Haha this was absolute gold Steve! It was indeed the song I was thinking about. For years I loved this song but mainly for the chorus; “how romantic” young Mark thought, to fly her away and take her into the night. Beautiful!
But it was probably decades before I ever heard the opening line of the song and probably even longer before I first saw the video that totally solidified its creepiness.
I loved the analysis by Fil. He has such a brilliant knack for breaking down vocals and musical performances. He’s one of my favorites
I used to say that my brain is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. Now I recommend Hawaii or Tahiti as there's no chance at relaxation or even sleep at my oddball island.
Thanks for the comment, Andy! If you are a Seinfeld fan, you might have picked up on the Dolores reference....
Thanks, Steve, for the "yo, Brad"! As everyone here, I loved your hilarious dissection of the video. Using your treatise as a running commentary helped me tolerate the vid, which I'd never seen before. Its crude production values helped me remember that it was produced about a year before MTV was whelped (8/1/81), so there's that.
There had to be a moment in that time where the announcement of a "music video channel" was made, thus forcing artists, their management, and labels to scurry to suddenly fit this new medium into their promotion budget (so MTV would have something to air upon launch)!
About a year before Benny's sophomoric video felony, Bowie had produced videos for "D.J." and "Boys Keep Swinging," and I had seen them in one of the ways pre-MTV videos were justifiably made (and they were, mostly for star acts, and/or new acts labels had no problem allocating extra bucks to promote): Playing for customers in the large Houston record store I was working in.
As for Benny, I had his '78 debut, "Thank God For Girls (was "Regardless of Age" the sub-title?🤷♂️), and while I don't recall much about it, I also don't recall any negative reactions. Curious to notice that noted '60s Stones producer, Andrew Loog Oldham, produced that one...he must've heard something in Benny he liked. For me, "TGFG" was just another promo I hung onto.
Now, as for the single in question, no, I never sang "Into the Night" at karaoke. Never cared for the song, and never cared for his singing, and that gruff, growly style 'tweren't my jam, anyway, with my Sting-like range I enjoyed exploring! I, like Jeremy, hate(d) Journey, and Benny, para mi dinero, sounded way too much like Steve Perry!
Thanks Brad! I figured Benny was a bit too overly dramatic in his singing style for you. And the MTV thing was exactly what I discovered in my research. The video was made without much expectation of people seeing it, and then when MTV started and the the song received a fair bit of play (even though it had already charted and done well), it took off even more.
I love writing funny play by play breakdowns of songs and videos. I sat and analyzed practically frame by frame as I wrote! I might do more of that sort of thing in the future. I did a similar thing with Sammy Hagar's "There's Only One Way to Rock" a couple years ago.
Ha! That Sammy song......did D.L. Roth counter with a "Well, Actually, Sam, There May Be A Couple Different Ways to Rock, If I'm Being Honest" song?
Back to Benny....yeah, the maudlin dramatics of the song, yes, but mainly, that raspy thing in his voice.....same with Springsteen. Loving "Born to Run" as I do, I gave that a shot in karaoke, and there's just really no way to do that song without the gravelly rasp!
I wholeheartedly endorse and encourage your lean into more song'n' video breakdowns, especially as it'll merge your expertise with your quirky (and lovable) POV! I wrote one today (although not nearly as thorough) for a piece I'm dropping Friday! It lent itself to humor, as it was a parody/satire itself!
Another creepo "genre" which I have defined is: "love" songs that sound like full stalker mentality and would be icky and upsetting if the singer weren't a cute guy. There are so many!
Kudos for the hilarious recap of the video. The song sounds like warmed-over Journey...and I hate Journey, LOL. My wife is from Syracuse and we have a running joke about Mardones because he was HUGE there when she was in high school. I didn't know who she was talking about until I saw his albums selling for a quarter at St. Mark's Sounds!
I had no idea it was THIS song I was reading about until I clicked the video! It was ALL OVER the local radio stations in the early, early 80s and I remember it distinctly. Don’t think I ever listened to the lyrics, though - and at that age I’d have missed the whole age thing anyway. But I know I never saw the video - and WHAT a video! Utter shit, but a perfect encapsulation of its time. Wow. Thanks for yet another addition to the morning playlist! 😎
Nailed it. I've always had a soft spot for this song, and the hilariously awful video (which I don't think I actually ever saw until the advent of YouTube) just solidified its place in my heart.
