in 1993. It was released in August 1992 and peaked at No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart in September.Official Singles Chart Top 75 (06 September 1992 – 12 September 1992)
/ref> The single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

is "My Light", which also appears on the album.

Track listings

Cassette and 7-inch single # "Boogie Nights" – 3:40 # "My Light" – 3:55 CD single # "Boogie Nights" – 3:40 # "Boogie Nights" (extended mix) – 5:42 # "My Light" – 3:55 12-inch single # "Boogie Nights" (extended mix) – 5:42 # "Boogie Nights" (dub mix) # "My Light" – 3:55

References

External links

Heatwave U.S. 7" single release info at Discogs
* {{authority control 1976 songs 1977 singles 1992 singles Heatwave (band) songs Sonia (singer) songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Rod Temperton GTO Records singles Songs about dancing Songs about nights