"Last Nite" is a song by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
the Strokes
The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...
. It was released on October 23, 2001, as the second single from their debut album, ''
Is This It
''Is This It'' is the debut studio album by American rock band the Strokes. It was first released on July 30, 2001, in Australia, with RCA Records handling the release internationally and Rough Trade Records handling the United Kingdom release. I ...
'' (2001). It was a moderate hit for the group on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in 2001.
Background
The track was produced by
Gordon Raphael
Gordon Raphael is an American record producer and musician from Seattle, Washington, and New York, currently living in Hebden Bridge (UK), after a few years in Berlin. Raphael is most widely known for his work with The Strokes, whom he met while ...
and was issued on
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
with the song "
When It Started" 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 compan ...
.
The song's opening guitar riff and overall structure is based on "
American Girl
American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old boys and girls of a variety of ethnicities, faiths, and social classes from different time periods throughou ...
" by
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer S ...
. In a 2006 interview with ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'',
Petty
Petty may refer to:
People
* Bruce Petty (born 1929), Australian political satirist and cartoonist
* Bryce Petty (born 1991), American football player
* Dini Petty (born 1945), Canadian television and radio host
* Eric D. Petty (born 1954), Amer ...
commented, "The Strokes took 'American Girl'
or 'Last Nite' there was an interview that took place with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you.' It doesn't bother me". The Strokes were invited to be the opening act for several dates on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 2006 tour. The solo for the song was inspired by guitarist
Freddie King
Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Mos ...
.
Reception
The single was the group's first to enter the American charts, reaching the top five on the
U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart in late 2001. Meanwhile, the single obtained moderate success in the UK, peaking at number 14 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
In March 2005, ''
Q'' placed "Last Nite" at number 66 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In September 2006, ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' placed "Last Nite" at number one on its list of the 50 Greatest Tracks of the Decade. In May 2007, ''NME'' magazine placed "Last Nite" at number nine in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever. It was also placed at number 16 on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
s 50 Best Songs of the Decade and number 478 on its list of "
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
". The same publication listed it at number 155 in a revamped version of the list in 2021. In 2011, ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' placed it at number four on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". In 2020, ''
Paste'' and ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' ranked the song number two and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 20 greatest Strokes songs.
Music video
The band were originally unwilling to appear in a music video, but eventually agreed to a simple format, performing the song live rather than lip-syncing to the recorded version, on a brightly lit stage. The resulting video, filmed with simple panning shots and few edits, was directed by
Roman Coppola
Roman François Coppola (born April 22, 1965) is an American director, screenwriter, producer and the son of Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola. For the 2012 film ''Moonrise Kingdom'', he and co-writer Wes Anderson were nominated for the A ...
. One minute into the song, singer
Julian Casablancas
Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of Rock music, rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since the ...
throws his microphone stand, as if it was a spear, off camera; the move would later be referenced in the music video for "
Under Cover of Darkness
"Under Cover of Darkness" is a song by American Rock music, rock band The Strokes. The single served as the lead single for their fourth studio album, ''Angles (The Strokes album), Angles'', and was released online on February 9, 2011 as a free m ...
", released 10 years later in 2011 on their album ''
Angles
The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...
''.
As the song progresses, Casablancas' vocal becomes increasingly distorted as he sings ever closer into the microphone. On two occasions he dramatically throws the microphone to the ground. Following his solo, guitarist
Albert Hammond, Jr., walking backwards into the drum podium, accidentally pushes one of drummer
Fabrizio Moretti
Fabrizio Moretti (born June 2, 1980) is a Brazilian-American musician and visual artist best known as the drummer for American rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since 2001. A collaborative artist, he has been pa ...
's
overhead microphone
Overhead microphones are those used in sound recording and live sound reproduction to pick up ambient sounds, transients and the overall blend of instruments. They are used in drum recording to achieve a stereo image of the full drum kit, as w ...
s which falls onto the drum kit. Moretti tries to hit it away with his drumstick, yet it topples onto the other overhead and both crash to the ground. The video, including the accident, is parodied in the music video for
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. Originally called Kaspir, the band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason "Cone" McCas ...
's "
Still Waiting".
Track listings
US/UK
#"Last Nite" - 3:15
#"
When It Started" - 2:59
AUS
#"Last Nite" - 3:15
#"When It Started" - 2:59
#"Last Nite" (Live) - 3:27
#"Take It or Leave It" (Live) - 3:29
Personnel
*
Julian Casablancas
Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of Rock music, rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since the ...
