Tonight (Iggy Pop song)

"Tonight" is a song written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop for the latter's second solo studio album, Lust for Life (1977). The song was later made into the title-track for Bowie's own album Tonight (1984).

David Bowie version

"Tonight"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Tonight
B-side"Tumble and Twirl"
ReleasedNovember 1984 (1984-11)
RecordedMay 1984
StudioLe Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada
Genre
Length3:43
LabelEMIEA187
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Blue Jean"
(1984)
"Tonight"
(1984)
"This Is Not America"
(1985)

Bowie covered the song with guest singer Tina Turner in 1984 for his sixteenth studio album of the same name. One of three Iggy Pop covers on the album, it was recorded as a duet with Turner, but the single release was only credited to Bowie. The original spoken-word introduction to the 1977 version, establishing that the lyric is addressed to a lover dying of a heroin overdose, was excised from Bowie's version because Bowie regarded it as an "idiosyncrasy" of Iggy Pop that did not match his own personal vocabulary. Bowie also stated that he didn't want to "inflict" that part of the song on Tina Turner, either. The reggae-style song, which features a repeated sample from Aretha Franklin's version of "Spanish Harlem", reached No. 53 on both the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100.

Track listing

  • 7" Single
  1. "Tonight" – 3:43
  2. "Tumble and Twirl" – 4:56
  • 12" Single
  1. "Tonight (Vocal Dance Mix)" – 4:29
  2. "Tumble and Twirl (Extended Dance Mix)" – 5:03
  3. "Tonight (Dub Mix)" – 4:18

Personnel

Production

Chart performance

Chart (1984–1985) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 70
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 22
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 21
Ireland (IRMA) 24
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 45
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 23
UK Singles (OCC) 53
US Billboard Hot 100 53
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard) 28
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard) 32

Tina Turner and David Bowie live version

"Tonight (Live)"
Single by Tina Turner duet with David Bowie
from the album Tina Live in Europe
B-side"River Deep – Mountain High" (Live)
ReleasedDecember 1988
Recorded23 March 1985 (1985-03-23), National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Terry Britten
Tina Turner singles chronology
""Addicted to Love" (Live)"
(1988)
""Tonight" (Live)"
(1988)
"634-5789 (Live)"
(1988)
Music video
"Tonight" (Live) on YouTube

David Bowie would perform the song live with Tina Turner at the latter's 23 March 1985 concert at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. This version was included on Turner's live album Tina Live in Europe three years later, and also released as a single in late 1988, then becoming a number-one hit in the Netherlands.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year Chart Peak
position
1985 Spain (Los 40 Principales) 6
Chart (1988–1989) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 3
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) 70
Germany (Official German Charts) 39
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 17

Year-end charts

Chart (1989) Position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 18
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 5
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 11

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Netherlands (NVPI) Gold 75,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.


This page was last updated at 2023-09-19 09:25 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari