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Sunglasses at Night

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Not to be confused with Sunglasses at Night (Skepta song).
"Sunglasses at Night"
Single by Corey Hart
from the album First Offense
B-side"At the Dance"
ReleasedJanuary 21, 1984
Recorded1983
StudioLondon, England
Genre
Length5:20 (LP version)
3:53 (7"/video version)
LabelAquarius (Canada)
EMI America (U.S.)
Songwriter(s)Corey Hart
Producer(s)
Corey Hart singles chronology
""She Got the Radio" (promo, Canada only)"
(1983) 		"Sunglasses at Night"
(1984) 		"It Ain't Enough"
(1984)
Music video
"Sunglasses at Night" on YouTube

"Sunglasses at Night" is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released on January 21, 1984 as the first single from his debut album, 1983's First Offense, and became a hit single in the United States, officially rising to number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week that ended on September 1, 1984.[1] 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".[2]

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 to protect their eyes. Hart, working on a new song, began to improvise lyrics that included the line "I wear my sunglasses at night."

Composition

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The song is performed in the key of B♭ minor in common time with a tempo of 127 beats per minute. Hart's vocals span from F3 to A♭4.[3][4] The song’s synthesizer riff uses a descending upper-leading tone sequence through the chords Bbm, Gdim, Gb, and Bbm (the Gb resolving to the F in this chord).

Music video

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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,[5] who later became the host of The NewMusic as well as a VJ on MuchMusic. This video uses the shorter single version instead of the longer album version.[6]

Charts

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Covers and media

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In 2002 a remix by the Canadian and French duo Tiga and Zyntherius peaked at #25 in the UK singles chart.[16] British grime artist Skepta released a 2009 version that sampled the original, which reached #64 in the same chart.[17]

The song was featured in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the fictional in-game radio station Wave 103. NME journalist Mark Beaumont credited the game for increasing awareness of the original 80s version.[18]

In 2024, German-American model and television host Heidi Klum released a cover with production by Dutch DJ and record producer Tiësto.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Corey Hart". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  2. ^ Simon Cantlon. "First Offense". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  3. ^ Hart, Corey (29 September 2014). "Corey Hart "Sunglasses At Night" Sheet Music in Bb Minor (transposable)". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  4. ^ "Spot On Track - The Spotify Tracker". www.spotontrack.com. Archived from the original on 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  5. ^ Ward, Christopher (2016). Is this Live?: Inside the Wild Early Years of MuchMusic. Random House of Canada. p. 68. ISBN 9780345810342. Archived from the original on 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  6. ^ Corey Hart "Sunglasses at Night" official video
  7. ^ 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 12 June 1988.
  8. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada".
  9. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Corey Hart – Sunglasses at Night (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  10. ^ "Corey Hart – Sunglasses at Night" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  11. ^ "Corey Hart – Sunglasses at Night". Top 40 Singles.
  12. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending September 1, 1984". Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 2018-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Cash Box magazine.
  13. ^ "Kent Music Report No 548 – 31 December 1984 > National Top 100 Singles for 1984". Kent Music Report. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022 – via Imgur.com.
  14. ^ "Talent Almanac 1985: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 96, no. 51. December 22, 1984. p. TA-19.
  15. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1984". Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  16. ^ "SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT by TIGA AND ZYNTHERIUS". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  17. ^ "SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT by Skepta". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  18. ^ Beaumont, Mark (2016). "Seven Songs You Only Know And Love If You Played Grand Theft Auto: Vice City". NME.com. NME. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  19. ^ Mier, Tomás (2024). "How Heidi Klum and Tiësto Gave a Classic Eighties Song a 'Whole New Life'". RollingStone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
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Sunglasses at Night at Discogs (list of releases) Edit this at Wikidata

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