"Hey Deanie" is a song written by

Eric Carmen Eric Howard Carmen (born August 11, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist. He was first known as the lead vocalist of the Raspberries. He had numerous hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, first as a member of the Rasp ...

. It was a popular hit single by

Shaun Cassidy Shaun Paul Cassidy (born September 27, 1958) is an American singer, actor, writer, and producer. He has created and/or produced a number of television series including '' American Gothic'', '' Roar'' and ''Invasion''. Cassidy currently serves as ...

that was released the last week of November, 1977 from his album, ''

Born Late ''Born Late'' is the second studio album released by pop singer, Shaun Cassidy. The album was released in 1977 following the success of Cassidy's self-titled debut album. The album yielded two hit singles. The first, "Hey Deanie", was written b ...

''. It was his third and final top 10 hit, peaked at number seven for two weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, spending four months on the chart from late 1977 to early 1978. As with Cassidy's prior singles, this song also became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

. "Hey Deanie" is ranked as the 68th biggest American hit of 1978. Chicago radio superstation WLS, which gave the song much airplay, ranked "Hey Deanie" as the 45th most popular hit of 1978. It reached as high as number 6 on their survey of January 21, 1978. "Hey Deanie" became an international Top 40 hit in both Canada and Australia, reaching #21 on station

2NUR 2NUR is an Australian radio station, licensed to, and serving Newcastle and its surrounds. It is a community radio station, licensed to the University of Newcastle.About 2NUR. http://www.newcastle.edu.au/community-and-alumni/arts-and-culture/2n ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Background

"Hey Deanie" was the second hit written by Carmen for Cassidy, the first being "

That's Rock 'n' Roll "That's Rock 'n' Roll" is a song written and originally recorded by Eric Carmen in 1976. It became a popular ''Billboard'' top 10 hit in 1977 for teen idol Shaun Cassidy. Eric Carmen version Background American pop rock artist Eric Carmen releas ...

," from Cassidy's previous album. Both songs charted concurrently with Carmen's own hit, "

She Did It "She Did It" is a song written and originally recorded by Eric Carmen in 1977. Carmen's single was a Top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, reaching number 23. "She Did It" was covered in 1981 by actor and singer Michael Damian, who reac ...

". Carmen recorded "Hey Deanie" himself for his 1978 album, '' Change of Heart,'' and it was also featured as the

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of the title track's 45 RPM release, which became a Top 20 hit. Carmen wrote the song after seeing the film ''

Splendor in the Grass ''Splendor in the Grass'' is a 1961 American period drama film produced and directed by Elia Kazan, from a screenplay written by William Inge. It stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (in his film debut) as two high school sweethearts, navigatin ...

'', starring

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

as "Deanie" and

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...

as her lover. It was the second of two songs inspired by the movie, the other being "

", penned and sung in 1966 by

Jackie DeShannon Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers, August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and radio broadcaster with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards, as both singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-songwr ...

. As with Cassidy's bigger hits, his version of "Hey Deanie" was featured in one of the episodes of ''

The Hardy Boys The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterpa ...

'', as performed by Cassidy's character Joe Hardy. The episode is entitled "Oh Say Can You Sing" (season 2, episode 14).

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

"Hey Deanie" was covered by power pop artist Gary Charlson in 1981, as a live version. It was included on his ''Real Live'' album.

Later uses

A portion of the lyrics, "I stand accused, I'm in league with the forces of darkness; an incurable believer in the magic of a midnight sky" is currently being used for Cassidy's 2020-2022 American concert tour, ''The Magic of a Midnight Sky''.

References

External links

Lyrics of this song

"Hey Deanie" at Song Facts
* * {{authority control 1977 songs 1977 singles Shaun Cassidy songs Eric Carmen songs Songs written by Eric Carmen 1970s ballads Pop ballads Warner Records singles Song recordings produced by Michael Lloyd