I Love a Rainy Night
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| “I Love a Rainy Night” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Eddie Rabbitt from the album Horizon |
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| Released | 1981 | ||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | 1980 | ||||
| Genre | Country, pop | ||||
| Length | 3:08 | ||||
| Label | Elektra Records 47066 | ||||
| Writer(s) | Eddie Rabbitt, Even Stevens and David Malloy | ||||
| Producer | David Malloy | ||||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | ||||
| Eddie Rabbitt singles chronology | |||||
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I Love a Rainy Night is a country song by Eddie Rabbitt. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Singles, and Adult Contemporary Singles charts in 1981.
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[edit] Song history
According to music historian Fred Bronson, "I Love a Rainy Night" was 12 years in the making. Rabbitt had a collection of old tapes he kept in the basement of his home. While rummaging through the tapes one day in 1980, he heard a fragment of a song he had recorded one rainy night in the late 1960s.
"It brought back the memory of sitting in a small apartment, staring out the window at one o'clock in the morning, watching the rain come down," wrote Bronson in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. "He sang into his tape recorder, 'I love a rainy night, I love a rainy night.'"
Upon rediscovery of the old lyrics, Rabbitt completed the song (with help from frequent songwriting partners Even Stevens and David Malloy) and recorded it.
The end result included vivid descriptions of a man's fondness for thunderstorms and the peace it brings him ("I love to hear the thunder/watch the lightnin' as it lights up the sky/you know it makes me feel good") and a renewed sense of hope the storms bring ("Showers wash all my cares away/I wake up to a sunny day").
The song's other mark of distinction is its rhythm pattern of alternating finger snaps and hand claps, which was included with the help of percussionist Farrell Morris. Morris — according to "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" — mixed two tracks of each to complete the record.
[edit] Chart success
"I Love a Rainy Night" came in the midst of Rabbitt's peak popularity as a crossover artist. The follow-up to "Drivin' My Life Away" (No. 1 country, No. 5 Hot 100), the song was Rabbitt's only Hot 100 No. 1. However, he would continue having crossover success with the follow-ups "Step by Step" and "You and I" (the latter a duet with Crystal Gayle).
On Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, it was his eighth out of 17 career chart toppers, spanning from 1976 through 1990.
"I Love a Rainy Night" was certified gold for sales of 1 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America [1]
[edit] In pop culture
- Rabbitt filmed a Miller beer commercial with "I Love a Rainy Night." The commercial aired during the 1981 Rose Bowl.
- "I Love a Rainy Night" is featured on the GTA: SA soundtrack on fictional radio station, K-ROSE.
- Recorded by Alvin and The Chipmunks. In this version, Alvin causes it to rain by singing the song, soaking his homework, the carpet (the roof of their house had apparent holes), and destroying David Seville's Car.
- Was featured in the Family Guy episode "Padre de Familia".
- The song is referenced in Weezer's "Heart Songs".
[edit] References
- All Music Guide - I Love a Rainy Night by Eddie Rabbitt
- Bronson, Fred, "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits" 5th ed. Billboard Publications, New York, 2003. ISBN 0823076776.
- Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits," Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006," 2007.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink" by Merle Haggard |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single January 17, 1981 by Eddie Rabbitt |
Succeeded by "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton |
| Preceded by "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single February 28, 1981 - March 14, 1981 |
Succeeded by "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton |
| Preceded by "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton |
ARC Weekly Top 40 number one single February 28, 1981 |
Succeeded by "Woman" by John Lennon |
