Take Me Home Tonight (song)

"Take Me Home Tonight" is a song by American rock singer Eddie Money. It was released in August 1986 as the lead single from his album Can't Hold Back. The song's chorus interpolates the Ronettes' 1963 hit "Be My Baby", with original vocalist Ronnie Spector providing uncredited vocals and reprising her role. Songwriting credit was given to Mike Leeson, Peter Vale, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector and Jeff Barry.

"Take Me Home Tonight"
Artwork for the UK 7-inch vinyl release
Single by Eddie Money
from the album Can't Hold Back
B-side"Calm Before the Storm"
ReleasedAugust 1986
Recorded1985
GenrePop rock[1]
Length3:35
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eddie Money singles chronology
"Club Michelle"
(1984)		 "Take Me Home Tonight"
(1986)		 "I Wanna Go Back"
(1986)
Music video
"Take Me Home Tonight" on YouTube

The song reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 15, 1986, and number one on the Album Rock Tracks chart; outside the U.S., it was a top 15 hit in Canada. It only reached #200 in the UK charts in January 1987. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, and was Money's biggest hit on the U.S. charts.[2]

Alongside its album, "Take Me Home Tonight" helped revive Money's career after a period of declining sales. It also allowed Spector to resume her touring/recording career after several years of retirement.

Background

By the mid-1980s, Eddie Money had reached a low point in his recording career after several years of drug abuse.[3] Columbia Records still wanted to keep Money on its roster, but restricted his creative control over his work.[4] Record producer Richie Zito brought Money the song "Take Me Home Tonight". Money would later say, "I didn't care for the demo [but] it did have a good catch line. When I heard [a snippet of] 'Be My Baby' in it I said: 'Why can't we get Ronnie Spector to sing it?'" The reply was, "That's impossible."[5] Money invited his friend Martha Davis, lead vocalist of The Motels, to rerecord the lines from "Be My Baby" for "Take Me Home Tonight". However, Davis encouraged him to try to recruit Spector herself. Money was eventually able to reach Spector by phone at her home in northern California. Recalled Money, "I could hear clinking and clanking in the background ... She said: 'I'm doing the dishes, and I gotta change the kids' bedding. I'm not really in the business anymore, Eddie. Phil Spector and all that, it was a nightmare' ... I said 'Ronnie, I got this song that's truly amazing and it's a tribute to you. It would be so great if you ... did it with me.'" [6]

Money would say, "I didn't like the song, but ... it helped Ronnie out and it helped me get some of my other material on the album across, so now I'm happy I did it."[7] The song's success encouraged Spector to resume her singing career, and she released her second solo album, Unfinished Business, in 1987.[8]

Music video

The video was directed by Nick Morris and shot entirely in black and white at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada. It opens with Money alone with a metal ladder and a folding chair on an otherwise empty stage. He sings and plays an alto saxophone to an absent audience, while Ronnie Spector is seen in a make-up room and then walking through a backstage hallway to the arena floor during cutaways. Spector's face is not completely revealed until about three-quarters of the way through the video.

Reception

The Los Angeles Times's Steve Hochman, in a review of Can't Hold Back, felt that Money did Spector a disservice, particularly with the song's "characterless production," commenting, "where Phil Spector built his wall with style and grace, Money has erected a monolithic barrier."[9]

Accolades

The song was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards on February 24, 1987, but lost to Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love".

The song served as the basis for the title of the 2011 film of the same name. The song itself played in the theatrical trailer and on the menu screen of the Blu-Ray and DVD releases. Despite this, it never actually appears in the film.

The song was sampled and interpolated by New Zealand rapper PNC in "Take Me Home" featuring Mz J from the album Bazooka Kid.[10]

Commercial performance

In Canada, it debuted on RPM's Top Singles chart at number 95 in the issue dated October 4, 1986,[11] and peaked at number 15 during the week of November 29, 1986.[12]

Charts

References
  1. Rutherford, Kevin (September 13, 2019). "Rewinding the Charts: In 1986, Eddie Money & Ronnie Spector Staged a Comeback With 'Take Me Home Tonight'". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  2. Smith, Harrison. "Eddie Money, singer behind 'Take Me Home Tonight' and 'Two Tickets to Paradise,' dies at 70". Washington Post. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  3. Dennis Hunt (November 16, 1986). "Money Launders His Life". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  4. Gary Graff (December 18, 1986). "Eddie Money Unafraid To Hate His Biggest Hit". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  5. Gainesville Sun, December 7, 1986 p. 16G
  6. "Hot Ticket: Eddie Money talks". HippoPress.com. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  7. Carrie Stetler (February 20, 1987). "Money Launders His Life". The Morning Call. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  8. Marc Spitz (August 16, 2013). "Still Tingling Spines, 50 Years Later". The New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  9. Steve Hochman (November 30, 1986). "Monolithic Money". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  10. "PNC take me home tonight Interview". www.girl.com.au. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  11. RPM (October 4, 1986). "RPM Alternative 30 Chart - Top Singles - Volume 45, No. 2, October 04, 1986" (PDF). RPM archives. Ottawa, Canada: Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  12. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0862." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  13. "Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart – Week Ending 23rd November, 1986". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved September 23, 2019. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and June 12, 1988.
  14. "Eddie Money – Take Me Home Tonight" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  15. "Eddie Money Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  16. "Eddie Money". Radio and Records. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  17. "Eddie Money Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Eddie Money – Take Me Home Tonight" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  19. Nielsen Business Media, Inc (December 27, 1986). "1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 52. p. Y-21. {{cite magazine}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
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