"Heat of the Night"
Single by Bryan Adams
from the album Into the Fire
B-side"Another Day"
ReleasedMarch 13, 1987
RecordedSeptember 12, 1986
GenreRock
Length4:52 (album version)
6:25 (extended version)
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance
Producer(s)Bryan Adams, Bob Clearmountain
Bryan Adams singles chronology
"Christmas Time"
(1985)
"Heat of the Night"
(1987)
"Hearts on Fire"
(1987)

"Heat of the Night" is a song written by Canadian rock musician Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and performed by Adams. The song became the most successful song from Adams's album Into the Fire in 1987. It was released as the first single from Into the Fire and reached number 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

The song is also featured on Adams's 1988 live concert album Live! Live! Live! and his greatest hits albums So Far So Good and Anthology.

The song is very popular among Bryan Adams fans and it won Canadian Music Publisher's Association Rock Song Of The Year Award. According to Billboard magazine, it was the 84th most-listened-to song of the year.

It was also notable for being the first song to be released as a cassette single in North America. [1]

Background

The song was partly inspired by the film noir classic The Third Man, starring the actor-director Orson Welles. The darkness of the lyrics was further influenced by a trip Bryan and Jim Vallance took to Berlin in March 1986, before the wall came down.[1]

Music video

The promo was directed by Wayne Isham and shot in black and white; it was also one of the rare songs/videos where Bryan himself plays lead guitar, instead of Keith Scott to whom he usually leaves the solo work.

A shot from recording sessions is used as the cover of Adams's album Into the Fire.

Chart positions

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) 25
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[2] 35
Canada RPM Top Singles 7
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[3] 20
Germany (Official German Charts)[4] 33
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[5] 21
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[6] 34
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 20
Norway (VG-lista)[8] 6
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[9] 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] 17
UK Singles Chart (The Official Chart Company) 50
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 6
US Billboard Rock Tracks[11] 2
Year-end chart (1987) Position
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[12] 84

Personnel

References

  1. ^ "Heat of the Night" - Jim Vallance Archived 2009-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Bryan Adams – Heat of the Night" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  3. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  4. ^ "Bryan Adams – Heat of the Night" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  5. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Bryan Adams" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  6. ^ "Bryan Adams – Heat of the Night" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  7. ^ "Bryan Adams – Heat of the Night". Top 40 Singles.
  8. ^ "Bryan Adams – Heat of the Night". VG-lista.
  9. ^ "Bryan Adams – Heat of the Night". Singles Top 100.
  10. ^ "Bryan Adams – Heat of the Night". Swiss Singles Chart.
  11. ^ a b "Artist Chart History (singles) - Bryan Adams". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  12. ^ "1987 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 99, no. 52. December 26, 1987.