Sunglasses at Night

"Sunglasses at Night"
Single by Corey Hart
from the album First Offense
A-side "Sunglasses at Night"
B-side "At the Dance"
Released January 21, 1984
Format 7" Vinyl
12" Vinyl
Recorded London, 1983
Genre New wave, soft rock
Length 5:20 (LP version)
3:53 (7" version)
Label EMI America (U.S.)
Songwriter(s) Corey Hart
Producer(s) Jon Astley
Phil Chapman
Corey Hart singles chronology
"String Module Error: Match not found"
(String Module Error: Match not found)		 "Sunglasses at Night"
(1984)		 "It Ain't Enough"
(1983)

"She Got the Radio" (promo, Canada only) "Sunglasses at Night"
(1983)		 "It Ain't Enough"
(1983)

"Sunglasses at Night" is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released in January 1984 as the first single from his debut album, 1984's First Offense, and became a hit single in the United States, rising to number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1984. The song combines an unflagging synthesizer hook, characteristic arpeggio, rock guitar and cryptic lyrics. AllMusic has since described it as "an instant classic with its distinctive melody and catchy chorus."[1]

According to co-producer Phil Chapman, the recording sessions for the album took place in a studio whose air conditioning/heating vents were directly above the mixing console. Air from the vents blew directly into the faces of the control room personnel, so they often wore sunglasses in order to protect their eyes. Hart, working on a new song, began to improvise lyrics that included the line "I wear my sunglasses at night."

Music video

The music video, directed by Rob Quartly, shot at the Don Jail in Toronto, reflects the vision of a "fashion" police state, with scenes of Hart in a prison cell, without sunglasses, being strong-armed by police officers and paraded past various citizens wearing their regulation shades. Near the end of the video, Hart is taken to the office of a female police officer (who releases Hart in the song's end), played by Laurie Brown, who later became the host of The NewMusic as well as a VJ on MuchMusic.[2] This video uses the shorter single version instead of the longer album version.[3]

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 16
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 24
Germany (Media Control Charts)[6] 21
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 48
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[8] 17
US Billboard Hot 100 7

Cover Versions

Considered as one of the new wave influenced classics of the early 1980s[9] the tune inspired several artists and remixers especially from Europe as there are:

References

  1. ↑ Simon Cantlon. "First Offense". AllMusic.
  2. ↑ "Laurie Brown". Internet Movie Database.
  3. ↑ Corey Hart "Sunglasses at Night" official video
  4. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 134. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  5. ↑ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada".
  6. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Corey Hart – Sunglasses at Night (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  7. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Corey Hart – Sunglasses at Night" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  8. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Corey Hart – Sunglasses at Night". Top 40 Singles.
  9. ↑ allmusic.com
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