Midnight at the Oasis

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“Midnight at the Oasis”
Single by Maria Muldaur
B-side "Any Old Time"
Released 1974
Format 7" 45rpm
Genre Rock
Writer(s) David Nichtern
Producer Joe Boyd

"Midnight at the Oasis" is a 1974 rock song which was performed by singer Maria Muldaur and was her best known hit, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by David Nichtern, the song tells the story of a desert love affair set in old Arabia.

All Music Guide reviewer Matthew Greenwald describes the song as "so sensual and evocative that it was probably one of the most replayed records of the era and also may be responsible for the most pregnancies from a record during the mid-'70s".[1] Some of the lyrics are mildly suggestive (i.e., "let's slip off to a sand dune ... and kick up a little dust"), but not sexually explicit.

"Midnight" features an instrumental bridge (also by Nichtern), which is particularly memorable for the guitar work of Amos Garrett.[2]

Contents

[edit] Goof

The lyric "Cactus is our friend..." is used several times in the song. Cacti are New World plants native to North America, South America, and the West Indies; they are not found on the Arabian Peninsula naturally.

[edit] Covers

  • In 1978, Betty Wright released "Betty Wright Live" which included a live recording of her #5 hit Clean Up Woman. The version on the album is a medley, which includes bits from Clean Up Woman,Pillow Talk, You Got the Love, Mr. Medley, Midnight at the Oasis, Me and Mrs. Jones, You Are My Sunshine, and Let's Get Married Today.
  • In recent years, versions of this song have also been recorded by the group Brand New Heavies[3], which reached #13 in the UK, and by singer/actress Renee Olstead.
  • Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara give a comically inept performance of the song in the audition sequence of the 1997 film Waiting for Guffman.

[edit] In the media

  • It was performed in American Pie at the Prom.
  • The song is sung by the lounge act for the hotel in Sophia Coppola's Lost In Translation.
  • The characters Ron and Sheila audition for the play "Red, White and Blaine" with the song in Christopher Guest's Waiting For Guffman.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Greenwald, Matthew. "Song Review: Midnight at the Oasis, Maria Muldaur". All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  2. ^ "Amos Garrett". Homespun Video. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  3. ^ "Brand New Heavies, The". Discogs. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
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