The one thing I've never really understood was WHY "Into the Night" charted twice. Sure, it's a solid enough song, but it's hardly like the country was clamoring for a Benny Mardones comeback, and the 1989 version didn't add much to it beyond late-eighties production tricks.
I was working in a record store in '89, and my co-workers and I used to joke that it had all been set in motion by some high-up mobster announcing (in raspy Marlon Brando voice), "I think it is time that Benny Mardones had another hit," and sending his foot soldiers out with bags of payola money to make it happen.
Oh Steve, your play-by-play of the video was so funny! Especially enjoyed the idea of the dad listening in on the extension and falling in love with Benny himself.
All I could think while watching it was how come no 30-something guy offered me a magic carpet ride in high school? All I got was an alcoholic drivers' ed instructor taking us on the freeway when we didn't know how to drive yet.
Thanks for the background on the song. I do remember it from when it came out and liked it a lot, so it's good to hear that the back story was not creepy. He probably got talked into that plot by some video auteur who wanted to make his name on MTV by being transgressive!
Thanks, Ellen! Yeah, I learned about the history of the song a while ago and had wanted to write about this song for a while. Guess this week was the right time! Benny seemed to be a super kind and good-hearted person, from all accounts.
Was your alcoholic drivers’ ed instructor also a chain smoker? I think that was part of the requirement too back then.
I can't remember if my driver's ed instructor was a smoker, but he used to hang out at a local watering hole every afternoon with another teacher I had. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a smoker, but for sure an alcoholic! (Gotta love that era for the way it made adults out of us by putting us through various forms of survival training.)
Haha this was absolute gold Steve! It was indeed the song I was thinking about. For years I loved this song but mainly for the chorus; “how romantic” young Mark thought, to fly her away and take her into the night. Beautiful!
But it was probably decades before I ever heard the opening line of the song and probably even longer before I first saw the video that totally solidified its creepiness.
I loved the analysis by Fil. He has such a brilliant knack for breaking down vocals and musical performances. He’s one of my favorites
HILARIOUS 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Still laughing at "Dolores" 😂😂😂😂 I wanna be in your brain someday, Steve!
I used to say that my brain is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. Now I recommend Hawaii or Tahiti as there's no chance at relaxation or even sleep at my oddball island.
Thanks for the comment, Andy! If you are a Seinfeld fan, you might have picked up on the Dolores reference....
I would visit for a quick yet energising holiday. Amusement park? Rollercoasters? No! Steveland, please!
I’ve never actually watched Seinfeld (only know it by name) but I still found the whole Dolores thing very funny 😂
Never knew there were so many details behind this song and video! I always liked it.
Thanks, Steve, for the "yo, Brad"! As everyone here, I loved your hilarious dissection of the video. Using your treatise as a running commentary helped me tolerate the vid, which I'd never seen before. Its crude production values helped me remember that it was produced about a year before MTV was whelped (8/1/81), so there's that.
There had to be a moment in that time where the announcement of a "music video channel" was made, thus forcing artists, their management, and labels to scurry to suddenly fit this new medium into their promotion budget (so MTV would have something to air upon launch)!
About a year before Benny's sophomoric video felony, Bowie had produced videos for "D.J." and "Boys Keep Swinging," and I had seen them in one of the ways pre-MTV videos were justifiably made (and they were, mostly for star acts, and/or new acts labels had no problem allocating extra bucks to promote): Playing for customers in the large Houston record store I was working in.
As for Benny, I had his '78 debut, "Thank God For Girls (was "Regardless of Age" the sub-title?🤷♂️), and while I don't recall much about it, I also don't recall any negative reactions. Curious to notice that noted '60s Stones producer, Andrew Loog Oldham, produced that one...he must've heard something in Benny he liked. For me, "TGFG" was just another promo I hung onto.
Now, as for the single in question, no, I never sang "Into the Night" at karaoke. Never cared for the song, and never cared for his singing, and that gruff, growly style 'tweren't my jam, anyway, with my Sting-like range I enjoyed exploring! I, like Jeremy, hate(d) Journey, and Benny, para mi dinero, sounded way too much like Steve Perry!
