"We've Got Tonite" is a song written by American rock musician Bob Seger, from his album Stranger in Town (1978). The single record charted twice for Seger, and was developed from a prior song that he had written. Further versions charted in 1983 for Kenny Rogers as a duet with Sheena Easton, and again in 2002 for Ronan Keating. Seger rewrote the lyrics after seeing the 1973 film The Sting. Critics compared the song to Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night".
Original version Dave Marsh (Rolling Stone) on "We've Got Tonite"Seger's melodic sense has never been better than on "We've Got Tonite", a grand seduction song in the tradition of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night".
Background The song developed from an earlier Seger composition titled "This Old House" which featured the same chords as "We've Got Tonite" although the earlier song had a slightly different melody. Seger overhauled "This Old House" into "We've Got Tonite" the day after seeing the film The Sting (1973) which features a conversation between the Robert Redford character and a woman he is attracted to, played by Dimitra Arliss, who says: "I don't even know you." Redford's response, "You know me. It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody," caused an emotional response in Seger, manifested in the overhauled song lyrics.Detroit Free Press 18 October 1994 "Rocker Tells the Stories Behind the Hits" by Gary Graff p.3CPittsburgh Post-Gazette 21 November 2011 "Bob Seger Makes a Joyful Noise at Consol" by Scott Mervis p.C-4
"We've Got Tonite" was not recorded until the 1976 sessions for Seger's album Night Moves and was held off that album as Seger felt it was not a thematic fit.Moline Dispatch November 22, 2009 "Bob Seger Opens the Vaults for Disc of '70s Rarities" p.G1 It was one of five Stranger... tracks recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, and Venetta Fields, Clydie King, and Shirley Matthews provided the backing vocals.
"We've Got Tonite" served as the album's third single, reaching No. 13 on the US pop chart in 1978. It also played in the background of Melissa Sue Anderson's television film Survival of Dana (1979), in a scene where Anderson's character was in Los Angeles visiting the home of one of her new friends and was sitting in a room with co-star Robert Carradine's "Donny Davis" character, with whom she was falling in love. In the UK, the original version would chart twice, reaching No. 41 in 1979, then No. 22 as a 1995 re-release—as "We've Got Tonight"—to promote a Greatest Hits album. (In 1982, a live version—titled "We've Got Tonite"—from the in-concert album Nine Tonight reached No. 60 in the UK.)
Since the death of his mother Charlotte, Seger has made a point of always including "We've Got Tonite" in his live setlist, as it was her favorite of his compositions.
Personnel Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 1994 Greatest Hits compilation. Bob Seger – lead vocals
Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section Barry Beckett – keyboards Pete Carr – lead guitar Jimmy Johnson – rhythm guitar David Hood – bass guitar Roger Hawkins – drums, percussion
Additional musicians Venetta Fields – background vocals Clydie King – background vocals Sherlie Matthews – background vocals Jim Ed Norman – string arrangement
Reception Billboard described "We've Got Tonite" as a "melodic ballad featuring Seger's smokey and tender vocal" and said that the structure of the melody was similar to Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night". Cash Box called it a "sensitive ballad" with "stark opening tambourine beat, strings and strong upward swell" and praised Seger's vocals as well as the "brightness" provided by the backing vocals. Record World said that "The drama builds beautifully and Seger's raspy vocals carry the message with ease."
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1979)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)31South Africa (Springbok Radio)11US Billboard Hot 10013US Cash Box Top 10011 Chart (1982)Peakposition Chart (1995)Peakposition
Year-end charts Chart (1979)RankUS Billboard Hot 10094US Cash Box Top 10091
Certifications
Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton duet version
Background In 1983, American country-pop star Kenny Rogers recorded the song as a duet with Scottish pop star Sheena Easton, and made it the title track of his album We've Got Tonight. Both Rogers and Easton were on the roster of EMI America-Liberty Records and their collaboration on "We've Got Tonight" was at the firm suggestion of label chairman Larry Mazza who hoped to restore Easton to chart ascendancy.Los Angeles Times September 11, 1983 "Sheena Easton's New Tomorrow" by Dennis Hunt p.55 (Calendar) Mazza was also the president of Capitol Records the label of release for the Bob Seger original.Detroit Free Press January 21, 1983 "On Top of It - Rogers, Easton Sing Song of Togetherness" p.1C Rogers stated: "I liked the idea of recording with Sheena. I thought the contrast in styles--I'm so throaty and she's so trained and pure--would really work well." Rogers himself phoned Easton to pitch their duet on December 23, 1982. The two singers then met up on Christmas Eve to rehearse the song with a piano, six days later going into the studio, with the completed track going to radio nine days later.Lansing State Journal March 24, 1983 "Scottish Singer Zooming Down Road to Success" by Jon Beam p.1D
Easton would assert that it was the song choice which appealed to her, while allowing Rogers to be "a good singer with a distinctive voice" who she found "always helpful and co-operative" in the studio, debunking insider reports that the ten-day recording session for the track was a stormy one with Rogers overtly disliking Easton's high-pitched vocals. Easton's contribution to the track would prove critical contention.
