Folks might find it hard to believe today, but there was a time when Top 40 radio played all genres of music. You might tune into your favorite AM station and hear a tune by the Beatles, followed by a Motown single by the Temptations or Supremes, then maybe a straight pop number by the Turtles or the Grass Roots, then something by Petula Clark or Dusty Springfield, then a country track, then something by the Doors or Cream, and so on and so forth. Even old school singers like Dean Martin and Doris Day placed singles on the mainstream charts back then—and, in the case of today’s classic song of the day, sometimes made it all the way to the number-one position.
“Strangers in the Night” not only topped the charts, it was legendary crooner Frank Sinatra’s first number-one single. Released in April of 1966, “Strangers in the Night” peaked at #1 worldwide; it was a chart topper in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, the Philippines, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and West Germany. Here in the U.S., the song topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
While who wrote the song has been somewhat disputed over the years, it’s generally agreed on that melody to “Strangers in the Night” was written by Bert Kaempfert, under the original title of “Beddy Bye,” as part of the soundtrack for the 1966 movie, A Man Could Get Killed. Sinatra apparently heard the tune and thought he might record it if it had lyrics and the title was changed. Several sets of lyrics were written and rejected before Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder wrote the words we all know today.
Frank Sinatra was not the first singer to record “Strangers in the Night.” Bobby Darrin, Jack Jones, and Al Martino beat him to it, which inspired Sinatra’s producer, Jimmy Bowen, to rush the great man into the studio for a quick recording and even quicker record release. Ernie Freeman wrote the arrangement and Bowen hijacked the first hour of a Dean Martin session scheduled on April 11, 1966, at United Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard. Bowen used the same musicians that were booked for Dean’s session, including a 35-piece orchestra and several members of the Wrecking Crew, including Bill Miller and Michel Rubini on pianos, Al Casey, Bill Pitman, Glen Campbell, and Tommy Tedesco on guitars, Chuck Berghofer on upright bass, and the ubiquitous Hal Blaine on drums. The recording session started at 8:00 pm and was over by nine, at which time Dean entered the room to do his thing.
Despite its success, “Strangers in the Night” was not Frank Sinatra’s favorite tune. Mr. Sinatra at various times called it “a piece of shit” and “the worst fucking song in the whole world.” Admittedly, it’s no “Fly Me to the Moon” or “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road),” but it ain’t all that bad.
Audiences disagreed with Mr. Sinatra and purchased more than two million copies of the record, worldwide. Mr. Sinatra’s recording of “Strangers in the Night” also garnered four Grammy Awards. It won for Record of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist. That ain’t bad, either.
And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, an older and perhaps wiser Frank Sinatra performing “Strangers in the Night” on August 20, 1982, for his Concert for the Americas in the Dominican Republic. The man was a legend.