Thanks Brad! I figured Benny was a bit too overly dramatic in his singing style for you. And the MTV thing was exactly what I discovered in my research. The video was made without much expectation of people seeing it, and then when MTV started and the the song received a fair bit of play (even though it had already charted and done well), it took off even more.
I love writing funny play by play breakdowns of songs and videos. I sat and analyzed practically frame by frame as I wrote! I might do more of that sort of thing in the future. I did a similar thing with Sammy Hagar's "There's Only One Way to Rock" a couple years ago.
Ha! That Sammy song......did D.L. Roth counter with a "Well, Actually, Sam, There May Be A Couple Different Ways to Rock, If I'm Being Honest" song?
Back to Benny....yeah, the maudlin dramatics of the song, yes, but mainly, that raspy thing in his voice.....same with Springsteen. Loving "Born to Run" as I do, I gave that a shot in karaoke, and there's just really no way to do that song without the gravelly rasp!
I wholeheartedly endorse and encourage your lean into more song'n' video breakdowns, especially as it'll merge your expertise with your quirky (and lovable) POV! I wrote one today (although not nearly as thorough) for a piece I'm dropping Friday! It lent itself to humor, as it was a parody/satire itself!
Another creepo "genre" which I have defined is: "love" songs that sound like full stalker mentality and would be icky and upsetting if the singer weren't a cute guy. There are so many!
Kudos for the hilarious recap of the video. The song sounds like warmed-over Journey...and I hate Journey, LOL. My wife is from Syracuse and we have a running joke about Mardones because he was HUGE there when she was in high school. I didn't know who she was talking about until I saw his albums selling for a quarter at St. Mark's Sounds!
Ha! Yeah, in my research, I discovered how much the people of Syracuse loved him. Reminded me of how the people in Pittsburgh loved Donnie Iris.
I had no idea it was THIS song I was reading about until I clicked the video! It was ALL OVER the local radio stations in the early, early 80s and I remember it distinctly. Don’t think I ever listened to the lyrics, though - and at that age I’d have missed the whole age thing anyway. But I know I never saw the video - and WHAT a video! Utter shit, but a perfect encapsulation of its time. Wow. Thanks for yet another addition to the morning playlist! 😎
You made me laugh, Steve! Thanks!
Nailed it. I've always had a soft spot for this song, and the hilariously awful video (which I don't think I actually ever saw until the advent of YouTube) just solidified its place in my heart.
The one thing I've never really understood was WHY "Into the Night" charted twice. Sure, it's a solid enough song, but it's hardly like the country was clamoring for a Benny Mardones comeback, and the 1989 version didn't add much to it beyond late-eighties production tricks.
I was working in a record store in '89, and my co-workers and I used to joke that it had all been set in motion by some high-up mobster announcing (in raspy Marlon Brando voice), "I think it is time that Benny Mardones had another hit," and sending his foot soldiers out with bags of payola money to make it happen.
Lol.
Oh Steve, your play-by-play of the video was so funny! Especially enjoyed the idea of the dad listening in on the extension and falling in love with Benny himself.
All I could think while watching it was how come no 30-something guy offered me a magic carpet ride in high school? All I got was an alcoholic drivers' ed instructor taking us on the freeway when we didn't know how to drive yet.
Thanks for the background on the song. I do remember it from when it came out and liked it a lot, so it's good to hear that the back story was not creepy. He probably got talked into that plot by some video auteur who wanted to make his name on MTV by being transgressive!
Thanks, Ellen! Yeah, I learned about the history of the song a while ago and had wanted to write about this song for a while. Guess this week was the right time! Benny seemed to be a super kind and good-hearted person, from all accounts.
Was your alcoholic drivers’ ed instructor also a chain smoker? I think that was part of the requirement too back then.
Appreciate all your comments!
I can't remember if my driver's ed instructor was a smoker, but he used to hang out at a local watering hole every afternoon with another teacher I had. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a smoker, but for sure an alcoholic! (Gotta love that era for the way it made adults out of us by putting us through various forms of survival training.)