Reception Billboard said that the song "gets a full production treatment, building on the contrast between two such distinctive and familiar voices." Rolling Stone critic Chris Connelly would dismiss the Easton/Rogers duet of "We've Got Tonight" as "shrieking [and] insensitive",St Louis Post Dispatch "Sheena Turns Up Flame" by Christopher Connelly March 3, 1985, p.4G and Jerseyite critic Jim Bohen would lament how Rogers "who usually sounds good duetting with women" was defeated by her nails-across-the-blackboard voice.Daily Record July 10, 1983 "Shortcuts" by Jim Bohen p. D7 But Dennis Hunt (Los Angeles Times) would prefer the Rogers/Easton take to the Seger original due to a "very appealing" "blend of sharply contrasting voices, his deep and hers very high," adding that "Rogers, never known for his vocal power, stretches to match Easton, [attaining] his finest vocal performance."Los Angeles Times February 27, 1983 "The Record Rack" by Dennis Hunt p.66 (Calendar) And AllMusic critic Joe Viglione would opine that Easton's "splendid voice reaching the high registers over Kenny's familiar monotone...really makes [the track] special."
A number one hit on the Billboard Country Singles chart, "We've Got Tonight" reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, and number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, also reaching the top 30 in the United Kingdom.Kenny Rogers UK Charts history, The Official Charts. Retrieved September 10, 2011. Rebranded as a country & western song due to Rogers, "We've Got Tonight" would be honored by ASCAP as the Most Performed Country Song of 1983, with Seger, an iconic Detroit rocker, personally acknowledging the honor by attending the October 1984 ASCAP Country Music Awards fête held at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.Billboard vol 96 #42 (October 20, 1984) "ASCAP Honors Chappell: Black, Rocco, 'We've Got Tonite' also win awards" by Kip Kirby p.41The Tennessean October 11, 1984 "Songwriters Charlie Black, Tommy Rocco & Bob Seger Capture ASCAP Honors " by Robert K. Oermann & Sandy Neese p.1-D
In Brazil, the single has exceeded 100,000 copies.
Personnel Kenny Rogers – lead vocals Sheena Easton – lead vocals Paul Jackson Jr., Marty Walsh – guitars David Foster – acoustic and electric pianos Nathan East – bass guitar Michael Baird – drums Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangement Humberto Gatica – engineer
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1983)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)11France (IFOP)71Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)24US Billboard Hot 1006US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)1US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)2US Cash Box Top 10010
Year-end charts Chart (1983)RankAustralia (Kent Music Report)68US Billboard Hot 10040US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)32US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)25US Cash Box Top 10054
Ronan Keating duet version
Background "We've Got Tonight" was remade by Irish singer Ronan Keating and Scottish singer Lulu for Lulu's twelfth studio album, Together (2002), with the track also appearing on Keating's second studio album, Destination (2002). The Together album, consisting of tracks pairing Lulu with a variety of "name" duet partners, was a comeback vehicle for Lulu designed by top entertainment impresario Louis Walsh, whom the singer had signed on with in 2000. Three of the acts the album paired Lulu with—Samantha Mumba, Westlife, and Keating—were protégées of Walsh; however, Keating has said that Lulu herself recruited him to duet with her, stating, "I said 'Yeah, as long as you let me pick the song!' I picked...one of my all-time favorite love songs."
Both the Together and Destination albums were released in the spring of 2002; it was decided to forego any single releases of off Together,Billboard vol 114 #29 (July 20, 2002) "UK's Lulu a Hit Again" by Paul Sexton p.12 but after two earlier singles, Keating's label Polydor issued "We've Got Tonight"—credited to Ronan Keating featuring Lulu—on November 25, 2002, and it debuted at its No. 4 peak on the UK Singles Chart on December 1, 2002. The track was also an international hit, reaching No. 7 in the Netherlands, No. 10 in Ireland, No. 12 in Australia, and No. 14 in Flanders.
Polydor Records decided to release a reformatted version of the track that replaced Lulu with Jeanette Biedermann, a Polydor artist who had enjoyed considerable success with English-language releases in her native Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This version of the duet was issued in those three nations with top-ten peaks in Austria and Germany and a No. 25 peak in Switzerland. In Italy, the track was issued with Italian soul singer Giorgia Todrani and published as the B-side of Giorgia's single "Gocce di memoria". In the Philippines, Keating performed the song with Kyla.
Track listings UK single "We've Got Tonight" (featuring Lulu) – 3:39 "All I Have Is My Heart" – 3:50 "In the Ghetto" (Live) – 3:13 "We've Got Tonight" (Video) – 4:15
German single "We've Got Tonight" (featuring Jeanette) – 3:39 "Sea of Love" – 3:14 "All I Have Is My Heart" – 3:50 "In the Ghetto" (Live) – 3:13
Italian single "We've Got Tonight" (featuring Giorgia) – 3:39 "All I Have Is My Heart" – 3:50
Charts
Ronan Keating and Lulu Weekly charts Chart (2002–2003)PeakpositionEurope (Eurochart Hot 100)20Romania (Romanian Top 100)9UK Airplay (Music Week) 22
Year-end charts Chart (2002)PositionIreland (IRMA)95UK Singles (OCC)78 Chart (2003)PositionAustralia (ARIA)83Netherlands (Single Top 100)77Romania (Romanian Top 100)32
Ronan Keating and Jeanette Weekly charts Chart (2002–2003)PeakpositionCzech Republic (IFPI)30Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)30
Year-end charts Chart (2003)PositionAustria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)47
Certifications
Release history RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)United KingdomPolydorAustraliaCD
Other versions