"Into the Night" by one-hit-wonder Benny Mardones may be my guiltiest of guilty pleasures. (Well, technically he's not really a OHW; he's the only person in rock history who hit with two versions of the same song and never charted Top 40 with anything else.) It was first a hit in 1980 just as radio was undergoing a major overhaul that replaced disco and funk with lots of AC and power balladry from arena-rock outfits. Mardones' overemotion fit in nicely. He recorded intermittently in the ensuing years but didn't do a whole lot else of note, and what he did do included dumb shit like this overfried attempt at Lulu/Aretha’s "Oh Me Oh My". "Into the Night" offers the creepiest opening lyric ever (running off with a 16-year-old is never a good idea), and Mardones oversings every key part, but I love it anyway. I actually wish I could sing like this, even if I would choose not to as a matter of taste and discretion. And I've been thinking that a lot of other people secretly feel the same way. Soft-rock lovers, stand and be counted!
Protected: Interview with Peter Zinovieff of EMS
7 years ago
1 comment:
Dude--that song just zapped me back to my childhood bedroom. I swear I hear Casey Casem counting it down right now.
This song is far freakier than I realized at the time, of course. Gary Glitter's anthem, as it were.
It puts me in mind of all the stuff that was out--Air Supply, Al Jarreau, etc. and etc.
His voice also reminds me of Michael MacDonald, which kind of makes me want to vomit.
But I'm with you--this is a classic for our generation. And I encourage you to play this at top volume in your apartment and belt it out to the best of your ability. If only to give the new neighbors something to talk about.
Post a Comment