"One Night Love Affair" is a song by Canadian singer and songwriter

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

. Written by Adams and

Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...

for Adams's fourth studio album, '' Reckless'' (1984), it was the fifth single released from the album. It is one of Adams's most recognizable and popular songs in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The song peaked at #13 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and #7 on the

Top Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in ...

chart and has appeared on Adams's compilation album ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

'' (2005). It was the only single taken from ''Reckless'' with no music video, among the six that were officially released between 1984 and 1986.

Lyrics

The song is about a

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

. The lyrics describe the encounter and the subsequent parting of ways of the protagonists, who, the song suggests, are concealing deeper feelings.

Chart performance

"One Night Love Affair" was officially released to US radio in 1985, it appeared on the ''

'' magazine's

chart at 13 and 7 on the

mainstream rock tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

. In Canada, "One Night Love Affair" was officially released to radio in February 1985. The song reached the top twenty on the Canadian Singles Chart and remained in the top twenty for another month. "One Night Love Affair" was the lowest charting single from '' Reckless'' (1984).

Chart positions

Live performance

According to Vallance, when the song was first played to Adams' guitarist Keith Scott, Adams and Vallance replaced the line "if the night was made for love, it ain't for keeps" with the line "if the night was made for love, it ain't for Keith". Scott found this very funny, and whenever Adams plays the song live, he looks at Scott and sings the "Keith" lyric.

In popular culture

"One Night Love Affair" appeared on the soundtrack of the sci-fi comedy film ''

Real Genius ''Real Genius'' is a 1985 American comic science fiction film directed by Martha Coolidge and written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and PJ Torokvei. Starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret, the film, set on the campus of Pacific Tech, a science ...

'' (1985) starring

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...

. The song was used during the scene where the Pacific Tech students attend the Tanning Invitational pool party with the beauty school students.

Personnel

* Bryan Adams -

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Keith Scott -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Jim Vallance - percussion *

Tommy Mandel Tommy Mandel (born June 2, 1949) is a keyboardist most notable for playing with Bryan Adams from 1981 to 1998, starting with the album ''You Want It You Got It''. Life and career Prior to joining Bryan Adams' band, Mandel released a self-titled ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Dave Taylor -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Pat Steward -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

{{Authority control Songs about nights 1984 songs 1985 singles Bryan Adams songs Songs written by Bryan Adams Songs written by Jim Vallance A&M Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Clearmountain Songs about casual sex