"Midnight Blue" is a song by American rock singer-songwriter

Lou Gramm Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico; 2 May 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the rock band Foreigner from 1977 to 1990 and 1992 to 2003 during which time the band had numerous successful albu ...

, issued as a 7" single in the United States in January 1987 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

. It was the lead-off single from Gramm's debut album, '' Ready or Not'', released in February 1987. An extended remix of the song was available as a 12" single.

Reception

In a contemporary review, '' Cash Box'' praised the single as being "riveting" and "triumphant." Bret Adams has described "Midnight Blue" as "a terrific pop/rock song" on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. He has claimed that "despite its hit status, it's one of the decade's truly underappreciated singles". Stephen Thomas Erlewine, while reviewing the Foreigner retrospective collection ''Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology'' (2000), has called the song "the last great single of the album-rock era". The single peaked at number 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spent five weeks on the top of the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart, starting on 14 February 1987. "Midnight Blue" has remained Gramm's highest-charting solo hit to date.

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals; producer * Eddie Martinez – lead guitar *

Bruce Turgon Bruce Turgon (born April 25, 1952) is an American bass guitarist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer. Bruce has played in several bands throughout his career including: Foreigner, The Lou Gramm Band, Shadow King, Steve Stevens, Warr ...

– rhythm guitars * Stanley Sheldon – bass guitar * Phil Ashley – keyboards, programming * Ben Gramm – drums *

Mark Rivera Mark Rivera (born May 24, 1953) is an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, musical director and corporate entertainment provider who is mostly known for his work with Billy Joel. In addition to playing soprano, alto, tenor and b ...

– backing vocals * Sherryl Marshall – backing vocals * Cookie Watkins – backing vocals

Technical personnel

* Pat Moran – producer, engineer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography T ...

– mastering engineer (at Sterling Sound, New York) * Timothy White – cover photography * Bob Defrin – art direction

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1987 debut singles 1987 songs Atlantic Records singles Song recordings produced by Pat Moran Songs written by Bruce Turgon Songs written by Lou Gramm