"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 popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired 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 mus ...

. It was released in May 1978 as the second single from the album ''

Love's Ups and Downs ''Love's Ups and Downs'' is the seventh solo studio album by the American country music singer Barbara Mandrell, released in 1977. It was produced by Tom Collins. ''Love's Ups and Downs'' was Mandrell's second album released in 1977. The previou ...

''. 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 Columbia Records is an American reco ...

brought some early commercial success to her recording career. In 1975 she moved to

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

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 its early years, Dot sp ...

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. This "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically served in a Collins glass over ice with a cherry garnish. A non-alcoholic "Collins mix" drink mi ...

, 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, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Release and chart performance

"Tonight" was released as a single on ABC Records in August 1977. It was backed on the

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 ...

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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' 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 r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

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

''.

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