– vocals
*
Nick Valensi
Nicholas Valensi (born January 16, 1981) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his role as lead and rhythm guitarist in the American rock band The Strokes. Since 2001, the band has released six studio albums, some of which Valen ...
– rhythm guitar
*
Albert Hammond Jr.
Albert Hammond Jr. (''born'' Hammond III; born April 9, 1980) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his role as rhythm and lead guitarist, as well as occasional keyboard player and backing vocalist ...
– rhythm guitar, lead guitar
*
Nikolai Fraiture
Nikolai Philippe Fraiture (born November 13, 1978) is an American musician best known as the bassist of the American rock band The Strokes. Since co-founding the band in 1998, he has released six studio albums with them. Among other creative pr ...
– bass
*
Fabrizio Moretti
Fabrizio Moretti (born June 2, 1980) is a Brazilian-American musician and visual artist best known as the drummer for American rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since 2001. A collaborative artist, he has been pa ...
– drums
Charts
Certifications
Release history
Vitamin C version
Background
American pop singer
Vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...
covered "Last Night" and released it as a single in July 2003. The song was produced by Dave Derby, Michael Kotch, and Fred Maher. The single features a sample from
Blondie's "
Heart of Glass". After
Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
dropped Vitamin C when her second album, ''
More
More or Mores may refer to:
Computing
* MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS
* more (command), a shell command
* MORE protocol, a routing protocol
* Missouri Research and Education Network
Music Albums
* ''More!'' (album), by Booka S ...
'', did not sell as expected, she signed to
V2 Records
V2 Records (or V2 Music; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007 and sold to IASin 2013. In the Benelux, V2 operates separately from PIAS, as the label bought itself out from ...
in the UK, hoping to break into the music scene there. After her third album was recorded, this single was released exclusively in the UK with plans to release the album a month later. The album was never released.
Reception
"Last Nite" debuted and peaking at number 70 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and fell down the chart rapidly.
[Roberts, David (2006). ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 588. .] V2 shelved Vitamin C's album afterwards and dropped her. However, "Last Nite" is Vitamin C's only chart entry on the UK Singles Chart, making it her most successful single there.
Music video
The music video for "Last Nite" was shot in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It features Vitamin C, as a blonde, in or around the
Hotel Chelsea
The Hotel Chelsea (also the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea) is a hotel in Manhattan, New York City, built between 1883 and 1885. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of Ch ...
as well as other New York City night spots. The club
CBGB
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...
is seen in the video.
Track listings
# "Last Nite" – 3:54
# "Last Nite" (Derby & Kotch Mix) – 3:45
# "Last Nite" (I Lick That Mix by Count Caligula) – 5:40
# "Last Nite" (Clique Remix) – 6:05
Charts
Cover versions, samples and parodies
* "Last Nite" was used in the parody "Angry White Boy Polka" by
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
for his 2003 album ''
Poodle Hat
''Poodle Hat'' is the eleventh studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on May 20, 2003. It was the fifth studio album self-produced by Yankovic. The musical styles on the album are built around parodies and pastiches of pop of the early-2000 ...
'', sung in
doo wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
.
* "Last Nite" was covered by Brazilian group
Rebeldes
Rebeldes (also stylized as RebeldeS) was a Brazilian musical group that emerged from the Brazilian soap opera'' Rebel Rio'', produced by Rede Record in partnership with Mexican Televisa. In the plot, the six main characters—Alice, Carla, Dieg ...
' member
Chay Suede
Roobertchay Domingues da Rocha Filho (born 30 June 1992), known professionally as Chay Suede, is a Brazilian actor and singer-songwriter.
Career
Suede's first television appearance was in the fifth season of the RecordTV show '' Ídolos'' ( ...
for their two tours, Rebelde and Nada Pode Nos Parar, and was included in their live album, ''
Rebeldes: Ao Vivo'' (2012).
* "Last Nite" was sampled in the song "Only Wanna Dance with You" by
Kesha
Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...
for her 2012 album, ''
Warrior
A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste.
History
Warriors seem to have been p ...
''.
References
{{Authority control
2001 singles
2001 songs
2003 singles
2003 songs
Bertelsmann Music Group singles
Music videos directed by Roman Coppola
RCA Records singles
Songs written by Julian Casablancas
The Strokes songs
UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles
V2 Records singles
Vitamin C (singer) songs