Everybody Have Fun Tonight

"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" is a song by the English new wave band Wang Chung, released as a single from their fourth studio album Mosaic in 1986. Collaboratively written by Jack Hues, Nick Feldman, and Peter Wolf, it reached no. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1986 Christmas season, behind "Walk Like an Egyptian" by the Bangles. It also hit No. 1 on the Canada RPM Top 100 Singles chart the week of 17 January 1987. With some different lyrics, the original ballad version of the song was placed on the B-side.

"Everybody Have Fun Tonight"
Single by Wang Chung
from the album Mosaic
B-side"Fun Tonight: The Early Years"
ReleasedSeptember 1986[1]
Recorded1986
Genre
Length4:47 (album version)
4:15 (7"/video version)
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Peter Wolf
Wang Chung singles chronology
"Wake Up, Stop Dreaming"
(1985)		 "Everybody Have Fun Tonight"
(1986)		 "Let's Go!"
(1987)
Music video
"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" on YouTube

After their break-up in 1991, Wang Chung reunited in 2005 to perform this song on the television show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time.

The song is featured on numerous 1980s compilation albums and still receives some radio airplay across the United States. It has appeared in the "#2s" episode of VH1 Classic's One Hit Wonders series, even though the band is also known for "Let's Go!" and "Dance Hall Days".

Critical reception

Billboard called it a "self-celebrating dance rocker" that "[coins] a new verb."[2]

Track listing

7" Geffen / 7-28562 (USA)

  1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (edit)"
  2. "Fun Tonight: The Early Years"

7" Geffen / GEF 13F (UK)

  • Side one
  1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (edit)"
  2. "Fun Tonight: The Early Years"
  • Side two
  1. "Dance Hall Days"
  2. "Don't Let Go"

7" Geffen / P-2193 (JPN)

  1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (edit)"
  2. "Fun Tonight: The Early Years"

12" Geffen / 0-20551 (USA) and TA 2589 (UK)

  • Side one
  1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (12 Inches of Fun)" – 6:45
  2. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (edit)" – 3:59*
  • Side two
  1. "Everybody Dub Tonight" – 6:02*
  2. "Fun Tonight: The Early Years" – 4:12

*times as indicated on record label (not actual)

12" (Promo) Geffen / PRO-A-2581 (USA)

  • Side one
  1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (Edit)" – 3:59
  • Side two
  1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (LP Version)" – 4:47

Music video

The music video, directed by Godley & Creme, features scenes of the band playing in a wood-lined room with very rapid editing between different takes of the same performance. The editing gives the video a somewhat disorienting flip book-like animation style, employing the use of visual jitter. Wang Chung, additional musicians and dancers are seen in several formations throughout the video. They are shown in close portrait and seated along a row of chairs, the seating arrangement of which was changed with each take. Each shot flips through up to four takes of the same shot, with some shots approaching up to 1/25th of a second between edits. The video was banned by the BBC from airing after its premiere due to a medical expert retained by the BBC’s screening committee claiming it could possibly trigger “epileptic fits”.[4]

Other versions

In 2020, Wang Chung released the rewritten version of the song known as "Everybody Stay Safe Tonight" featuring Valerie Day.[5] The rewritten lyrics reflects the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.[6] It was released on 8 June 2020.[7]

Charts
Chart (1986–1987) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 8
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 19
Canada The Record[10] 1
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11] 28
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 23
UK Singles (OCC)[13] 76
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 2
US Radio & Records CHR/Pop Airplay Chart[15] 1
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[16] 4
US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard) 25

Year-end charts
Chart (1987) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[17] 57
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[18] 12

References
  1. "Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight" – via www.45cat.com.
  2. "Reviews". Billboard. 4 October 1986. p. 79. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  3. Everybody Have Fun Tonight at AllMusic
  4. "BANNED VIDEO OF THE MONTH: Wang Chung's..." Los Angeles Times. 11 January 1987.
  5. Friedlander, Matt (10 June 2020). "Wang Chung releases COVID-themed "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" remake featuring Nu Shooz singer". ABC News Radio. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  6. Meredith, Kyle (14 July 2020). "Wang Chung on Rewriting Old Hits for New Times". Consequence. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  7. "WANG CHUNG HAVE FUN WITH "EVERYBODY" BY ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO STAY SAFE TONIGHT". Wang Chung. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 332. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
  9. "Wang Chung – Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  10. Lwin, Nanda (2000). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Mississauga, Ontario: Music Data Canada. ISBN 1-896-594-13-1.
  11. "Wang Chung – Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  12. "Wang Chung – Everybody Have Fun Tonight". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  13. "Wang Chung: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  14. "Wang Chung Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  15. "Wang Chung". Wweb.uta.edu.
  16. "Wang Chung Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  17. "Australian Music Report No 701 – 28 December 1987 > National Top 100 Singles for 1987". Australian Music Report, via Imgur.com. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  18. "1987 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 99, no. 52. 26 December 1987.
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