Hollywood Nights
"Hollywood Nights" is a song written and recorded by American rock artist Bob Seger. It was released in 1978 as the second single from his album, Stranger in Town.
| "Hollywood Nights" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band | ||||
| from the album Stranger in Town | ||||
| B-side | "Brave Strangers" | |||
| Released | 1978 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:05 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Seger | |||
| Producer(s) | Bob Seger, Punch Andrews | |||
| Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
Seger said "The chorus just came into my head; I was driving around in the Hollywood Hills, and I started singing 'Hollywood nights/Hollywood hills/Above all the lights/Hollywood nights.' I went back to my rented house, and there was a Time with Cheryl Tiegs on the cover...I said 'Let's write a song about a guy from the Midwest who runs into someone like this and gets caught up in the whole bizarro thing.'" [1]
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 1994 Greatest Hits compilation.[2]
The Silver Bullet Band
- Bob Seger – lead vocals, guitar
- Chris Campbell – bass
- David Teegarden – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Bill Payne – piano, organ
- Julia Waters, Luther Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters – background vocals
Reception
Billboard Magazine described "Hollywood Nights" as "a gut crunching rocker with all the stops pulled out" and described Seger's vocal performance as "absolutely demonic."[3]
Chart performance
The single edit of "Hollywood Nights" reached No. 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.[4] In the UK, the full five-minute version was released as a single on black and silver vinyl, and gave him his chart debut at No. 42. A live version from the in-concert album Nine Tonight in 1981 was issued in the UK as a single and charted at No. 49, while a reissue of the original version in 1995 charted at No. 52.[5]
In popular culture
The song was one of many California related songs played throughout "Sunshine Plaza" in the original Disney California Adventure.[6]
The song appeared in the rhythm game Guitar Hero World Tour.
The song was also used during the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, in the first segment.
Along with "Night Moves", the song appeared on the classic rock radio station Los Santos Rock Radio in Grand Theft Auto V.
References
- Scott Sparling. "The Seger File: Stranger in Town". Segerfile.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
- Greatest Hits (CD). Bob Seger. Capitol Records. 1994. CDP 7243 8 30334 2 3.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
- "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. August 12, 1978. p. 82. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
- Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Pop Songs: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 218.
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 488. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- "Sunshine Plaza music from Disney's California Adventure". ParkTunes. Archived from the original on November 3, 2014. Retrieved 2016-10-13.